My wife and I were recently driving down T.O. Boulevard on our way to lunch, heading east past the Civic Arts Plaza when we saw something that disturbed us. At first we saw two motorcycle policemen had pulled over two cars and were issuing citations.

That wasn't unusual.

Unfortunately, less than a block later we saw four, yes four more motorcycle patrolmen sitting on their bikes in the shade of a driveway, obviously waiting for their next prey. Shortly after that, we saw another patrolman headed in the other direction.

So, in the span of 30 seconds, we had seen seven patrolmen on motorcycles.

After lunch, going the opposite direction half a block down, we saw two more cars pulled over, getting tickets. These patrolmen were there for one purpose: to write citations.

When we see this many in one place, it makes you think the city is sending these guys out there for the express purpose of writing as many tickets as they can.

The only reason for that would be to gain revenue, and that's wrong.

The city or police department may be in a financial crunch, as is everyone, but that doesn't justify this type of behavior.

Police are there for law enforcement and public safety, not revenue generation. At least if the patrolmen were driving around, there would be the benefit of observant drivers being more careful and watching their speed.

That would be a positive.

But hiding in the shadows, waiting to pull out of the driveway to give another ticket doesn't improve public safety. On the contrary, it damages the relationship between citizens and law enforcement by fermenting an "us versus them" mentality.

How many tickets do the police have to issue just to pay for the cost of seven patrolmen and their BMW motorcycles? Quite a few.

And how many crimes are not stopped or deterred by them sitting under a tree, not patrolling? None.

Note to the police department: You are there for public safety, not to create revenue. I wish I knew where this directive came from.

Shame on whoever it was. Erik Nordquist Thousand Oaks