Did someone really say that and other tales in River City
This is the 600th posting!
Rumor of the day: A sitting council member joked about paying someone $25 to beat up taggers and then seemed miffed when another councilman didn't back him up in jest. Is it true? One would certainly hope not. But unfortunately, given some of the behavior that has been shown on the dais in the past year or so, it's not outside the realm of possibility as it should be.
I didn't attend the city council session in question because I'm on sabbatical partly due to behavior like that exhibited by the city council as of late but I began getting feedback on it soon after. Having once had some anonymous individual comment on my blog that taggers should be shot on sight, it doesn't seem to me that it would be prudent for an elected official to even joke about doing physical violence on anyone let alone advocating the use of city or other funds to do so. Hopefully, this one isn't true because our elected officials surely know better than to engage in such behavior from the dais. Yes indeed.
The city has strategies in place for addressing tagging and taggers which were being discussed during an update on the city's multi-prong graffiti program on Tuesday night as they have been discussed at past meetings. Even joking about any vigilantism let alone paying out for it is in poor taste and if someone did say that from the dais and no one else called him or her on it, then maybe there's a need for that etiquette consultant hired by the city of Colton to teach its elected body how to behave is indeed necessary. Because if an elected official actually said this at a public meeting, then it's hard to believe decorum on the dais could get much worse. Hopefully, this is a silly rumor.
Most convoluted trail: A personnel complaint that was scheduled to be heard by the CPRC yesterday finally made it there about 14-15 months after being filed and it apparently didn't include any interviews from the complainant, family members and civilian witnesses who said they waited months to be contacted by the department to be interviewed and never were. Speaking of long waits, the Douglas Steven Cloud shooting took 16 months and one huge settlement to reach the CPRC for a briefing and the shooting case of Joseph Darnell Hill is still missing in action somewhere along its convoluted trail.
Years it took the city to render the CPRC complaint process essentially meaningless: Six.
After all, there was a time back in the day when civilian complaints were actually completed in a reasonable time, say less than a year. Only a handful of complaints fell outside that range and in 2004, Riverside Police Officers' Association representative and then Det. Christian Dinco had a dialogue of sorts with then executive director Don Williams and several commissioners outside of the city council chambers where a League of Women's Voters Forum had just taken place. Dinco had raised salient points in his complaints about the burden of the process on the officers when the process became weighed down with delays.
However, now complaints taking a year or longer to get processed doesn't seem to just be an anomaly or an exception but closer to being the average than in previous years much to the dismay of complainants if not anyone else.
The CPRC's Outreach Committee while skirting thinly on the Brown Act law regarding serial meetings revealed its plans for outreach involving the CPRC to both the city's communities and its police officers who probably already receive outreach on it from other sources. They were very good ideas including restoring the roll call sessions on the CPRC and working with the Human Relations Commission to form study circles on the issue, but if there isn't a process that really works to promote then no one is really talking about anything much.
For the individual who is still trying to leave comments, comments are closed. They've been closed since that lovely one that you wrote about Mexicans getting beaten up at MacArthur Park last year because it's a fiesta and the police wanted to see if candy would spill out. If you've stumbled on this site on your way to Stormfront, it's some place else.
Bob Banfield from KABC-News was on the prowl in downtown Riverside asking pedestrians what they thought of the lawsuit being filed in Riverside challenging presidential candidate John McCain's right to run for that office. He asked me if I was an attorney. I don't think so.
The renovation of Hunter's Park will not impact the beloved train there, Riverside City Hall has said.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
These are minor tweaks," said Parks and Recreation Director Ralph Nuñez. "We are revisiting it to create the best park to accommodate the different users of the community."
The master plan, as approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission in September, would have forced the trains to stop running during construction because of the extensive grading work, said Councilman Mike Gardner.
Gardner, former president of the Live Steamers, said he worried that temporarily shutting down the railroad would hurt the club's following.
"If the club loses momentum, the railroad dies," Gardner said.
Press Enterprise columnist, Dan Bernstein takes a long hard look at the state's decision to put education on the budgetary chopping block.
The editorial board of that publication praised Riverside's one-stop approach to addressing the needs of the homeless.
(excerpt)
The new center will provide single-stop access to a wide range of services for the homeless, including help with benefits and employment, housing, medical care and other needs.
The convenience of a single trip matters greatly to people living on the streets, who often lack transportation as well as homes. Getting to medical care, public services or a job can be a huge challenge for people already struggling with where to sleep.
And tackling the complex issues underlying homelessness requires a broad spectrum of programs, as Riverside County's homeless survey last year illustrates: Nearly half of the homeless people surveyed admitted abusing drugs or alcohol, while a third reported symptoms of mental illness. About 30 percent were the victims of domestic violence. More than a quarter had been homeless for three years or more.
Riverside is not alone; Coachella Valley cities plan a similar center. Helping people locate work or a place to live will accomplish little unless those people are also capable of maintaining that improved status. Stabilizing lives is a complex task, but making the necessary services more readily available bolsters the chances for success.
The status of roads in Southern California including Riverside isn't pretty. The average costs in wear and tear on vehicles using them in the Inland Empire is about $586 which puts the region at 12th in the nation for roads that are costly to consumers. But when it comes to addressing the issues of roads, sometimes it appears to be, roads what roads? Let's talk about putting up more condos, houses, office buildings and well, just buildings.
More judges may be coming to the Inland Empire by 2010 if this legislation is approved, according to the Press Enterprise.
(excerpt)
The bill by state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, would authorize 50 new judgeships in the 2009-10 budget year. Riverside County would get six of the positions and San Bernardino County would get seven under an allocation plan by the state Judicial Council.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said the fast-growing region desperately needs more judges. The county has about 550 criminal cases that are more than a year old, including more than 100 that are three years old, he said.
"Family members would like to move on with their lives," Ramos said. County prosecutors have come close to having to dismiss criminal cases because a defendant's right to a speedy trial outweighs a lack of judges, he said.
Other legislation in the pipeline include a bill that might require other counties to hear civil trials if the county of jurisdiction has courts that are too congested.
The Banning Police Department is branching out with its Activities League.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. about 70 to 80 elementary, middle and high school students meet at Nicolet Middle School to participate in sports and activities, including soccer, tennis, dodgeball, basketball and hip hop dancing.
Diaz started the program with Detective Doug Monte soon after joining the Banning Police Department two years ago. Diaz said that he has been involved with an activities league for the past 12 years and that the love and dedication began when he participated in a PAL group as a child.
"It kept me out of trouble and got me interested in sports," Diaz said.
A vigil was being held in the shooting of several men by an offduty Costa Mesa Police Department officer. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department which is supposedly investigating is already instead, defending the officer's actions. That didn't take long. Relatively early on in a complex investigation (as we're often told) that supposedly lasts for months until completion and the investigative agency's mind is already made up. Next thing you know, they'll start calling the Press Enterprise claiming the witnesses are lying in the news articles. Another silly rumor.
The police union in Salt Lake City is applying pressure so the department and the city's police oversight mechanism to go soft on disciplining officers.
(excerpt, Salt Lake City Weekly)
Ty was really good at what he did,” says state Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, among the longest serving board members of the Police Civilian Review Board and its current chairman following mass resignations from the board last year. “He was a good administrator, a good investigator. He was tough and he was aggressive and he did the job.”
In the end, however, McCoy says McCartney and the board bumped against an equally tough police union president in Tom Gallegos. The Police Civilian Review Board collapsed under the pressure, McCoy says. A key player in the Becker mayoral campaign, McCoy does not criticize the decision to replace McCartney and says he believes Becker supports the board’s mission of reviewing police conduct outside the influence of the police department.
Aside from firing McCartney—something requested by the union president Gallegos and Police Chief Chris Burbank—Becker hasn’t made his intentions known for the future of the Police Civilian Review Board. As Becker restarts the volunteer watchdog group, moribund since a public meltdown last year, he will field calls to rein in the board's wide-ranging oversight of police discipline. Those calls will come from the police union, which, during the just-completed legislative session, backed a bill to make all police discipline secret.
The question for Salt Lake City is whether the board will retain the independence Anderson gave it or revert back to the police-friendly review body Anderson found in 2000 and criticized as “completely toothless.”
In New York City, the "SUV man" or the "man in black" was not at the trial of three New York City Police Department officers but he's been talked about a lot.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
"The SUV guy was calm, cool and collect, right?" defense attorney Anthony Ricco asked during a cross-examination of Detective Hispolito Sanchez, who was posing as a strip club patron that night.
"Yes, he was."
"The SUV guy gave a straight street stare (at Bell), like 'Go ahead,' right?"
"Yes sir."
"And you're thinking, 'This is not good. Somebody is going to get shot,' right?"
"Yes sir."
Coicou disappeared into the night before the real trouble started.
A Chicago Police Department officer, Anthony Abbate, involved in a bar attack had a plea bargain offer fall through.
(excerpt, Chicago Sun-Times)
Abbate, 39, is charged with beating Karolina Obrycka at Jesse's Shortstop Inn on the Northwest Side on Feb. 19, 2007. Last month, his lawyer, Peter Hickey, entered plea negotiations with prosecutors, and some had expected Abbate to plead guilty Tuesday.
"We came here today believing that Abbate was going to be entering a plea of guilty on multiple charges ... so I'm very surprised," said lawyer Terry Ekl, who is representing Obrycka in a suit against the city.
At a court appearance Tuesday morning, Hickey told Judge John Fleming that plea negotiations had "not proven fruitful."
Talks broke down over the issue of sentencing, sources said. Prosecutors were adamant Abbate serve time in a state penitentiary, while Hickey sought probation for his client.
"We are opposed to any sentence that wouldn't send him to the Illinois Department of Corrections," Assistant State's Attorney David Navarro said after court.
The police chief in Newark has been suspended.
(excerpt, New York Times)
The mayor, Cory A. Booker, who appointed both Mr. Campos and Mr. McCarthy, released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying Mr. Campos would continue to be paid during the suspension.
“Both Police Director Garry F. McCarthy and Police Chief Anthony Campos are principally responsible for the dramatic decreases in violent crime for 2008,” the mayor said. “They both continue to have my steadfast support and faith that in their working together, Newark will have a great year in public safety.”
Many in the department say there are few signs that the two men are working together. Police officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the events that led to the suspension started Friday, when Mr. McCarthy issued a routine transfer and reassignment order, a responsibility that union officials say falls under Mr. Campos’s purview.
On the same day, Mr. Campos rescinded the order. On Monday, after meeting with Mr. Booker, Mr. McCarthy suspended his chief.
Mr. Campos did not return calls, and Mr. McCarthy declined to comment.
Rumor of the day: A sitting council member joked about paying someone $25 to beat up taggers and then seemed miffed when another councilman didn't back him up in jest. Is it true? One would certainly hope not. But unfortunately, given some of the behavior that has been shown on the dais in the past year or so, it's not outside the realm of possibility as it should be.
I didn't attend the city council session in question because I'm on sabbatical partly due to behavior like that exhibited by the city council as of late but I began getting feedback on it soon after. Having once had some anonymous individual comment on my blog that taggers should be shot on sight, it doesn't seem to me that it would be prudent for an elected official to even joke about doing physical violence on anyone let alone advocating the use of city or other funds to do so. Hopefully, this one isn't true because our elected officials surely know better than to engage in such behavior from the dais. Yes indeed.
The city has strategies in place for addressing tagging and taggers which were being discussed during an update on the city's multi-prong graffiti program on Tuesday night as they have been discussed at past meetings. Even joking about any vigilantism let alone paying out for it is in poor taste and if someone did say that from the dais and no one else called him or her on it, then maybe there's a need for that etiquette consultant hired by the city of Colton to teach its elected body how to behave is indeed necessary. Because if an elected official actually said this at a public meeting, then it's hard to believe decorum on the dais could get much worse. Hopefully, this is a silly rumor.
Most convoluted trail: A personnel complaint that was scheduled to be heard by the CPRC yesterday finally made it there about 14-15 months after being filed and it apparently didn't include any interviews from the complainant, family members and civilian witnesses who said they waited months to be contacted by the department to be interviewed and never were. Speaking of long waits, the Douglas Steven Cloud shooting took 16 months and one huge settlement to reach the CPRC for a briefing and the shooting case of Joseph Darnell Hill is still missing in action somewhere along its convoluted trail.
Years it took the city to render the CPRC complaint process essentially meaningless: Six.
If that's indeed the case, now there's a process you can trust. Another complainant said last month that after being told her complaint would take three months, she was told six months after she filed it, that it would be another six to eight months for it to reach the CPRC. Another complainant who doesn't know what happened to his complaint said he hadn't been notified about its progress since he filed it about 10 months ago. Given the statutory timeline for disciplining officers which is given a different legal interpretation by the city attorney's office practically every time it's been asked, this has created concern that the CPRC's ability to offer input into the finding process has been somewhat diluted.
There's been some talk about more staffing or restaffing of the department's internal affairs division, how large it should be and what to do with the backlog when this issue has been discussed with the commission. It wouldn't be a surprise at all given how the city manager's office doesn't handle officer-involved death finding dispositions if these complaints were already adjudicated before even reaching the CPRC. Maybe that's why the only people complaining about the process are the complainants.
After all, there was a time back in the day when civilian complaints were actually completed in a reasonable time, say less than a year. Only a handful of complaints fell outside that range and in 2004, Riverside Police Officers' Association representative and then Det. Christian Dinco had a dialogue of sorts with then executive director Don Williams and several commissioners outside of the city council chambers where a League of Women's Voters Forum had just taken place. Dinco had raised salient points in his complaints about the burden of the process on the officers when the process became weighed down with delays.
However, now complaints taking a year or longer to get processed doesn't seem to just be an anomaly or an exception but closer to being the average than in previous years much to the dismay of complainants if not anyone else.
The CPRC's Outreach Committee while skirting thinly on the Brown Act law regarding serial meetings revealed its plans for outreach involving the CPRC to both the city's communities and its police officers who probably already receive outreach on it from other sources. They were very good ideas including restoring the roll call sessions on the CPRC and working with the Human Relations Commission to form study circles on the issue, but if there isn't a process that really works to promote then no one is really talking about anything much.
For the individual who is still trying to leave comments, comments are closed. They've been closed since that lovely one that you wrote about Mexicans getting beaten up at MacArthur Park last year because it's a fiesta and the police wanted to see if candy would spill out. If you've stumbled on this site on your way to Stormfront, it's some place else.
Bob Banfield from KABC-News was on the prowl in downtown Riverside asking pedestrians what they thought of the lawsuit being filed in Riverside challenging presidential candidate John McCain's right to run for that office. He asked me if I was an attorney. I don't think so.
The renovation of Hunter's Park will not impact the beloved train there, Riverside City Hall has said.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
These are minor tweaks," said Parks and Recreation Director Ralph Nuñez. "We are revisiting it to create the best park to accommodate the different users of the community."
The master plan, as approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission in September, would have forced the trains to stop running during construction because of the extensive grading work, said Councilman Mike Gardner.
Gardner, former president of the Live Steamers, said he worried that temporarily shutting down the railroad would hurt the club's following.
"If the club loses momentum, the railroad dies," Gardner said.
Press Enterprise columnist, Dan Bernstein takes a long hard look at the state's decision to put education on the budgetary chopping block.
The editorial board of that publication praised Riverside's one-stop approach to addressing the needs of the homeless.
(excerpt)
The new center will provide single-stop access to a wide range of services for the homeless, including help with benefits and employment, housing, medical care and other needs.
The convenience of a single trip matters greatly to people living on the streets, who often lack transportation as well as homes. Getting to medical care, public services or a job can be a huge challenge for people already struggling with where to sleep.
And tackling the complex issues underlying homelessness requires a broad spectrum of programs, as Riverside County's homeless survey last year illustrates: Nearly half of the homeless people surveyed admitted abusing drugs or alcohol, while a third reported symptoms of mental illness. About 30 percent were the victims of domestic violence. More than a quarter had been homeless for three years or more.
Riverside is not alone; Coachella Valley cities plan a similar center. Helping people locate work or a place to live will accomplish little unless those people are also capable of maintaining that improved status. Stabilizing lives is a complex task, but making the necessary services more readily available bolsters the chances for success.
The status of roads in Southern California including Riverside isn't pretty. The average costs in wear and tear on vehicles using them in the Inland Empire is about $586 which puts the region at 12th in the nation for roads that are costly to consumers. But when it comes to addressing the issues of roads, sometimes it appears to be, roads what roads? Let's talk about putting up more condos, houses, office buildings and well, just buildings.
More judges may be coming to the Inland Empire by 2010 if this legislation is approved, according to the Press Enterprise.
(excerpt)
The bill by state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, would authorize 50 new judgeships in the 2009-10 budget year. Riverside County would get six of the positions and San Bernardino County would get seven under an allocation plan by the state Judicial Council.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said the fast-growing region desperately needs more judges. The county has about 550 criminal cases that are more than a year old, including more than 100 that are three years old, he said.
"Family members would like to move on with their lives," Ramos said. County prosecutors have come close to having to dismiss criminal cases because a defendant's right to a speedy trial outweighs a lack of judges, he said.
Other legislation in the pipeline include a bill that might require other counties to hear civil trials if the county of jurisdiction has courts that are too congested.
The Banning Police Department is branching out with its Activities League.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. about 70 to 80 elementary, middle and high school students meet at Nicolet Middle School to participate in sports and activities, including soccer, tennis, dodgeball, basketball and hip hop dancing.
Diaz started the program with Detective Doug Monte soon after joining the Banning Police Department two years ago. Diaz said that he has been involved with an activities league for the past 12 years and that the love and dedication began when he participated in a PAL group as a child.
"It kept me out of trouble and got me interested in sports," Diaz said.
A vigil was being held in the shooting of several men by an offduty Costa Mesa Police Department officer. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department which is supposedly investigating is already instead, defending the officer's actions. That didn't take long. Relatively early on in a complex investigation (as we're often told) that supposedly lasts for months until completion and the investigative agency's mind is already made up. Next thing you know, they'll start calling the Press Enterprise claiming the witnesses are lying in the news articles. Another silly rumor.
The police union in Salt Lake City is applying pressure so the department and the city's police oversight mechanism to go soft on disciplining officers.
(excerpt, Salt Lake City Weekly)
Ty was really good at what he did,” says state Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, among the longest serving board members of the Police Civilian Review Board and its current chairman following mass resignations from the board last year. “He was a good administrator, a good investigator. He was tough and he was aggressive and he did the job.”
In the end, however, McCoy says McCartney and the board bumped against an equally tough police union president in Tom Gallegos. The Police Civilian Review Board collapsed under the pressure, McCoy says. A key player in the Becker mayoral campaign, McCoy does not criticize the decision to replace McCartney and says he believes Becker supports the board’s mission of reviewing police conduct outside the influence of the police department.
Aside from firing McCartney—something requested by the union president Gallegos and Police Chief Chris Burbank—Becker hasn’t made his intentions known for the future of the Police Civilian Review Board. As Becker restarts the volunteer watchdog group, moribund since a public meltdown last year, he will field calls to rein in the board's wide-ranging oversight of police discipline. Those calls will come from the police union, which, during the just-completed legislative session, backed a bill to make all police discipline secret.
The question for Salt Lake City is whether the board will retain the independence Anderson gave it or revert back to the police-friendly review body Anderson found in 2000 and criticized as “completely toothless.”
In New York City, the "SUV man" or the "man in black" was not at the trial of three New York City Police Department officers but he's been talked about a lot.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
"The SUV guy was calm, cool and collect, right?" defense attorney Anthony Ricco asked during a cross-examination of Detective Hispolito Sanchez, who was posing as a strip club patron that night.
"Yes, he was."
"The SUV guy gave a straight street stare (at Bell), like 'Go ahead,' right?"
"Yes sir."
"And you're thinking, 'This is not good. Somebody is going to get shot,' right?"
"Yes sir."
Coicou disappeared into the night before the real trouble started.
A Chicago Police Department officer, Anthony Abbate, involved in a bar attack had a plea bargain offer fall through.
(excerpt, Chicago Sun-Times)
Abbate, 39, is charged with beating Karolina Obrycka at Jesse's Shortstop Inn on the Northwest Side on Feb. 19, 2007. Last month, his lawyer, Peter Hickey, entered plea negotiations with prosecutors, and some had expected Abbate to plead guilty Tuesday.
"We came here today believing that Abbate was going to be entering a plea of guilty on multiple charges ... so I'm very surprised," said lawyer Terry Ekl, who is representing Obrycka in a suit against the city.
At a court appearance Tuesday morning, Hickey told Judge John Fleming that plea negotiations had "not proven fruitful."
Talks broke down over the issue of sentencing, sources said. Prosecutors were adamant Abbate serve time in a state penitentiary, while Hickey sought probation for his client.
"We are opposed to any sentence that wouldn't send him to the Illinois Department of Corrections," Assistant State's Attorney David Navarro said after court.
The police chief in Newark has been suspended.
(excerpt, New York Times)
The mayor, Cory A. Booker, who appointed both Mr. Campos and Mr. McCarthy, released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying Mr. Campos would continue to be paid during the suspension.
“Both Police Director Garry F. McCarthy and Police Chief Anthony Campos are principally responsible for the dramatic decreases in violent crime for 2008,” the mayor said. “They both continue to have my steadfast support and faith that in their working together, Newark will have a great year in public safety.”
Many in the department say there are few signs that the two men are working together. Police officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the events that led to the suspension started Friday, when Mr. McCarthy issued a routine transfer and reassignment order, a responsibility that union officials say falls under Mr. Campos’s purview.
On the same day, Mr. Campos rescinded the order. On Monday, after meeting with Mr. Booker, Mr. McCarthy suspended his chief.
Mr. Campos did not return calls, and Mr. McCarthy declined to comment.
Labels: judicial watch, Making the grade, officer-involved shootings, public forums in all places
posted by Five Before Midnight | 2:22 PM
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