The LAPPL Board, which represents 9,900 officers who have dedicated their careers to law enforcement, is grateful to District Attorney Steve Cooley for tirelessly pursuing the Roman Polanski case and seeing that he returns to a Los Angeles court to face sentencing. In addition to any prison sentence Polanski is to serve, we hope the district attorney files additional charges for being a fugitive from justice.

The most shocking issue with the Polanski arrest is that so many people have stood up to defend a man guilty of such reprehensible behavior. The facts of this case cannot be forgotten or dismissed. The court transcripts show that he drugged, raped and sodomized his victim, then agreed to plead guilty to "having sex with a minor" in order to reduce his sentence – and right before he was to be sentenced, jetted off to his home on the French Rivera where he lived for 31 years.

The timeline from Cooley’s office shows that he and his predecessors have diligently pursued the case of the People of California v. Roman Polanski.

There is no basis for giving Polanski a pass from any part of the U.S. judicial process. Even the allegation of judicial misconduct in a so-called documentary film has now been recanted by a former prosecutor who appeared in the film.

It doesn’t matter who the criminal is. It doesn’t matter how famous or talented he is. Everyone must be treated the same for the American justice system to work, and you can't be allowed to run from prosecution.

Los Angeles is very fortunate to have a district attorney who is committed to punishing criminals, no matter how much time has passed or who their friends are. We thank him and his dedicated staff of prosecutors for their dedication.