Here comes the heat wave!

"There are about a hundred questions I have and a hundred questions her family has And a lot of them begin with 'why.'"


---Rachel Hoffman's attorney, Johnny Devine to Tallahassee Democrat about her disappearance and death after working as an informant for the police department.




"There are better ways to solve these problems than by bringing in the 7th Cavalry and wiping them out. I would say we are in a war right now."


---Robert Salgado, Soboba tribal chairman and a cousin of those killed.




The shock is beginning to wear off at the revelation that Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge has tossed his hat in the ring to run for another term. He's got two fundraising efforts coming up in the next several months but will it be an easy road this time around or has he gone to the political well too many times? Much more exciting times to come as Election 2009 kicks off before Election 2008's even hit the backstretch.

If you're into another term with Loveridge and have money burning a hole in your wallet, mark your calendar with his May 28 fundraiser. He's got several more before he even hits autumn.


Some prospective candidates for the job were listed in a previous posting including several former and current city councilmen, but the name that's coming up most enthusiastically to run for mayor is another elected official. But whether or not he's seriously considering a run for mayor is not clear at this time. This is one city politician who people view as having done a lot in just two years in office yet when it comes to taking credit, he's the most understated elected on the dais.

It would also depend on whether or not the city's ready for a Latino mayor.


A heat wave is coming to town, with temperatures expected to near 100. This follows several weeks of the "June Gloom" which had shrouded this city.


The city council meeting this week was short, perusual and what was interesting is that it included both the business of the city council and also that of the Redevelopment Agency (which is the city council members wearing different hats). Some of the council members looked tired, several clearly didn't want to be there and others seemed to have some shred of enthusiasm for the tasks at hand. You'd think they'd been drafted, instead of volunteered for the great honor of being elected public servants in this city.



Fewer people have been attending the meetings, much to the delight of one city councilman who's been bragging that he's responsible for that, he and someone else. But if that's something to brag about, then that's pretty sad. The best civic leaders are those who welcome public input even criticism of their policies, not those who discourage it. As stated, the latter are orchids.

I met some prospective candidates for Election 2009, those who are thinking of running but aren't ready to make formal announcements yet. These are individuals who reside in Wards Four and Six. One of the prospective candidates thinking of a run for the fourth ward which anticipates a packed field of candidates regardless of the outcome of the supervisor's race, would provide great excitement to look forward to in the upcoming arduous and action-packed election cycle. It's likely that this individual if elected will remain in office the entire four years and not use it as a stepping stone for "higher" office. That's exactly what any ward in this city needs, but unfortunately, for the fourth and seventh wards, the elected officials seem to not think this is the level of political involvement which is appropriate for them. Councilman Steve Adams stepped onto the beaten path when he launched an unsuccessful bid to make it out of the Republican primary for state assembly not too long ago.

And people in Ward Four including those with ear plugs at night, including those who aren't the movers and shakers, including those who don't matter much, are thinking and saying in discussions that it would be really great to have elected representatives who don't have one foot out the door.

And the election next time, will probably have more of a showing than the 19% voters' turnout during 2005's runoff election. It should be exciting although will it live up to the anticipation building for the upcoming mayor's race? Only time will tell.

More to come on Election 2009, for sure. Given the changes to the schedule approved by the voters which made their debut in Election 2007, the process has been bumped backward into the preceding year, which for next year, is this year.






The Day of Heroes was moved by the city to October where hopefully the weather and people's vacation schedules will be more cooperative. It had debuted last year in 100+ degree weather and during August, when face it as many people take off and leave this joint as can do so. The city accepted some donations for the Nation's Night Out, because after all the city can't even afford to host the police department's citizen academy anymore, it needs every cent it can get for this well-known community policing event and program.

I left soon when Councilman Frank Schiavone started giving the Governmental Affairs Committee which he chairs credit for it. Doesn't he ever stop running for supervisor for a minute? He needs to take a deep breath, release it and remain grounded at where he is currently, like it or not, and that's on the city council. Okay, so maybe the guy's Atlas' understudy and can lift the world with one single hand, but a lot of people worked hard at the event to make it a success including Det. William Rodriguez of the Riverside Police Department, for example. It was a team effort like many things in this city are team efforts and are treated as such during the rare occasions that the city or county doesn't have an election year.

But then former councilman Dom Betro used the same Atlas strategy last year and looking back, one can see it worked very well for him. If he tosses his own hat in the mayor's race next year, will his strategy change?

The best leaders in government, politics or others, are those who don't take credit because they are secure enough in understanding their role in the scheme of things but they give credit to others outside themselves. We have members of government on the dais who do just this and occasionally, Schiavone does too, but what he's projecting now is an utter lack of confidence in his own abilities shown by his need to attach his name to everything. That's a shame because he does have them like anyone else and he's accomplished things. What he needs to do is to do his job and stop reminding people that's what he's doing. Any high-priced political consultant worth his or her salt would say exactly the same thing.


The supervisor's race has been quiet in the past couple of days, with nothing in the mailbox or on the answering machine. It does make one reflect during this quiet period of several years ago when Schiavone actually endorsed incumbent, Bob Buster for supervisor. In fact, legend has it that when Schiavone miffed one labor union who opposed Buster, his name was circled on a campaign fundraiser invite with the words, "you're next" written next to the circle. Meaning that if he supported Buster, that union would drop his support of him. But he remained steadfast, as the Schiavone of old often did. The union apparently didn't drop him and life went on.


Several years later, things are much, much different. When I heard Schiavone go off on Buster during a meeting in the office of Mayor Ron Loveridge, after Buster was quoted as making a comment on an issue in the Press Enterprise, I was a bit surprised not knowing the two men had fallen out. But then political alliances often shift and twist like a snake, and are as solid as quicksand after a rain shower. That's what makes them fascinating to write about, but whether or not that indicates that the governmental processes which pick leaders are healthy.

At any rate, as long as both candidates engage in their current campaign strategy of let's not focus on county issues, let's pick up the playbook from the Chris MacArthur campaign and turn it into an ad hominem attack on who forced the police department to do something it never has done.




I ran into some folks on the way home from the meeting who had watched the meeting on television and wondered why the meetings had gotten so well, brief. It doesn't seem like the city does any business in public anymore, people have said. One of the most commonly issued observations is how the city council no longer really has a discussion calendar, but it just includes reports on that calendar to avoid any controversial differences of opinion on an issue. The consent calendar is something to breeze through even as major city dollars are spent.





If you're a city employee, the best way to earn what someone called "beach days" from the city manager's office is to respond to his query for inquiries with an actual inquiry. So maybe if a representative of this office asks you, maybe you'd better just keep quiet and save your inquiry for a different day. So are these question-asking opportunities for real or are only like, rhetorical questions allowed?

Sounds like Lewis Carroll's Queen of Hearts yelling "Off with his or her or your head" when anyone looked at her wrong. Only she was somewhat shorter in stature.

So if the city manager's representative asks you if you have any questions, maybe you'll start hearing a lot of throat clearing instead and flash a quizzical smile.



The Community Police Review Commission plans to begin its formal discussion on drafting the public report for the Oct. 8, 2006 fatal shooting of Douglas Steven Cloud, or as the agenda states, the Stage II "fact certification process". For an explanation, you'll have to call the CPRC Executive Manager Kevin Rogan and ask him. I'm not entirely convinced that most of the commissioners are sure of what it means.

Even before the CPRC had been briefed by its investigator, Butch Warnberg, the city had settled a related lawsuit filed by the Cloud family for $800,000, which is the second highest settlement or verdict in relation to a wrongful death lawsuit in recent history. So what the commission's doing is moving Act One to where Act Three has come and gone in this production. But then considering the cast the city council has picked for this production, it's not really all that surprising.

Most of the drama and some of the discussion is expected to center around whether or not the commission will try to acquire copies of civil depositions given by Officers Nicholas Vazquez and David Johansen involving their accounts of the shooting provided in circumstances much different than those often faced by police officers. Even as some commissioners urged that, others seemed to blanch at the thought.

With the commission's return to discussing an officer-involved shooting case, expect a return by City Attorney Gregory Priamos or his designee to the meetings. Unless he only makes an appearance on shooting cases the city hasn't paid out on yet.

Speaking of the CPRC, there was more Seventh Floor Intrigue surrounding it in recent weeks which one city official did as he's done before and nipped it in the bud.

The city council in Riverside honored some of its dispatchers, the ones who are waiting for an improved facility to work in. Most of the upper management of the police department including Chief Russ Leach and Assistant Chief John DeLaRosa whose haircut is the only reminder of the illness which put him on the sidelines for several months. What was missing as usual were female officers, because besides one female captain, there's not much of or anything past the sergeant rank at this point in time.




Should the federal government maintain its Indian schools and keep them open? That's a question that's being asked about many of those schools including Sherman Indian in Riverside.



Moreno Valley's City Hall claims that it has enough of a reserve to off-set a $7.1 million deficit. I guess we'll see if that's indeed the case. It boasts that it won't lay off full-time employees which if true, is truly commendable, but that means that if you're part-time (and in many cities including Riverside, women and men of color are disproportionately represented), it's more like the lottery in terms of keeping your job, much like those several dozen or so library employees discovered, not to mention employees who have independent contracts with the city for labor have also found out.




Tensions between Sobaba Indian Reservation and the law enforcement agency which it once contracted its security with outline the background of a number of officer-involved shootings.


"We're in a war right now."



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



Salgado, 65, is proud of his land and close to his people. He says there are problems with alcohol and drugs, especially methamphetamine and cocaine. Gunfire, he said, is heard commonly, though he insists that violence isn't any greater here than most other places in Riverside County.

"I don't know how many weapons people have. It's not against the law to have weapons," he said. "I don't have any weapons."

As he drove along back roads Tuesday, Salgado was determined to find the spot where Monday's shootout took place. He found it near a shady area called The Oaks. He approached slowly, only to be confronted by a half-dozen deputies cradling rifles.

One demanded to know who he was.

"I'm the tribal chairman," Salgado replied.

The officer told him he could go no further.

Salgado bristled.

"See why I'm angry? You see what I'm talking about?" he asked as he drove off. "If I was the mayor of L.A. and I was visiting a crime scene, they would have said, 'Hey, how you doing?' but they treat me with no respect. Do we look like gangsters?"

Salgado said he believes some of the tension stems from 2006, when he canceled a contract with the Sheriff's Department that paid for deputies to patrol the reservation.

"We paid $400,000 and we didn't see the benefits, so we did away with the contract," he said.

A few miles away he ran into Johnna Valdez, 43, who said an armed deputy forced her and others to leave a basketball game in the school Monday night.

"He made us walk out single file. We all had to lift our shirts to make sure we didn't have weapons," she said.





Emails are continuing to be a factor in San Bernadino County, as this time tension in a board of supervisor contest is being highlighted.




Over two-thirds of all Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies were paid over $100,000 a year because of what some called "out of control" overtime spending, according to the Los Angeles Times.



(excerpt)



Twenty-seven deputies were paid more than $75,000 in overtime last year, a figure Anderson said could have been reached only by deputies violating the department overtime rule.

The top overtime recipient was sheriff's investigator Theodore R. Harris, who made $120,000 in overtime, bringing his total pay to $221,000 -- more than then-Sheriff Michael S. Carona and all five members of the county Board of Supervisors. To reach that pay level, he had to work an average of more than 30 hours of overtime per week.

Harris, one of four deputies who earned more than $100,000 in overtime last year, worked most of his overtime on patrol assignments, leaving his investigator's desk for a patrol car. The bulk of the department's overtime went to employees at the county jails, who were paid $18.3 million in overtime during the 2006-07 fiscal year, compared with $8.4 million four years earlier.

Concern about the deputies' overtime pay comes shortly after the release of transcripts from a grand jury investigation that found some deputies at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange had napped or watched television while on duty, allowing handpicked inmates to discipline other prisoners.

According to records, deputies at Theo Lacy were paid $7.8 million in overtime in 2006-07. During that time, inmate John Derek Chamberlain was beaten to death while a deputy assigned to supervise him instead watched the television show "Cops" in his glass-enclosed guard booth.

Anderson said a shortage of deputies has forced the department to fill shifts with deputies working overtime. One jail wing at Theo Lacy is budgeted for 40 full-time employees but staffed exclusively by deputies working overtime, some driving from other stations to fill the shifts.



The investigations continue of an officer involved shooting by Inglewood Police Department officers. Even the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's independent counsel, Merrick Bobb has put in his two cents on this incident.



Never a dull moment in the Orange County Sheriff's Department. This time, Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson deleted an email sent out to deputies to invite them to a fundraiser being put on by one of his rival candidates.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



In yet another political skirmish within the Orange County Sheriff's Department, acting Sheriff Jack Anderson ordered his staff to delete an e-mail sent to hundreds of deputies inviting them to a fundraiser for Anderson's political rival, the department said Monday.

Anderson said he made the decision last week because he believed the e-mail violated department policy -- and perhaps state law -- that prohibits the use of county resources for political campaigns. The e-mail was sent to the deputies' departmental e-mail accounts.


The president of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, which sent the e-mail invitations, charged Monday that Anderson's action was based on politics. The e-mail, sent Wednesday morning, informed members that they could attend the fundraiser that night free of charge because the union helped pay for the event.

"It certainly appears to be a political decision in nature, and politics are something we need to take out of the department," association President Wayne Quint Jr. said. "There are 1st Amendment issues here. If we were supporting him, I wonder what he would be doing."

The fundraiser was for retired Lt. Bill Hunt, who, along with Anderson, is among nine finalists the Board of Supervisors is considering to replace former Sheriff Michael S. Carona, who resigned in January to prepare for his upcoming corruption trial. Both Hunt and Anderson have said they intend to run for sheriff in the 2010 election.






In Florida, Rachel Hoffman was once a university student, but after being busted for drug possession, she became an informant for the police.

That might have cost Hoffman her life. She was discovered dead after a drug sting went bad, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Hundreds of people attended her funeral.




(excerpt)


Hoffman's parents, Irv Hoffman and Margie Weiss, gave tearful tributes to their daughter during the funeral at Temple Ahavat Shalom.

"She had so much love in her," Irv Hoffman said. "She had a spark to her."

Hoffman said that while he was at Hoffman's Tallahassee apartment, he noticed a magnet on her refrigerator with inspirational messages, such as "Be Alive," "Think Freely" and "Smile Often."

"This is the best way I can describe my beautiful daughter," he said.



Not surprisingly, many questions surrounded her disappearance and her death. Questions that have yet to be answered though investigations including one by Florida's State Attorney General office have been launched.

And there have been arrests.


(excerpt)


Two men, Deneilo Bradshaw, 22, and Andrea J. Green, 25, were charged with kidnapping and armed robbery after being arrested Thursday in Orlando; murder charges are pending, police said.

Police never took Hoffman to jail and didn't inform the local prosecutor's office of what they found in the search of her apartment, but instead offered her leniency in exchange for her help in arresting others. David McCranie, a spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department, said the practice is not uncommon.

"If we take her to jail, people are more likely to find out about it," he said. "It's an effort to maintain the integrity of the investigation."

The practice of not informing the State Attorney's Office is criticized by some legal experts who say it leaves too much power in the hands of police.

"When police make the decision (whether to charge someone with a crime), they're making the prosecution decision for the prosecutor," said Larry Helm Spalding, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Tallahassee and a former criminal defense attorney. "You have a system here that while it is very effective, it is also very subject to abuse."


And apparently, it can also lead to death.



Controversy and questions about the use of informants abound in the aftermath of Hoffman's death.


(excerpt, Tallahassee Democrat)



State Attorney Willie Meggs said it's common practice for his office to be notified when someone already in the justice system is recruited as an informant.

"I am not aware of that ever happening before," Meggs said of not being notified. "Typically, we do know."

TPD spokesman David McCranie said police limit the people who know who their informants are. He said Meggs' office is informed when someone on probation is recruited, but Hoffman was in a drug diversion program.

"We did not feel her participation as a confidential informant would in any way impede her ability to complete the diversion program," McCranie said. "If we need to make changes, we'll do so."

Hoffman's friends said she helped police because she was terrified of going to jail. Devine said that, had Hoffman asked, he would have given her the same advice he typically gives clients: Don't do it.

"It's not worth it to put your life at risk to avoid a prosecution," he said.




Many including the Tallahassee Democrat's Editorial Board believe that an outside review of Hoffman's life and death is the only way to achieve answers.


(excerpt)



The killing of Ms. Hoffman raises a different set of questions. Unlike the previous cases involving suspects' deaths, this time there is no reason to believe that any officer's safety was in immediate danger.

Rather, this killing poses troubling questions related to how confidential informants are managed, when it is appropriate to place them in potentially dangerous circumstances, and who should be informed before someone becomes, in effect, an agent of law enforcement.

Police have said that Ms. Hoffman, who was facing numerous felony drug charges and was in a drug diversion program, strayed beyond the bounds of her assignment and lost contact with officers overseeing the operation.

But authorities have yet to answer why a young woman — whose criminal past did not, according to public records, include weapons or violence — met with dangerous suspects to buy a gun.

Additionally troubling is the fact that while several of her friends say they knew that the young woman was working undercover, State Attorney Willie Meggs knew nothing. Mr. Meggs said he is routinely informed in cases like this.

Also troubling is the fact that Ms. Hoffman's attorney was unaware that his client was acting on behalf of police. Defense lawyers' are paid to look out for their clients' interests; it's a fundamental principle in our system. That Ms. Hoffman's attorneys did not have that opportunity only adds another layer of doubt about how this case was handled.

The system certainly needs to assess what went wrong. But for the sake of public trust, an outside review is necessary. Beyond that, it's time to start a citizen review board — not to impede law-enforcement agencies, but to enhance understanding and confidence in how they do their job.





If you are relocating to the "windy city" and are interested in working in civilian oversight, here is a job opportunity for you.



SUPERVISING INVESTIGATOR
Independent Police Review Authority

Duties:

· Reviews complaints and allegations and assigns cases to
investigative staff; monitors cases assigned to staff ensuring
investigations are timely and comply with established quality control
standards; reviews investigation reports prepared by staff, ensuring
compliance with established investigative procedures and standards.

· Performs preliminary investigations immediately after shooting
incidents, and assigns and oversees follow-up investigations performed
by staff; oversees the preparation of reports of individual accounts
of the incident under investigation; oversees the analysis of physical
evidence and technical reports from various sources including the
medical examiner's office performed by staff.

· Trains staff in investigative techniques, reporting methods and
departmental policies and procedures; advises investigators on
interviewing problem witnesses, effective investigative methods and
useful information sources.

· Supervises the preparation of investigative summary reports and
approves recommendations for disciplinary action; provides testimony
at criminal, administrative or arbitration proceedings against
departmental personnel.

· Oversees the preparation and presentation of cases recommending
suspension to the Complaint Review Panel, oversees the preparation of
unit work activity reports.

Qualifications:

Graduation from an accredited college or university with Bachelor's
degree supplemented by four years experience in the performance of
fact finding analysis and investigative research and reporting work,
or an equivalent combination of training and experience. A valid
Illinois driver's license is required, as well as the availability to
work any duty watch.

Salary: $80,124.00

Benefits: Medical, Vision, Dental, Flexible Spending Account, Long
Term Disability, Twelve Paid Holidays, Deferred Compensation, Pension
Plan, Tuition Reimbursement and much more.

Interested Applicants must apply at: www.cityofchicago. org/CAREERS
Deadline for applications May 26, 2008

NOTE: A copy of your resume is required at time of application.
Copies of your valid driver's license, official transcripts or
training certificates, will be required at time of interview/test, if
applicable.

Evaluation

Your initial evaluation will be based on information provided on the
application form and documents submitted with the application.
Applications must be submitted by the individual applicant. No second
party applications will be accepted.

Residency Requirement

An employee must be an actual resident of the City of Chicago. Proof
of residency will be required at the time of employment.






The New York City Police Department officer who stopped the department's highest ranking Black officer was disciplined.



In Atlanta, the prosecution rested its case in the trial of a former narcotics officer facing charges in connection with the fatal officer-involved shooting of Kathryn Johnston, 92, in 2006.


(excerpt, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)




FBI agent Robuck was the main witness Tuesday morning and he described a coverup that reached above Tesler and his two co-defendants. The three detectives briefed their sergeant, Wilbert Stallings, that they were changing their story about which officers witnessed an informant buying crack cocaine at Johnston's house at 933 Neal Street after Johnston was shot to death by narcotics unit officers.

"Sgt. Stallings was told there had been a change in the story and his comment, according to the investigation was, was 'Just pick one and stick to it," Robuck said.

The FBI agent described a police narcotics division that repeatedly lied to get warrants and planted evidence in investigations. Stallings, 44, was later convicted and is in prison on charges from another drug investigation that was turned up during the FBI investigation of the Neal Street case.

Robuck interviewed Tesler twice in the FBI investigation of police actions in getting a no-knock warrant to search for a reputed large stash of cocaine owned by a drug dealer, named "Sam," whom police believe operated from 933 Neal Street.




The End of an Era