Summer in April in more ways than one
Grant Elementary School will be history, come June 13 since the Riverside Unified School Board voted 5-0 to close it. The prospective closing of this school had caused major protesting by the parents of students attending it.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
As of today, 42 instructional days remain in the life of Grant Elementary School, the district's oldest campus, which dates to 1889. The last day will be June 12 -- a minimum day -- according to the school's calendar.
The trustees' unanimous vote came a little more than an hour after board President Chuck Beaty opened a final hearing on the closure of Grant Elementary, which has the smallest K-6 enrollment among the district's elementary schools.
A succession of parents of Grant students and other concerned citizens pleaded with the trustees to think creatively and carefully consider possible solutions for keeping the school going in 2008-09. The five board members spent about 26 minutes discussing the matter before voting on it.
"It was decided before anyone walked in," said John Doucet, a Grant school parent, who did not address the board. "To me, the comments that were made before the vote, it just showed that they gave no consideration to our points of view, at all."
Riverside's not always been kind to its history or heritage, as evidenced by the near annihilation of most of the citrus trees. Now, a school with historic significance has been voted into the memory books.
Negotiations between the city and one of its police officers over the sale of a house which was once owned by a family whose 10-year-old son was murdered there, have led neighbors to fear the officer might be leaving.
Other negotiations between the city and the courts through lawsuits to buy properties which were used to house parolees in the same neighborhood in order to collect code enforcement fines will probably be much more successful. What's interesting is the city has acted like it's never been involved in inspecting and fining properties and then trying to get them put under the court's control so that the city can pick them up more cheaply. It might be new for parolee homes but it's not exactly new.
Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein expresses deep concern about the situation in Hemet involving the large money paid to the outgoing city manager, during these fiscally brutal times. The residents in Hemet deserve some answers but will they receive any?
Will the "Big One" hit the Inland Empire? Yes, in the next 30 years claim seismologists here. The last major earthquakes to hit this region where the Landers/Big Bear duo in 1992.
It might not be an earthquake but a a discussion of what Norco should do of all things, its manure has created great conflict that is shaking the well-known pony town to its core in terms of its future identity.
John Parker, who once worked as the director of the San Diego County Review Board wrote this commentary on how police officers thwart civilian oversight. If you remember Parker, he gave a presentation on what it was like to work in civilian oversight to the ad hoc committee created by the city council which was researching civilian review boards in 1999.
(excerpt, North County Times)
The two recent shootings involving off-duty officers, one fatal in Temecula and the other in which a mother and her young son suffered gunshot wounds in Oceanside, has led to a modest public uproar, as gauged by the North County Times opinion pages and Web blogs.
It is interesting that a considerable amount of angst has resulted, not from the shootings, but rather the lack of real information forthcoming from the agencies investigating these cases.
In fact, I am surprised that the North County Times has not already launched a campaign to establish more civilian review after being given the bum's rush when they sought to force some disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act.
Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies were left with just enough power to determine that certain types of information can be withheld from the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
Additionally and more troublesome, nearly 18 months ago the California Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling on peace officer confidentiality, which essentially bars law enforcement agencies and civilian review boards alike from disclosing information from their investigations of possible misconduct by peace officers.
The Supreme Court's decision stemmed from challenges to both the city and the county of San Diego's disciplinary process for police officers and county deputy sheriffs and probation officers ---- rendered after aggressive litigation by attorneys representing police and deputy sheriff's unions.
It effectively closed the doors to any level of public hearings involving peace officer discipline cases ---- unless the involved officer opts for an open hearing, which occurs seldom, if ever.
Parker raises good points. But if he took a close look fairly close to the area covered by the North County Times, he would bump into the Community Police Review Commission in Riverside where any commissioner who challenges the status quo (and few do), they're the focus of efforts from a variety of different corners to be ousted or "asked" to step down as is the recent case with Commissioner Jim Ward.
The Riverside Police Department is considered by many to be a model law enforcement agency, the product of hard work done on different fronts particularly during the last several years. But if it's a model agency, it's also appears to be a somewhat insecure one, because the impetus to dilute the effectiveness of the CPRC when fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to it by the city's charter has to have some purpose. The bottom line is, police departments which are secure in their spot on the chart advocate for and support strong and independent civilian oversight. Those which are less secure in where they're at on this continuum are of course advocates of diluted, ineffective and weak civilian oversight.
So if you want to know about your city or county's police department, check out to see number one, if there's a form of civilian oversight and why and how strong or how weak that mechanism is. Because civilian oversight mechanisms are after all, "canaries in the mine".
It's just a prank they claimed but several Ohio State Troopers are now facing discipline for displaying a photograph of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Star Press.
(excerpt)
Craig Franklin, a 12-year veteran of the Ohio Highway Patrol, is pictured in the Jan. 20 photo with a white cone on his head, white paper mask and a white cloth covering his shoulders, according to a highway patrol report.
Franklin is otherwise in trooper uniform. A handgun holster, a radio normally issued by the patrol and other police equipment can be seen in the photo, the report said.
Franklin and Trooper Eric Wlodarsky told an investigator that the picture was taken as a joke and was modeled on a television skit by comedian Dave Chappelle.
Highway patrol officials began an investigation after the patrol’s Administrative Investigative Unit received an anonymous letter that included two photographs of Franklin in the outfit, an interoffice memo said.
Franklin, Wlodarsky, another trooper and a dispatcher discussed Martin Luther King Jr. Day at their post on the day the photo was taken, the report said. The national holiday was the following day.
None of the 13 troopers assigned to the Sandusky post are black.
“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” said patrol spokesman Lt. Shawn Davis. “This kind of conduct cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Most of the time, the powers-that-be in police departments are extremely disappointed, but it still happens anyway in the 21st Century. Maybe there's hope for the 22nd.
The Eureka Time-Standard published this article about efforts by the Eureka Police Department and community leaders to work on resolving complaints. At stake among other things is the future of the current police chief who's contract was up for renewal. Or not.
(excerpt)
Friday's meeting, called with just over 24 hours' notice, was to consider Nielsen's revised contract. The council voted unanimously -- with Councilwoman Polly Endert absent -- to approve the contract after hearing from about three dozen people, whose takes on the situation largely depended on their employment status.
About 15 EPD employees, from officers to dispatchers, urged the council to hold off on approving Nielsen's new contract.
Some said Nielsen acted vindictively, punitively reassigning employees without regard for the betterment of the department. Others simply urged the council to hold off on any action until grievances currently with the city, as well as allegations of sexual harassment and labor code violations, could be thoroughly investigated.
The more than one dozen members of the public who addressed the council told a different story, saying they liked the changes in the department seen under Nielsen's watch.
The emotion in the room was palpable. Some council members and EPD employees shed tears, and a number of EPD employees, seeing the writing on the wall, walked out of the meeting before the council's final vote.
On Tuesday, Eureka City Manager David Tyson confirmed there is a pending grievance against Nielsen, but said he could not confirm nor deny that any sexual harassment allegations have been made, saying it was a personnel matter.
While Friday was the first public outpouring by EPD employees, things have been simmering under the surface at least for a number of weeks. A blog, created by people claiming to be employed by the department, surfaced last month with scathing comments on Nielsen and his alleged conduct.
Eureka's really been having several dialogues on whether or not it will institute any form of civilian oversight involving its police department. Several forums have been held on the subject and have elicited a lot of input from community residents.
Closing arguments started in the trial of three New York City Police Department officers facing criminal charges stemming from the 2006 onduty fatal shooting of Sean Bell. The trial by judge has lasted about seven weeks.
(excerpt, Newsday)
In his closing argument to a Queens State Supreme Court Judge, attorney Anthony Ricco said that Det. Gescard Isnora believed he was under attack when Bell drove his Nissan Altima directly at him the night of Nov. 25, 2006.
Isnora then fired at the car after it not only smacked into him but also after he saw Bell's friend Joseph Guzman gesture as if he was about to use a gun.
"What in the world was he supposed to be thinking?," Ricco asked rhetorically of Judge Arthur J. Cooperman, who is hearing the case without a jury.
Ricco was one of two defense attorneys for the cops who gave impassioned closing arguments in the case of the three detectives charged in the incident that took Bell's life and wounded Guzman and Trent Benefield.
It was self defense. So said the defense attorneys.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
"From what I can see, a beautiful young guy was hanging with the wrong crowd," Ricco said.
Bell was "pissy drunk" when he climbed into his car after his bachelor party at the Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica, Queens, Ricco said.
When Isnora, who was part of an undercover unit doing a prostitution sting at the club, stepped in front of Bell's car, Guzman "tells his young friend, who can't even find the bathroom, to take off," Ricco said.
"He cheerleaded, encouraged his young friend, to use his car like a battering ram" and strike Isnora, Ricco said.
Ricco, who is black, also accused Bell's supporters of playing the race card to "discourage me from doing my sworn duty." He drew gasps from many when he invoked Martin Luther King's words to make the case for the cops.
"Dr. King said, 'The arc of the universe is long but ultimately it always bends toward the truth.'" he said.
Three Alamance County Sheriff's Department correctional deputies in North Carolina are the subject of an internal probe.
What started with a minor requesting and receiving a tour of a jail facility ended in allegations that he was assaulted by deputies.
(excerpt, WXII12-News)
The sheriff said some of what happened might have been criminal in nature, however the details of the alleged assault were not made public.
"Apparently a young man was brought to our facility here for a tour at the request of one of his family members," said sheriff's department spokesman Randy Jones. "There may have been some physical contact that caused some concern."
Officers Gary Steven Helms, Hugh Atkins Thacker and Jason Lee Neal were all fired. A fourth officer, James Bernard Stutts, resigned during the course of the investigation, the department said.
Jones said the incident did not involve drugs, alcohol or sex crimes.
"We're not sure exactly why this was done," he said.
A deputy in Georgia was fired after being charged with onduty rape while a jury in Kansas determined that a deputy there used excessive force against a woman.
Ode to Summer (in April)
For more information, check here.
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
---"Dover Beach" (by Matthew Arnold)
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
As of today, 42 instructional days remain in the life of Grant Elementary School, the district's oldest campus, which dates to 1889. The last day will be June 12 -- a minimum day -- according to the school's calendar.
The trustees' unanimous vote came a little more than an hour after board President Chuck Beaty opened a final hearing on the closure of Grant Elementary, which has the smallest K-6 enrollment among the district's elementary schools.
A succession of parents of Grant students and other concerned citizens pleaded with the trustees to think creatively and carefully consider possible solutions for keeping the school going in 2008-09. The five board members spent about 26 minutes discussing the matter before voting on it.
"It was decided before anyone walked in," said John Doucet, a Grant school parent, who did not address the board. "To me, the comments that were made before the vote, it just showed that they gave no consideration to our points of view, at all."
Riverside's not always been kind to its history or heritage, as evidenced by the near annihilation of most of the citrus trees. Now, a school with historic significance has been voted into the memory books.
Negotiations between the city and one of its police officers over the sale of a house which was once owned by a family whose 10-year-old son was murdered there, have led neighbors to fear the officer might be leaving.
Other negotiations between the city and the courts through lawsuits to buy properties which were used to house parolees in the same neighborhood in order to collect code enforcement fines will probably be much more successful. What's interesting is the city has acted like it's never been involved in inspecting and fining properties and then trying to get them put under the court's control so that the city can pick them up more cheaply. It might be new for parolee homes but it's not exactly new.
Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein expresses deep concern about the situation in Hemet involving the large money paid to the outgoing city manager, during these fiscally brutal times. The residents in Hemet deserve some answers but will they receive any?
Will the "Big One" hit the Inland Empire? Yes, in the next 30 years claim seismologists here. The last major earthquakes to hit this region where the Landers/Big Bear duo in 1992.
It might not be an earthquake but a a discussion of what Norco should do of all things, its manure has created great conflict that is shaking the well-known pony town to its core in terms of its future identity.
John Parker, who once worked as the director of the San Diego County Review Board wrote this commentary on how police officers thwart civilian oversight. If you remember Parker, he gave a presentation on what it was like to work in civilian oversight to the ad hoc committee created by the city council which was researching civilian review boards in 1999.
(excerpt, North County Times)
The two recent shootings involving off-duty officers, one fatal in Temecula and the other in which a mother and her young son suffered gunshot wounds in Oceanside, has led to a modest public uproar, as gauged by the North County Times opinion pages and Web blogs.
It is interesting that a considerable amount of angst has resulted, not from the shootings, but rather the lack of real information forthcoming from the agencies investigating these cases.
In fact, I am surprised that the North County Times has not already launched a campaign to establish more civilian review after being given the bum's rush when they sought to force some disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act.
Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies were left with just enough power to determine that certain types of information can be withheld from the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
Additionally and more troublesome, nearly 18 months ago the California Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling on peace officer confidentiality, which essentially bars law enforcement agencies and civilian review boards alike from disclosing information from their investigations of possible misconduct by peace officers.
The Supreme Court's decision stemmed from challenges to both the city and the county of San Diego's disciplinary process for police officers and county deputy sheriffs and probation officers ---- rendered after aggressive litigation by attorneys representing police and deputy sheriff's unions.
It effectively closed the doors to any level of public hearings involving peace officer discipline cases ---- unless the involved officer opts for an open hearing, which occurs seldom, if ever.
Parker raises good points. But if he took a close look fairly close to the area covered by the North County Times, he would bump into the Community Police Review Commission in Riverside where any commissioner who challenges the status quo (and few do), they're the focus of efforts from a variety of different corners to be ousted or "asked" to step down as is the recent case with Commissioner Jim Ward.
The Riverside Police Department is considered by many to be a model law enforcement agency, the product of hard work done on different fronts particularly during the last several years. But if it's a model agency, it's also appears to be a somewhat insecure one, because the impetus to dilute the effectiveness of the CPRC when fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to it by the city's charter has to have some purpose. The bottom line is, police departments which are secure in their spot on the chart advocate for and support strong and independent civilian oversight. Those which are less secure in where they're at on this continuum are of course advocates of diluted, ineffective and weak civilian oversight.
So if you want to know about your city or county's police department, check out to see number one, if there's a form of civilian oversight and why and how strong or how weak that mechanism is. Because civilian oversight mechanisms are after all, "canaries in the mine".
It's just a prank they claimed but several Ohio State Troopers are now facing discipline for displaying a photograph of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Star Press.
(excerpt)
Craig Franklin, a 12-year veteran of the Ohio Highway Patrol, is pictured in the Jan. 20 photo with a white cone on his head, white paper mask and a white cloth covering his shoulders, according to a highway patrol report.
Franklin is otherwise in trooper uniform. A handgun holster, a radio normally issued by the patrol and other police equipment can be seen in the photo, the report said.
Franklin and Trooper Eric Wlodarsky told an investigator that the picture was taken as a joke and was modeled on a television skit by comedian Dave Chappelle.
Highway patrol officials began an investigation after the patrol’s Administrative Investigative Unit received an anonymous letter that included two photographs of Franklin in the outfit, an interoffice memo said.
Franklin, Wlodarsky, another trooper and a dispatcher discussed Martin Luther King Jr. Day at their post on the day the photo was taken, the report said. The national holiday was the following day.
None of the 13 troopers assigned to the Sandusky post are black.
“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” said patrol spokesman Lt. Shawn Davis. “This kind of conduct cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Most of the time, the powers-that-be in police departments are extremely disappointed, but it still happens anyway in the 21st Century. Maybe there's hope for the 22nd.
The Eureka Time-Standard published this article about efforts by the Eureka Police Department and community leaders to work on resolving complaints. At stake among other things is the future of the current police chief who's contract was up for renewal. Or not.
(excerpt)
Friday's meeting, called with just over 24 hours' notice, was to consider Nielsen's revised contract. The council voted unanimously -- with Councilwoman Polly Endert absent -- to approve the contract after hearing from about three dozen people, whose takes on the situation largely depended on their employment status.
About 15 EPD employees, from officers to dispatchers, urged the council to hold off on approving Nielsen's new contract.
Some said Nielsen acted vindictively, punitively reassigning employees without regard for the betterment of the department. Others simply urged the council to hold off on any action until grievances currently with the city, as well as allegations of sexual harassment and labor code violations, could be thoroughly investigated.
The more than one dozen members of the public who addressed the council told a different story, saying they liked the changes in the department seen under Nielsen's watch.
The emotion in the room was palpable. Some council members and EPD employees shed tears, and a number of EPD employees, seeing the writing on the wall, walked out of the meeting before the council's final vote.
On Tuesday, Eureka City Manager David Tyson confirmed there is a pending grievance against Nielsen, but said he could not confirm nor deny that any sexual harassment allegations have been made, saying it was a personnel matter.
While Friday was the first public outpouring by EPD employees, things have been simmering under the surface at least for a number of weeks. A blog, created by people claiming to be employed by the department, surfaced last month with scathing comments on Nielsen and his alleged conduct.
Eureka's really been having several dialogues on whether or not it will institute any form of civilian oversight involving its police department. Several forums have been held on the subject and have elicited a lot of input from community residents.
Closing arguments started in the trial of three New York City Police Department officers facing criminal charges stemming from the 2006 onduty fatal shooting of Sean Bell. The trial by judge has lasted about seven weeks.
(excerpt, Newsday)
In his closing argument to a Queens State Supreme Court Judge, attorney Anthony Ricco said that Det. Gescard Isnora believed he was under attack when Bell drove his Nissan Altima directly at him the night of Nov. 25, 2006.
Isnora then fired at the car after it not only smacked into him but also after he saw Bell's friend Joseph Guzman gesture as if he was about to use a gun.
"What in the world was he supposed to be thinking?," Ricco asked rhetorically of Judge Arthur J. Cooperman, who is hearing the case without a jury.
Ricco was one of two defense attorneys for the cops who gave impassioned closing arguments in the case of the three detectives charged in the incident that took Bell's life and wounded Guzman and Trent Benefield.
It was self defense. So said the defense attorneys.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
"From what I can see, a beautiful young guy was hanging with the wrong crowd," Ricco said.
Bell was "pissy drunk" when he climbed into his car after his bachelor party at the Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica, Queens, Ricco said.
When Isnora, who was part of an undercover unit doing a prostitution sting at the club, stepped in front of Bell's car, Guzman "tells his young friend, who can't even find the bathroom, to take off," Ricco said.
"He cheerleaded, encouraged his young friend, to use his car like a battering ram" and strike Isnora, Ricco said.
Ricco, who is black, also accused Bell's supporters of playing the race card to "discourage me from doing my sworn duty." He drew gasps from many when he invoked Martin Luther King's words to make the case for the cops.
"Dr. King said, 'The arc of the universe is long but ultimately it always bends toward the truth.'" he said.
Three Alamance County Sheriff's Department correctional deputies in North Carolina are the subject of an internal probe.
What started with a minor requesting and receiving a tour of a jail facility ended in allegations that he was assaulted by deputies.
(excerpt, WXII12-News)
The sheriff said some of what happened might have been criminal in nature, however the details of the alleged assault were not made public.
"Apparently a young man was brought to our facility here for a tour at the request of one of his family members," said sheriff's department spokesman Randy Jones. "There may have been some physical contact that caused some concern."
Officers Gary Steven Helms, Hugh Atkins Thacker and Jason Lee Neal were all fired. A fourth officer, James Bernard Stutts, resigned during the course of the investigation, the department said.
Jones said the incident did not involve drugs, alcohol or sex crimes.
"We're not sure exactly why this was done," he said.
A deputy in Georgia was fired after being charged with onduty rape while a jury in Kansas determined that a deputy there used excessive force against a woman.
Ode to Summer (in April)
As many people have noticed, there have been some recent unseasonably hot days followed by warm nightly breezes, a reminder that the summer months are nearly upon us. In times like these, think of something cool. Think of the water amid a sea of desert. Think of the ocean, where the limits can't be seen even when you reach the horizon.
Metrolink will be starting its very popular beach train series in anticipation of the summer months. Beat the crowds (and their surfboards) and order your tickets as soon as the box office opens. Don't forget your sunscreen.
For more information, check here.
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
---"Dover Beach" (by Matthew Arnold)
At Huntington and Malibu
They're shooting the pier
At Rincon they're walking the nose
We're going on safari to the islands this year
So if you're coming get ready to go.
---"Surfin' USA" (by the Beach Boys)
On the beach at night,
Stands a child with her father,
Watching the east, the autumn sky.
Up through the darkness,
While ravening clouds, the burial clouds, in black masses spreading,
Lower sullen and fast athwarth and down the sky,
Amid a transparent clear belt of ether yet left in the east,
Ascends large and calm the lord-star Jupiter,
And nigh at hand, only a very little above,
Swim the delicate sisters the Pleiades.
From the beach the child holding the hand of her father,
Those burial-clouds that lower victorious soon to devour all,
Watching, silently weeps.
----"On the Beach at Night" (by Walt Whitman)
Labels: Backlash against civilian oversight, civilian review spreads, officer-involved shootings
posted by Five Before Midnight | 2:02 PM
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