Reviews and recommendations
A recent series of officer-involved shootings in Eureka, California has its neighbor, Arcata considering the issue of civilian review according to an article published by the Arcata Eye.
Police reviewer addresses ACLU
Barbara Attard, who is currently the auditor of internal investigations in San Jose spoke to local supporters of civilian review in Humboldt County including members of the local chapter of the ACLU. She told them that although it was difficult to set up review boards, ultimately they proved to be good for both communities and police departments.
(excerpt)
The audience, made up mostly of members of the event’s sponsors, the Coalition for Police Review and the local ACLU chapter, was told that civilian oversight is hard-won. “I know it’s hard, I’ve been working in this business for 25 years and it’s difficult for the politicians to take a stand, to say, ‘there should be civilian oversight’ or ‘these policies should be changed,’” said Attard, adding that police have leverage due to the nature of their work and government leaders don’t want to test it.
“They and all of the communities that they represent depend on the police and they don’t want to – for lack of better words – they don’t want to piss off the police department, they want them on their side,” said Attard. “So political will is important.”
The local government in Arcata has objected to the creation of a civilian review board saying that the general law structure of the city forbid it. However, the city's general plan includes a recommendation to implement civilian review.
Attard told the audience that there were ways to address those issues successfully and many at the meeting seemed to take action at bringing their vision of civilian oversight to reality.
Eureka's residents are also interested in implementing civilian review in the wake of three fatal shootings in eight months in a city of about 30,000 people. Several grass-roots organizations are actively working towards those ends.
Eureka's fatal police shootings:
Cheri Moore
Christopher Burgess
Jonni Kyoshi Honda
Colton Police Department chief Ken Rulon was placed on administrative leave while being investigated for threatening officers who worked for him and breaking rules, according to the Press Enterprise. The investigation began after city officials began receiving anonymous letters containing the allegations. Apparently, the mail system is the method of communication in the Colton Police Department and not the fax machine which is the tool of choice by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department when it comes to alleging misconduct.
Colton police chief accused
But Rulon's lawyer said that his client was not guilty of anything.
His attorney, Randal K. Quan, of Los Angeles, said he is disappointed with Parrish's decision to put Rulon on leave before the investigation is complete.
"We believe this is a political tactic to sully the reputation of Chief Rulon and to put the city manager in a better light when in fact he should be the one investigated," Quan said.
That would be Daryl Parrish, who had been upset when Rulon had gone to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office with information that Councilman Ramon Hernandez had made unauthorized charges on his city-issued credit card. Hernandez was charged with 24 counts of misusing public funds, but has plead not guilty.
The city promises that the "review" of Rulon will be done swiftly, but the only way a situation like this one can be resolved quickly is if the job isn't done correctly and it's just about burying problems underneath the carpet. So it remains to be seen whether this will be an investigation looking into allegations of serious misconduct and misuse of one's position or whether it's an ongoing power play between a police chief and his boss who was trying to protect one of his bosses, or in the worst of all possible worlds, both.
The dynamics of city councils, city managers, police chiefs all the way down the hierarchy has attracted a lot of attention and interest in several different cities in both Riverside and San Bernardino County. In Riverside, the city council seemed more intent on trying to micromanage former city manager, George Carvalho, even though there's an amendment in the city charter that prohibits what is defined as administrative interference.
Yet, this city council appears to have a hands off approach with current city manager, Brad Hudson, arguing against, yes, administrative interference. Even when concerns have been raised about the firings, demotions and resignations of Black and Latino employees in management positions at City Hall, and the influx of replacements from the employment ranks in Riverside County that are handpicked by Hudson and Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis. DeSantis himself was handpicked by Hudson to replace one of the departing Black employees who had been an interim city manager who after DeSantis' hiring was demoted to serve a short stint as the city's budget director.
Even when labor negotiations with the city's six unions during the contract process were the most contentious they had been in recent history. Even when the city manager launched a "Riverside Renaissance" project which involves the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars from one account or fund to another so quickly, your eyes will get too dizzy to keep up and the city appears to have little intention of ensuring that its labor force grows with the population of this city. Even then, few questions appear to be asked by those sitting on the dais, probably because their eyes are so wide with the promises of what Hudson can give them through his plan for the renaissance.
Several cities in Riverside County have recently fired and hired new city managers. Several cities in San Bernardino County including Rialto and San Bernardino have replaced police chiefs. There's a lot of turmoil going on in the Inland Empire.
The county of San Diego has finally found a replacement for its outgoing executive officer of its civilian review board, according to a press release from that office. John Parker retired this month, necessitating the search. For those who are familiar with Parker, they will remember that he appeared before the committee that was set up in Riverside to evaluate different forms of civilian review mechanisms. That committee came out of a recommendation given by the Mayor's Use of Force Panel.
NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER NAMED FOR CLERBS
An Diego attorney Carol A. Trujillo has been selected as the executive officer of the County of San Diego's Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board.Ms. Trujillo, a 1992 graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law,has worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the General Crimes Section of theUnited States Attorney's Office, Southern District of California. She also has served as the Council Liaison, Equal Employment Opportunity Manager, and Assistant to the Chief of Police at the San Diego Police Department under Police Chief R. David Bejarano and Interim Police Chief John Welter.
As a Deputy City Attorney for the San Diego City Attorney's Office, she was a prosecutor in the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit and a police legal advisor in the Employment Services Unit. Ms. Trujillo also holds a master's degree injournalism and worked as a general assignment reporter for The Dallas MorningNews and a sports copy editor and reporter for The Arizona Daily Star. Sheand her husband reside in Ramona. Their daughter will graduate in May 2007 from San Diego Christian College, and their son, a Navy corpsman, will deploy to Kuwait in March 2007.
Ms. Trujillo replaces John Parker, a nationally recognized authority in law enforcement oversight, who will retire on March15, 2007, after serving 10 years as the Board's executive officer.
Katie Greene wrote a really good letter that was published in the Press Enterprise here. She laid the blame for the recent expulsions of four community members from the city council chambers on the elected officials. After talking with many people including those who witnessed what transpired on Feb. 27, I discovered that every person agreed with Greene's viewpoint on the situation.
(excerpt)
I admonished the mayor that if 90-year-old Marjorie von Pohle ever were dragged out of chamber by the Riverside Police Department that I would go out, flailing, with her. The mayor assured us that no such thing would ever happen.
Greene is a member of the Group, which is an organization of African-American women that addresses issues in the city including those at City Hall.
Councilman Ed Adkison's response
Here's the final paragraph from Adkison's letter, which I actually agree with what he said.
(excerpt)
Each council member is elected every four years, and this year four City Council seats are up for election. I suspect "Replacing City Hall" should begin with a pledge by council candidates to represent all the people and not just a few.
I wonder if Adkison would believe that elected officials are supposed to represent all of their elected constitutents and not just the few who are development firms from Orange County. Marjorie Van Pohle, Yolanda Garland and others are speaking up for those in this city who oppose uncontrolled development that doesn't leave room for the city's infrastructure to keep up and that is done while circumventing voter-approved growth control laws including measures C and R.
Police reviewer addresses ACLU
Barbara Attard, who is currently the auditor of internal investigations in San Jose spoke to local supporters of civilian review in Humboldt County including members of the local chapter of the ACLU. She told them that although it was difficult to set up review boards, ultimately they proved to be good for both communities and police departments.
(excerpt)
The audience, made up mostly of members of the event’s sponsors, the Coalition for Police Review and the local ACLU chapter, was told that civilian oversight is hard-won. “I know it’s hard, I’ve been working in this business for 25 years and it’s difficult for the politicians to take a stand, to say, ‘there should be civilian oversight’ or ‘these policies should be changed,’” said Attard, adding that police have leverage due to the nature of their work and government leaders don’t want to test it.
“They and all of the communities that they represent depend on the police and they don’t want to – for lack of better words – they don’t want to piss off the police department, they want them on their side,” said Attard. “So political will is important.”
The local government in Arcata has objected to the creation of a civilian review board saying that the general law structure of the city forbid it. However, the city's general plan includes a recommendation to implement civilian review.
Attard told the audience that there were ways to address those issues successfully and many at the meeting seemed to take action at bringing their vision of civilian oversight to reality.
Eureka's residents are also interested in implementing civilian review in the wake of three fatal shootings in eight months in a city of about 30,000 people. Several grass-roots organizations are actively working towards those ends.
Eureka's fatal police shootings:
Cheri Moore
Christopher Burgess
Jonni Kyoshi Honda
Colton Police Department chief Ken Rulon was placed on administrative leave while being investigated for threatening officers who worked for him and breaking rules, according to the Press Enterprise. The investigation began after city officials began receiving anonymous letters containing the allegations. Apparently, the mail system is the method of communication in the Colton Police Department and not the fax machine which is the tool of choice by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department when it comes to alleging misconduct.
Colton police chief accused
But Rulon's lawyer said that his client was not guilty of anything.
His attorney, Randal K. Quan, of Los Angeles, said he is disappointed with Parrish's decision to put Rulon on leave before the investigation is complete.
"We believe this is a political tactic to sully the reputation of Chief Rulon and to put the city manager in a better light when in fact he should be the one investigated," Quan said.
That would be Daryl Parrish, who had been upset when Rulon had gone to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office with information that Councilman Ramon Hernandez had made unauthorized charges on his city-issued credit card. Hernandez was charged with 24 counts of misusing public funds, but has plead not guilty.
The city promises that the "review" of Rulon will be done swiftly, but the only way a situation like this one can be resolved quickly is if the job isn't done correctly and it's just about burying problems underneath the carpet. So it remains to be seen whether this will be an investigation looking into allegations of serious misconduct and misuse of one's position or whether it's an ongoing power play between a police chief and his boss who was trying to protect one of his bosses, or in the worst of all possible worlds, both.
The dynamics of city councils, city managers, police chiefs all the way down the hierarchy has attracted a lot of attention and interest in several different cities in both Riverside and San Bernardino County. In Riverside, the city council seemed more intent on trying to micromanage former city manager, George Carvalho, even though there's an amendment in the city charter that prohibits what is defined as administrative interference.
Yet, this city council appears to have a hands off approach with current city manager, Brad Hudson, arguing against, yes, administrative interference. Even when concerns have been raised about the firings, demotions and resignations of Black and Latino employees in management positions at City Hall, and the influx of replacements from the employment ranks in Riverside County that are handpicked by Hudson and Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis. DeSantis himself was handpicked by Hudson to replace one of the departing Black employees who had been an interim city manager who after DeSantis' hiring was demoted to serve a short stint as the city's budget director.
Even when labor negotiations with the city's six unions during the contract process were the most contentious they had been in recent history. Even when the city manager launched a "Riverside Renaissance" project which involves the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars from one account or fund to another so quickly, your eyes will get too dizzy to keep up and the city appears to have little intention of ensuring that its labor force grows with the population of this city. Even then, few questions appear to be asked by those sitting on the dais, probably because their eyes are so wide with the promises of what Hudson can give them through his plan for the renaissance.
Several cities in Riverside County have recently fired and hired new city managers. Several cities in San Bernardino County including Rialto and San Bernardino have replaced police chiefs. There's a lot of turmoil going on in the Inland Empire.
The county of San Diego has finally found a replacement for its outgoing executive officer of its civilian review board, according to a press release from that office. John Parker retired this month, necessitating the search. For those who are familiar with Parker, they will remember that he appeared before the committee that was set up in Riverside to evaluate different forms of civilian review mechanisms. That committee came out of a recommendation given by the Mayor's Use of Force Panel.
NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER NAMED FOR CLERBS
An Diego attorney Carol A. Trujillo has been selected as the executive officer of the County of San Diego's Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board.Ms. Trujillo, a 1992 graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law,has worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the General Crimes Section of theUnited States Attorney's Office, Southern District of California. She also has served as the Council Liaison, Equal Employment Opportunity Manager, and Assistant to the Chief of Police at the San Diego Police Department under Police Chief R. David Bejarano and Interim Police Chief John Welter.
As a Deputy City Attorney for the San Diego City Attorney's Office, she was a prosecutor in the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit and a police legal advisor in the Employment Services Unit. Ms. Trujillo also holds a master's degree injournalism and worked as a general assignment reporter for The Dallas MorningNews and a sports copy editor and reporter for The Arizona Daily Star. Sheand her husband reside in Ramona. Their daughter will graduate in May 2007 from San Diego Christian College, and their son, a Navy corpsman, will deploy to Kuwait in March 2007.
Ms. Trujillo replaces John Parker, a nationally recognized authority in law enforcement oversight, who will retire on March15, 2007, after serving 10 years as the Board's executive officer.
Katie Greene wrote a really good letter that was published in the Press Enterprise here. She laid the blame for the recent expulsions of four community members from the city council chambers on the elected officials. After talking with many people including those who witnessed what transpired on Feb. 27, I discovered that every person agreed with Greene's viewpoint on the situation.
(excerpt)
I admonished the mayor that if 90-year-old Marjorie von Pohle ever were dragged out of chamber by the Riverside Police Department that I would go out, flailing, with her. The mayor assured us that no such thing would ever happen.
Greene is a member of the Group, which is an organization of African-American women that addresses issues in the city including those at City Hall.
Councilman Ed Adkison's response
Here's the final paragraph from Adkison's letter, which I actually agree with what he said.
(excerpt)
Each council member is elected every four years, and this year four City Council seats are up for election. I suspect "Replacing City Hall" should begin with a pledge by council candidates to represent all the people and not just a few.
I wonder if Adkison would believe that elected officials are supposed to represent all of their elected constitutents and not just the few who are development firms from Orange County. Marjorie Van Pohle, Yolanda Garland and others are speaking up for those in this city who oppose uncontrolled development that doesn't leave room for the city's infrastructure to keep up and that is done while circumventing voter-approved growth control laws including measures C and R.
Labels: Black city employee watch, City elections, civilian review spreads
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