Erika D. Smith: If not cops or guns, what will it take to make us feel safe? LA has a new answer

Not long ago, the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California released a pair of polls showing that most adults in this state believe violence is a problem in their neighborhoods and are afraid they or their loved ones will become the victim of a crime.

At the same time, fewer than half of adults say that police are doing a excellent or even a good job fighting crime and violence. No doubt, some blame the declining staffing levels at police departments, but others point to racial profiling.

None of this is particularly surprising, of course. What the polls found is entirely consistent with the obtusely binary debate over public safety, both locally and nationally.

There are those who want more police on the streets and those who don't. Those who feel violent crime is on an unprecedented rise and those with armed historical