It was fascinating reading Peter Lyon's Dec. 16 article, "How to handle a mobster on the move." Now, if only there was a good way to utilize the public fear of yakuza gangsters for the greater public good.

First of all, these folks could be hired to drive or guide emergency vehicles through traffic. Lyon describes yakuza as being able to move smoothly in formation through blocked roads. I have observed ambulances unable to do as well.

I would like to have a fleet of these folks in my neighborhood to enforce traffic laws that the police are lax in enforcing and that too many people are not conscientiously observing: bicycles whizzing through stop signs day and night (many without lights), cars driving through red lights and stops, speed limits being ignored, whizzing quickly around blind corners, and so on.

In my neighborhood, it is mostly locals, not through traffic, ignoring the laws and common sense daily, so it might only take a week or two for these yakuza to strike a little fear in the locals' hearts before they could be moved on to the next neighborhood. But, sigh, the greater public good does not seem to be what the yakuza are all about.

barry duell