Links, places and things for a rainy day

No city council meeting scheduled in Riverside this week, because it's the fifth week of the month. But there are events going on both locally and in other places, as the rain winds down after a wild weekend of weather.





The Los Angeles Times wrote a brief on ballot measures coming up in the Inland Empire to be decided during the Feb. 5 election. Measure A, or the crowing rooster initiative, was stumped in the brief, with one of the reasons for its existence being the "urbanization" of Riverside. That's interesting considering that the initiative focuses only on "certain agricultural zones" of the city. However, it's probably accurate that the hoped for urbanization of all areas of Riverside is the real reason why this measure is appearing on the ballot, given that the sport of cockfighting hasn't exactly taken off here as it has in other places.



The California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act is causing a lot of concern among California's voters, according to the Los Angeles Times.


Why? Because included in its text is language to phase out rent control laws that exist in different cities. Even though the initiative if passed would limit the use of eminent domain for private development, it would impact many of the state's 1.2 million renters who live in rent-controlled units. They include many elderly people. As you can see, a large share of its campaign funds come from associations of owners and property managers of rental properties. Did the proponants of eminent domain control believe they could not get a measure on the ballot without throwing in their lot with those who want to eliminate rent control laws?


(excerpt)


In the spring, voters will decide whose interests prevail. More than 100 owners and operators of apartment buildings and mobile home parks spent nearly $2 million to put an initiative on the June 3 ballot to phase out California's rent control laws. About 1.2 million people statewide are covered by such laws.

Los Angeles, which has 626,600 rent-controlled residential units, could be affected more than any other city if the measure passes.

Big financial backers of the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act include the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which gave $100,000 to the effort and lent the campaign $200,000; the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Issues PAC, which contributed $150,000; and the Apartment Owners Assn. Political Action Committee, which put in $100,000.

Among the donations is $50,000 from Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., which owns 27 mobile home parks in California, and many more in other states. Equity Lifestyle's chairman is Sam Zell, chairman of Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times.






Speaking of housing, check out CNN's list of top 10 foreclosure markets for 2007. Look who checks in at #4 on the list. Here's a list from 2006 from Nuwire Investor.




Community oriented policing is coming to Santa Monica Police Department.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)


Community-oriented policing centers on face-to-face meetings between residents and police at events such as neighborhood cleanups, town hall meetings and neighborhood watch groups.

After high-profile police corruption cases in the early 1990s, the popularity of the approach resurged in departments throughout the state.

Community-oriented policing "tends to wane in popularity when crime goes up and departments start to implement zero-tolerance policies and pull out of neighborhoods," said Richard Word, president of the California Police Chiefs Assn. and chief of the Vacaville Police Department.

Nonetheless, he supports the approach. "It's like customized policing," he said. "Some may think that it's soft on crime, but it's smart policing because you're proactive and not reactive."

Other local departments also have pushed the approach. San Fernando Police Chief Robert Ordelheide two years ago instituted a successful program assigning more officers to areas of the city defined as high-crime.







Meet former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona's defense attorney who will handle his corruptions charges case here. Pro bono.



(excerpt)


Though not unheard of, the case -- defending an allegedly corrupt sheriff who is making about $200,000 a year in retirement -- is unusual by pro bono standards. Typically, pro bono work involves providing legal services to society's most vulnerable -- the indigent, the homeless, the infirm.

And rather than corruption or graft, the cases more often concern discrimination and evictions.

"For us, that wouldn't be a typical pro bono client," said Esther F. Lardent, president and chief executive of the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. "When we talk about modest means, we're typically talking about someone with significantly lower income."






A Franklin County police officer alleges that he was suspended because he didn't write enough tickets, according to KMOV.


This is the agency's quota.


(excerpt)


Make 6 arrests

- Write 18 reports

- Issue 21 tickets

- Write 27 warnings

- Engage in 150 self initiated activities.






In Denver, an officer was fired and other suspended for misconduct.



(excerpt, Denver Post)


The circumstances could not be confirmed, White said, referring queries to Mary Dulacki, manager of records for the Denver Department of Safety.

"I don't know anything about the details and what the allegations are at this point," Dulacki said.

The time of the alleged misconduct, and when Hurst was fired, is unclear, White and Dulacki said. An investigation into the conduct by Jimenez continues, they said.

A local television station reported that both officers were accused of on-duty sex in uniform. Citing anonymous "police contacts," CBS4 reported on its website that Hurst was accused of having sex with a suspected prostitute in the bathroom of an East Colfax Taco Bell.





A Santa Fe Police Department officer recorded on videotape kicking a handcuffed man is still working in the profession elsewhere even after being fired, according to The New Mexican.




(excerpt)



In the background, three police officers begin pushing Dyer to the ground so he will be lying on his belly. The then-22-year-old Los Alamos resident puts up token resistance. Martinez notices it, stops what he's doing, then walks up behind Dyer, rears back and kicks him once — which lays Dyer out flat — then kicks him again. Afterward, another officer comes up and puts his arm around Martinez's shoulders and guides him away.

A year later, Santa Fe Police Chief Eric Johnson fired Martinez — but it wasn't for kicking Dyer. And it wasn't for two other videotaped incidents in which Martinez seemingly used questionable force. It also wasn't for buying a fake bachelor's degree online and using it to allegedly defraud the city of more than $500 in education pay.

Instead, Johnson fired Martinez for creating a fake police report about one of the incidents of questionable excessive force and lying to an internal affairs investigator about when the report was completed, according to court documents.

Now, as the city negotiates with Dyer's lawyers over how much money the two kicks are worth, an FBI spokesman confirmed that agents are looking into the Dyer incident at the request of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Unit in Washington, D.C.

However, despite all of these things, Martinez, 33, remains a cop.





Did a San Francisco Police Department deputy chief's son get preferential treatment?



The son of Deputy Chief Stephen Tacchini is now under investigation for domestic violence by Chief Heather Fong, after controversy arose that the case wasn't properly handled because it involved not only one of the department's own but a relative of a member of its command staff.



(excerpt)



Although a police report on the incident was not filed, an internal memo detailing the events was forwarded to Police Chief Heather Fong on Monday, and she ordered a criminal probe of the incident. In addition, Fong ordered an internal investigation into the way the department dealt with the matter.

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old officer has been placed on administrative duty.





This release from Washington, D.C.



January 24, 2008


Police Complaints Board and Office of Police Complaints Release 2007
Annual Report

(Washington, DC) - The Office of Police Complaints (OPC) and its
governing body, the Police Complaints Board (PCB), today released their
2007 Annual Report. The agency closed the most complaints, completed
the most investigations, and adjudicated and mediated the most
complaints in its history.

The agency received 440 complaints from the public against officers of
the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the DC Housing Authority
Police Department (DCHAPD). This figure was a 6% increase over the year
before.

The agency prepared 345 investigative reports. In addition, 22
complaints were adjudicated and 19 of the complaints had allegations
that were sustained and forwarded to the Chief of Police for discipline.

OPC also conducted 35 mediation sessions, 26 (or 74%) of which were
successful, and led to an agreement between the complainant and subject
officer that resolved the complaint.

"This was a very productive year for the agency," said Philip K. Eure,
OPC's executive director. "We made progress on a number of fronts,
which will allow us to better serve the District and promote greater
confidence in the police."

In addition to investigating and resolving individual complaints of
police misconduct, the agency issued four detailed policy
recommendations, including a report on its monitoring of MPD's handling
of several protests held in Washington in the spring.

Overall, the agency has been pleased with steps taken by MPD and the
city to implement proposals made by PCB. For instance, the District
Department of Transportation (DDOT) and MPD took immediate steps to
carry out the Board's September 2007 proposals designed to increase
public awareness of District law regarding drivers and cellular
telephones.

Unfortunately, though, MPD and the city have not adopted key elements of
the September 2006 recommendations made by PCB that urged MPD to become
more proactive in addressing the needs of people with mental illness who
interact with police officers.

Beyond the handling of individual complaints and the issuance of policy
recommendations, the agency conducted a variety of community outreach
activities during the year. For example, the agency launched a
partnership with the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project at
American University's Washington College of Law that involved OPC
providing student interactive training at 12 schools throughout the
District.

To view a full copy of the 2007 Annual Report, visit OPC's website at
http://www.policecomplaints.dc.gov/ .





A court ruling has led to a conflict between the police union and the city government in Seattle, according to the Seattle Press Intelligencer.


One blogger responded to the ruling and the controversy here.




Another discussed the reaction of council member, Nick Lacata to the ruling.





In Springfield, Illinois, the civilian oversight mechanism there has submitted a request for more powers to the city council.


(excerpt, Springfield Journal=Register)



Mayor Tim Davlin said Friday that he thinks the commission should be given more time to work in its current form. He also noted that it took protracted negotiations with the union for city officers to create the commission in the first place.

“It’s only been around for a year,” Davlin said.

But Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson said she supports the commission’s recommendations and will look at drafting them into ordinance form. The commission should be given more authority, she said.

“I don’t want to be one of those aldermen who writes ordinances just to do it,” Simpson said. “When I read it (the annual report), it just felt like they were feeling powerless.

“It makes no sense to have this commission if you’re not going to allow them to do their jobs, then work to make the police department better by adhering to their findings.”






Another local press release on the national election.



Forum Previews the Issues in Advance of Super Tuesday
Student groups seek to inform voters on the candidates

Presidential Primary Election: February 5, 2008


RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- The "Educate Your Vote" Coalition and the National Alliance for Human Rights will hold a political forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30 in the University Lecture Hall at UC Riverside to educate students and community members on vital issues related to the presidential race.

The moderator will be Louis Vandenberg, general manager of KUCR 88.3fm and the producer of Los Angeles-based KPFK 90.7fm's acclaimed top-rated program, "Background Briefing," heard Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vandenberg is a member of the State Democratic Central Committee. He has also been three times the Democratic nominee for United States Congress, 44th Congressional District.

“I have not endorsed any of the Democratic candidates for the Presidential nomination,” he said. “I see positives and negatives on all of the three top candidates. I hope this event can be one of real participatory democracy and proves educational for everyone, including me.”

Student organizer Martha Preciado said she and a committee of students are inviting candidates, or their representatives, to attend the forum and debate the important issues of this presidential race, such as war, healthcare, immigration, education, social security, and human rights. There will be a time for questions from the audience. She has also asked student and community groups to set up tables to give out information.

Armando Navarro, professor of ethnic studies at UC Riverside and the leader of the National Alliance for Human Rights, said the student forum is coming at the right time, in the week before the Feb. 5th California presidential primary.

“The Inland Empire is going to be pivotal,” Navarro said. “And I contend that our students, and all students, will be pivotal in this race. I’ve never seen it like this. There’s a sense of urgency across the board. I am proud of these students who are taking such an active role in this political race.”

The forum is free and open to the public, although parking on campus requires a permit. The University Lecture Hall is located near the campus bookstore, on North Campus Drive and Aberdeen Drive. Arrive early to leave time to walk from Lot 24. After 4 p.m., permits can be purchased in the lot for $5. Campus parking kiosks at the entrances can also sell permits.

Sponsors of the event include the National Alliance for Human Rights, KUCR, the Department of Ethnic Studies, Cal-PIRG, the African Student Programs Office, the Chicano Student Programs Office, Asian Pacific Student Programs, ASUCR External Affairs, and others.

For more information contact Event Organizers:
Erika Espinoza (951)827-3821, Martha Preciado (619) 872-3266