The Riverside County D.A.'s office: The implosion within the implosion?

"They want a better quality of life, which includes more time with their family and friends. You have people working there almost 24-7. How long are you going to last doing that? Not long."


---Former Supervising District Attorney Brian Sussman, who retired.





"It is a brain drain. You lose your experienced folks, and those are the people who should have the best judgment. Secondly, it is absolutely demoralizing."


---Laurie Levenson, professor Loyola University School of Law





Current conviction rates for felonies:


(source: Press Enterprise)



In 2008, 39 percent of felony trials resulted in a conviction on all charges as filed, 32 percent resulted in mixed verdicts of guilty and not guilty, and 29 percent resulted in a hung jury, a not-guilty verdict or were dismissed, according to trial statistics compiled by Riverside County Superior Judge Gary Tranbarger.



Which at 71% is somewhat lower than the 91% conviction rate the office reported only several years ago.



What's been going on with the D.A.'s office in the past two years? I've talked to prosecutors I've known who quit or ones who said, they'd give it six months, a year and then they'd hand in their papers or take their retirement and they were burned out and tired. Some really committed, experienced, talented and very ethical prosecutors (and it's not just prosecutors feeling this way) including several quoted in the article. It was really sad to see them go but without discretion which was a huge complaint, the really good, honest ones just aren't going to stay and yes, they'll be the ones taking the pay cuts to take jobs in other counties if they feel uncomfortable at the ethics level, to work in Riverside County.



Some say if an implosion is taking place, it was inevitable because eventually what was going on in the backlogged, overrun criminal justice system (which managed to also pretty much take out the civil court system) was going to bounce back to one of the entities feeding that crisis. And apparently it has done just that. People aren't machines and if they're treated as such, they break down.

I once naively asked a defense attorney what would happen if every case filed by the D.A. went to trial. He looked at me, laughed and said the entire court system would collapse into one huge gridlocked backlog, which in a way, is exactly what's happened. Too few judges, too few courtrooms, civil trial conducted in renovated school classrooms and the threatened seizure (which was blocked by the State Court of Appeals) of family courts, probate courts and even small claims courts. Is even traffic court safe?

And now the inevitable exodus of D.A. employees.


We'll all have to stay tuned to this continuing saga to find out. Months after the emergency strike team of judges has left, the court system is still a mired mess. In it's own way, it mirrors the economic crisis gripping the nation in its own brand of deadlock.

So what's the latest crisis?



The Riverside County District Attorney's office has lost over 60 attorneys in the two years since the election of District Attorney Rod Pacheco. That's 20% of the legal work force within that county department, a turnover rate that no matter what the employees who still work there say or what experts say is going to impact its operations in a profound way.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

They said many have left because of Pacheco's rigid management style, aggressive charging policy and tough stance on plea agreements.

Some have retired, become judges or entered private practice. But the exodus also includes veteran prosecutors who left to take similar jobs in other counties for less pay.

"A lot of people who left are committed prosecutors and thought they would be a better fit someplace else," said Brian Sussman, who retired last month after more than two decades with the office.

Pacheco was unavailable to be interviewed for this story, opting to have Assistant District Attorney Bill Mitchell discuss the issues.

Mitchell said every agency has its share of turnover, and people leave for a variety of reasons.

Some are disgruntled because they didn't get a promotion and want to work for another district attorney's office, Mitchell said.

"You have that influx and outflow continuing to go on," he said. "In some years it is large, and some years it is small. At one point, I even looked into leaving (in the mid-1990s)," Mitchell said. "I don't know if it is anything new or different from what we have experienced in the 20 years I have been here."

Overall, Mitchell said the agency remains effective.

"I can't say it compromises our ability to prosecute serious cases," he said. "We will be capable and able to prosecute what comes our way."

Except that just like this country hasn't seen the "bottom" of the recession, this office hasn't seen the bottom of its recession either especially with the county offering early retirements due to the ongoing budget crisis.



Comments abound on this article's thread:





(excerpts)







By the way where is Grover Trask and all of these so called disgruntled DA's. If it were so bad why haven't they gone public?The PE loves to pass on their political views rather than cover news events in an objective manner. Did you think the press was unbiased?







Micro-managing and overbooking are not valid strategies. 14 people were charged in a Banning double homicide where there was likely one shooter -- and as a result of Pacheco's "throw the mud on the wall and see what sticks" mentality, everyone could go free. At least three are already acquitted, and the cost to taxpayers is unjustified and significant -- and for what?








Pacheco is a great at political spin and self-promotion. He has falsely portrayed himself as the only DA with the guts to go after gang members. Grover Trask went after gang members just as aggresively. DAs throughout the state aggresively prosecute gang members. The difference between them and Pacheco is that they don't issue press releases in an attempt to build their tough-on-crime reputations. They don't use the gang problem to gain political capital. Most just do their jobs in a low-key, self-effacing manner.



The PE should talk to the San Diego County DA, the Los Angeles County DA, the San Bernadino County DA, the Orange County DA. Ask them what they think of Pacheco? Will they speak candidly? If they did, it would be quite enlightening to members of the public that Pacheco has, thus far, hoodwinked. Despite his assertions to the the contrary, Pacheco's self-created gang-buster image is nothing more than bluster. He has not made a single citizen of this county any safer than they would have been had an honorable prosecutor been at the helm of the DA's Office over the last two years.






Pacheco has never gone after a single gangster. He wouldn't know how. The folks who do that work at Riverside PD and Riverside SO. The folks who put these gangsters away are the line prosecutors.......who by and large these days cannot stand Rod Pacheco.











I'll give Pacheco one thing for sure, he goes after these rat gang bagers and JUST FOR THAT I like him. The D.A.'s office is just like any other political office with power so let's not act as though the next guy is going to be any more holier than Pacheco.



I just want a D.A. that's going to enforce our laws and put scums of the earth on the defensive (the cholo gang bangers) or better yet, eliminate them altogether.Say what you want about Pacheco he's going after the scum that has plagued Riverside for too lomg.



I dont want Riverside to be another Los Angeles and having these gang thugs come here and then get an aggressive police and court treatment against them sends a message that gang bangers and thugs are not welcome.David Martinez









It is just not in the ranks of the attorneys. Look at the number of seasoned and veteran Investigators that have recently left the DA Office. Also, look at the number of Chief Investigators the office has had since the retirement of long term Chief Investigator M.J. Curfman.












Interestingly enough not long after ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol conducted raids in the Casa Blanca neighborhood in Riverside, agents in the Riverside office have complained of having quotas enforced on them that will result in discipline if they don't fill them.


(excerpt, Belo Blog)




Agents stationed in Riverside reported being ordered to arrest at least 150 suspected illegal immigrants in January and that two such arrests must lead to prosecutions, said Lombardo Amaya, president of Local 2554 of the National Border Patrol Council.

"They were told if you don't produce this, we will have to change your weekends off," Amaya said, adding that he will discuss the matter today with the sector chief who oversees the station. "Sometimes, like in politics, this agency is about looking good."

The alleged quotas, which involve only the Border Patrol's Riverside station, run counter to agency practice, which does not set a minimum number of arrests that must be made, said Lloyd Easterling, an agency spokesman in Washington.

"If we had quotas to fill and met those quotas, then would that mean we would be able to stop doing our job? No. Our job is to secure the border and detect, deter and apprehend anyone who is involved in illegal activity between the ports of entry," Easterling said.



The arrests must be made by Jan. 31. The raid was done in the Eastside on Jan. 29. It resulted in around a dozen undocumented immigrants taken into federal custody. Did they make this quota with two days to spare, before being disciplined? Quotas have no place in ethical law enforcement.





The gas company never went on strike and 5,000 of its workers reached a deal with management with only 10 minutes to spare.



Press Enterprise Columnist Cassie MacDuff asks why it's taking so long to remove San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus from office.



(excerpt)



Why is it necessary for three entities to plow the same ground?

District attorney spokeswoman Susan Mickey said the grand jury provided valuable information for prosecutors, but its focus was the office's operations, while the DA's probe has moved far beyond misuse of office. There's no telling when the DA's probe will be done.

Now a group has launched a recall drive, aiming to get it on the November ballot.

Which effort will finish first?

Supervisor Gary Ovitt hopes the independent counsel's will be done March 3. The board could vote on Postmus' removal that day.

Of course, Postmus could bow out gracefully, as he urged then-Supervisor Jerry Eaves to do in 2001 when Eaves was being investigated for public corruption.

Don't hold your breath. Postmus' lawyer, Stephen P. Levine, said his client hasn't been charged with any crime and deserves to be presumed innocent.











A bittersweet situation at Plymouth Tower in Riverside.






How to balance a $12 million dollar deficit. That problem will have to be solved by the San Bernardino City Council.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Assistant City Manager Lori Sassoon likened the scale of San Bernardino's budget problems to the sweeping cuts forced 30 years ago after voters passed Prop. 13, capping property taxes.

"Right now, the wise thing to do is to shrink back and regroup for when things recover," Sassoon said. "And that's what we're going to recommend."

Fresh from a $17 million budget shortfall last year, San Bernardino faces a new gap of nearly $12 million on its $148 million general fund by the end of the fiscal year, according to a Dec. 30 city report. That triggered an immediate hiring freeze and prompted Interim City Manager Mark Weinberg to ask city vendors to cut their bills by 5 percent.

Weinberg also has proposed closing City Hall on Fridays, shortening employees' workweek and recouping nearly $2.4 million from police officers and firefighters, for a total savings to the general fund of about $3.6 million by the end of June.

Further proposed reductions are "definitely going to extend beyond that, and it's going to be very significant," Sassoon said. "Nothing is off the table."

City Councilman Rikke Van Johnson said any cuts will hurt.

"When we addressed that $17 million gap, we cut to the bone," he said. "There's hardly any meat left."

Yucaipa is being advised to hold onto its reserve fund.







Black History Month kicks off this week and the Press Enterprise has published this retrospective on the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Riverside particularly during its most active period in the 1920s when Klan rallies were advertised in the daily newspaper and crosses were burned on the Box Spring Mountain and surrounding hillsides. And in 1925, there was a parade of over 100 Klansman downtown.


(excerpt)

A large crowd came to see the Klan rally that was open to the public free of charge.

On days both before and after the rally, Riversiders could see fiery crosses being burned on the side of Box Springs Mountain and on other hills around the city.

One night, a group of black people were holding a meeting in their church on Riverside's Eastside.

Fifteen hooded and masked Klansmen walked in the main door of the church, approached the altar, and, without saying a word, turned around and walked out to their cars and drove away. The purpose of the action was to frighten people in their church.

Interestingly enough, even though the Klan terrorized people, blew up churches and shot and killed African-Americans, Jews and even Whites who sympathized with either, this organization was seen for a long time as a social club rather than a gang.




The U.S. Postal Service's official greeter at the downtown office is retiring.






The United States Attorney's office is scrutinizing a group of Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of committing perjury during a well-documented incident that took place during a criminal trial. The version of events the officers testified did not match those shown on a surveillance camera.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)


An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the existence of the probe and said that Department of Justice officials in Washington, D.C., would ultimately weigh in on whether federal charges would be filed against the officers.

"We're investigating allegations that the defendant's civil rights may have been violated," said spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. She declined to provide further details.

Deputy Public Defender Victor Acevedo, Alarcon's defense attorney during last year's trial, said the FBI interviewed him about the case in December. He said that his client had been framed and that the officers deserved to face criminal charges.


"They have no business being police officers," Acevedo said. "Because they were willing to send an innocent man to prison, for what they did they should go to prison."

The officers have denied wrongdoing.






The BART Police Department's investigation into the fatal officer-involved shooting of Oscar Grant has been plagued with problems from the start according to the San Francisco Chronicle.



(excerpt)




BART police allowed a train full of witnesses to pull out of the Fruitvale Station in Oakland early New Year's Day after Officer Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant, then made little effort to contact the witnesses as they got off at other stations.

None of the seven officers at Fruitvale radioed that an officer-involved shooting had taken place. Supervisors sent to the Fruitvale Station initially were in the dark, while officers at stations down the line did not know to expect a train full of witnesses.

A key video showing that another officer on the station platform struck Grant two minutes before he was shot was available to BART, but police did not start a full investigation into the officer's actions until a TV station aired the footage Jan. 23.

BART has failed to provide basic and important information about the case to the public, even while promising transparency. The vacuum has been filled by attorney John Burris, who is seeking $25 million for Grant's family, and by speculation over amateur video footage broadcast on television and the Internet.

BART's response has been hamstrung by the agency's inability to say why Grant was shot as he lay facedown - or even if the shooting was intentional or accidental. BART officials say that is the fault of Mehserle, who refused to speak to criminal investigators and then quit before he was forced to talk to BART's internal affairs division. He has since been charged with murder.



A police chief in Michigan has been indicted on yet another charge. This time, fraud has been added to his list.



(excerpt, Flint Journal)



A federal grand jury indicted David Dicks on a charge of obtaining work force investment act funds by fraud, according to court records.

The indictment alleges that Dicks obtained more than $1,000 over a two-year period from June 2005 to July 2007.

The indictment comes a week after federal prosecutors charged Dicks with theft of government funds, claiming he collected more than $46,000 in federal funds for private security work for City Security, a contractor for Career Alliance Inc., at the same time he was on duty as a city police officer.

He is accused of submitting time sheets to City Security claiming he was on the job for Career Alliance during times when other records showed he was enrolled in college classes or being paid by the city police department.

With a Feb. 3 court date looming on last week's theft charge, prosecutors had less than a month to indict Dicks, dismiss the charge or reach a plea deal.

Flint defense attorney Frank J. Manley said he expected the indictment to come when it became clear that prosecutors wanted Dicks to testify against his sister and his father, Richard.





This is for anyone interested in attending an outstanding use of force training program.

The Americans for Effective Laws Enforcement (AELE) has a workshop entitled "Lethal and Less Lethal Force" scheduled for March 9-11 in Las Vegas. The two and one half day workshop includes outstanding presenters who will cover: Legal Standards of Use of Force; Lethal and Less Lethal Force Case Law; Psychology During Critical Incidents; Bio-Mechanical Implications and Explanations of the Confrontationsl Taser Policy, Procedures and Research; Sudden and In-Custody Deaths; Behaviors Implicating Less Lethal Force Options; Deadly and Less-Lethal Devices, Techniques and Strategies; Policy, Procedure, Training, Successes and Abuses and; The Aftermath of Lethal and Less Lethal Force Applications. Check the AELE Website for more information. www.aele.org




This isn't a blog that does advertising but Beatle Brunch on 99.9 did rock this morning.



I also got several emails that Breast Man struck again at Craigslist this morning, once again stating that my "little lumps" nearly made him barf but by the time I got to the site, it had been removed. An American man who upchucks at the thought of breasts. I never thought I'd see the day.




Meeting notice:

The Group will be hosting Paul Davis who's running for city council in Riverside's fourth ward. This will take place on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 from 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m. at the Coffee Depot on Seventh and Vine.

Mail call and meetings

I've received this "love" letter at Inland Empire Craigslist. I hadn't received one in a while (with the last being after I blogged about Officer Robert Forman by someone upset that I had done that) but this one is a zinger.

Someone actually is commenting not on any posts I've written but for some reason I don't understand they are talking about my breasts! Yes because what a woman says or writes has nothing to do with her brain and everything to do with her breasts! Which are called by this nameless charmer (and with his rhetoric, he must certainly be a hit with the ladies), "little lumps" which is a nickname for them I have to admit I've never heard before. He then continues onward by saying that they've (because it's not a "he", it's a "they") been paying close enough attention to my breasts on "recent cold days" where he says they are more noticeable. And that I haven't made enough efforts to restrain the little buggers. I've been so delinquent in my efforts to force him to stop looking at my breasts whoever he is that now the poor guy has gone off and thrown up.

Small breasts on women are the bane of men who spend their time looking at skin magazines and pornography and take those standards and use them on women who are of course, supposed to look like women who've been airbrushed and perhaps had their breasts sawed open and injected with implants (leaving those who've had the surgery in pain for weeks or longer) so they can fit this ideal. In reality, women's breasts are all different shapes and sizes and fortunately for the propagation of the species, men's tastes differ in them as well. Many men grow up and leave their idealistic views of what women should look like with their adolescence. Unfortunately, some like this individual clearly don't and they make sure that the female gender knows it.

Yet strangely enough these same men often try to portray themselves as God's gift to womenkind.

But seriously, who wants to have anything to do with a man who makes derogatory comments about women's breasts solely to make them feel less like women? If this guy acts like this in public, he probably spends a lot of nights alone at home wondering why women don't see the real "him". Oh but we do. Most women just don't think an individual like this one is worth investing the energy and time to set him straight on a few things.

Women should never feel ashamed of their breasts, small, medium or large and I explained this during a preliminary interview with a national magazine that forwarded my comments to 20/20 which invited me to appear on an episode about women and how they felt about their bodies. I volunteered to talk about very personal things because I believe that too many women feel ashamed or are made to feel ashamed because they perceive that their breasts or their legs or faces don't match up to highly idealized images put out by the media. Women disproportionately experience eating disorders in large part because they're trying to force their bodies to achieve some mold that it can never obtain and women die from them.

Unfortunately, the episode was scratched. Maybe the reality of women sharing these feelings and not hating their bodies or wanting to change them through surgery wasn't quite ready for prime time. But it's important for women to speak out and keep speaking out on these issues so that those who follow us don't buy into this one-size-fits all ideal for women's bodies.

It's kind of funny the juvenile tripe that shows up like this that is aimed at denigrating a woman's physical appearance in lieu of providing any argument of substance but I've really grown used to it. It's kind of sad that there are individuals who instead of looking at women as people simply ogle their breasts and then make commentary about them. Some of them are blatant in that when they address women, they look at their chests not their faces. Others like this witty wonder likely reserve their commentaries to online because if they went up to women's faces and made these comments, they'd probably get their faces slapped.

Still, imagine how you'd feel if some individual who claims to have seen you some place started showing online at some site being anonymous and making statements about your body parts? That's just creepy. There's no other words for it.


How did statements like these get associated with writing blog postings? Oh yeah, because women can't blog without it coming down to how our body parts stack up.

Here's the brilliant prose right here. In case it does get flagged so no one misses out on how succinct it is.


(excerpt)



Whats the matter. Mary can dish it out but she cant take an itty bitty (oh there i go again) criticism? Lets see how strong she really is and lets see howlong this one stays up. Really liked the suggestion that cup sizes be added to the save riverside poll.

When it comes to one of our favorite shriekers, FBM, we already know that she doesn't waste the time or effort trying to restrain those little lumps. Yup, they're out there for anyone to see if they have keen eyesight cuz their so small. But theyve been more noticeable on recent cold days. Just a bit too nippie, huh, Mary? Yuck i think Ive made myself want to barf.



If a woman's anatomy makes this poor guy want to barf, then that individual has more serious psychological problems than can be addressed in one blog posting by an unlicensed professional. But like I said, you really have to be strong to blog as a woman (and it's mostly female bloggers who are harassed) and as a woman in Riverside.


He's not the first anonymous commenter who ranted how my physical appearance made him want to barf. Another anonymous harasser once said they wanted to barf after watching me walking for two weeks in the Eastside, describing my clothing and then imagining what my underwear looked like. The purple sweater I wore that time that was described in that posting? I tossed it and never wore it again. It was weeks before I even walked in the Eastside again. Then I had some anonymous creep writing what I was wearing in the City Hall elevator.

Upon searching the Craigslist site (which can be difficult when there's lots of activity), there's one other posting written that mentions breasts (in reference to the Save Riverside Poll mentioned in this comment) and it's in response to a female poster who asked for poll questions. This person also lower cases the name of the organization, "Save Riverside" like in the case above.

Here he seems to be trying to make a love connection and at first you think that perhaps he wandered to the wrong section of Craigslist.



Hey Susan,

How about we have a poll on save riverside to see what the average cup size of the female riverside residents. In fact, why don't you go ahead and send me a copy of their response along with weight and contact information. . . oh and don't forget the portrait.

Yeah, that would be a whole lot more entertaining for us guys than the usual boring polls save riverside has.

- Tootles.



But his motive is to harass a female poster by making a crude sexual comment.

By the way, I disagree with one comment that the posting about me was written by anyone sitting on the city council dais because when I was getting cyber harassed in 2006, one of the few people who did express his sympathy about it was Councilman Frank Schiavone and despite my criticism of him, I did appreciate that. Just because someone harasses you for criticizing an elected official doesn't make that official responsible any more than in the case of anonymous harassers who claimed they were doing it on behalf of individual police officers. One officer was actually embarrassed by what some anonymous coward was doing purportedly in his or her name.

But this particular writer seems pretty familiar to me right down to signing his name on the second post including the way it's spelled not to mention how he misspelled "they're".
This individual said that I was not strong enough to allow his comment to stand but I have no intention of taking it down and would ask people to refrain from flagging it. In fact, to ensure that more people bear witness to this posting that's so profound in its intelligence and wit, I made the decision to bring it here because frankly, Craigslist is just not an adequate enough showcase to such brilliance by itself.

The real problem is that I can write it here but some people can't take that so what they do is they go post anonymously on some site usually something creepy that indicates, 1) they know who I am and what I look like and where I am and 2) they try to write something derogatory or threatening to discourage me from blogging.

And I don't usually blog about breasts on my site but some bullshit just needs to be called and that's that any woman should be expected to feel ashamed of her body.







Over 30 people including representatives from labor organizations and Casa Blanca residents demonstrated at the Magnolia Policing Center near Tyler Mall against a raid by ICE which took place at 6 a.m. near Madison and Evans in Casa Blanca in Riverside. Leaders of different day laborer organizations as well as Casa Blanca residents spoke during the protest. The target of the raid were undocumented Guatemalan immigrants who frequented some of the businesses including Home Depot looking for work. Very few of the immigrants detained were from Mexico.





Signs waved included:





ICE tears families apart at 3 a.m.





Stop racial profiling





Watching were the Central Neighborhood Policing Center (which includes Casa Blanca) Commander Bruce Loftus, Lt. Bob Meier (formerly the commander of the Central NPC) and several Central Investigations Bureau detectives.





Leaders of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network including Pablo Alverado said that over 40 undocumented immigrants were arrested for different citations including riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, blocking the sidewalk and loitering. They said that they were present when it took place and that several of those arrested were "clubbed" and that both Riverside Police Department officers and Border Patrol agents were involved in the operation. They said they then went to the police station to ask what was going on and the police representatives said nothing was going on and they had no knowledge that the arrests and detentions had taken place. The information provided that the raids had actually take place didn't come out of the police department until 12 hours later, they said.





One local resident said that she was on her way to her grandmother's house to drop off her children before she went to work around 6 a.m. Her teenaged daughter saw it first on Madison and Evans and said, "Did you see this mom?"





The resident then looked and saw officers lining people up and yelling at them. She said it was still dark but she thought the uniforms being worn by the officers were tan and green. If so, that would match uniforms worn by the United States Border Patrol agents.





For years, many community leaders in Casa Blanca and other organizations have been struggling to build a day laborer center there but with much resistance from City Hall and several said that their elected councilman, Frank Schiavone wouldn't come to their meetings. Police officers said there had been complaints of loitering and one Casa Blanca resident said that was because the community had been trying to work in getting a day laborer center built but City Hall had not responded during the past few years.





Alvarado and others said that they had videotaped the entire incident and had forwarded their concerns and evidence to their legal counsel who would examine it and see if any illegal practices or other violations had taken place. If so, they would file a lawsuit.





Loftus said that the officers were working on a POP (problem oriented policing) project that day as he had done when he was a POPs officer. The Border Patrol had not notified the department and that he didn't even know that the operation had taken place until 8 p.m that evening (which was about 14 hours or so after it had started). About 12 people had their IDs checked and were released. Another 11 didn't have identification and were taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol and one individual was driven home by a police officer. If that's true, then at least half of the individuals were arrested and detained for nothing more than misdemeanors who weren't undocumented immigrants at all. And it wasn't clear from information provided by Loftus how many of those who failed to produce ID and were taken down to the station were actually turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

This Press Enterprise article stated that the police department said it did its own independent sweep of the area later that same day.



U.S. Border Patrol has already deported legal residents and even citizens who were Latino that they collected from county sheriff departments including people with mental or learning disabilities and illnesses who can't communicate with deputies who immediately assume it's because they don't know English. One mentally disabled man spent weeks in Mexico while his family who were citizens like he was spent their financial resources desperately trying to find him.



Riverside County Sheriff's Department correctional deputies in Banning allegedly threatened one Latino man in custody with deportation even though he was actually a citizen. He was a man who was taken to Banning bruised all over parts of his body from being struck by a baton by a Riverside Police Department officer who arrested him in the Eastside last year that the Banning Detention Center sent a deputy to photograph his injuries so they wouldn't be blamed on their handling of him.





What's interesting is that the police department has complained in the past(and loudest of all has been Chief Russ Leach) about how difficult it is for certain populations in Riverside to come forward as victims and witnesses of crimes to assist police and that's a very serious problem that should be addressed by communities and police. One city resident complained at the Community Police Review Commission meeting last week about how the majority of homicides of the 20 committed last year remain unsolved, including the murders of two Latino teenagers in the Eastside in December (although it was implied in a recent Press Enterprise article that East Side Riva was responsible). But if that killing was Latino on Latino then why was there so much tension at two local high schools which include large populations of Eastside teenagers as their students, between Blacks and Latinos? Where was that tension then coming from and why did it erupt after the shooting?

Does that tension which led to the police responding with officers to quell it indicate that whoever shot those two teenagers on Enterprise Street were actually Black or are perceived to be such by community members? Family members have said that the trail is currently cold. A couple hoped that the city council could put up a reward in hopes of receiving more information about the case. That would be great if the city council could do as it's done on other cases and maybe that would help the police department.

But some of the mixed messages coming out about what's going on in the Eastside are perplexing.

People including police representatives in the past have even claimed that they're are no Black gangs left, that if there are any, they are passing through from Moreno Valley, San Bernardino County or even Los Angeles. And Black community leaders have said during the past several years that this is what they've been told. But is that really the case?

Latino residents in the Eastside have said that Black gangs are still present in their community and that they feel that if injunctions were filed, then they should have been filed against any or all feuding gangs. Black residents say the violence was bad enough, that like the Latinos, they were afraid to go outside lest they become targets. Latinos say that the latest crackdown on the Eastside feels like "marshal law" while some Black residents say it makes them feel safer perhaps because the crackdown in the Eastside seems almost entirely geared (at least the way it's being sold to the press) as against Eastside Riva which is Latino.

Two teenaged girls walking alone at night on their way to a youth training center, the same night that a man was beaten and robbed on Third Street only several blocks away from the Caesar Chavez Community Center said that they felt uncomfortable walking there even when a police car was parked in the lot doing a pretext stop. Why, they were asked. They looked at the police car and said they were afraid of the police.

Are two young girls who are afraid of the police likely to be calling them to report information on a homicide they might witness or about a crime they might have experienced? What impact might this have on crimes that are currently unsolved or future ones?


What's happening in the Eastside and how Latinos are being treated because some of their members are gang members while members of Black gangs aren't even mentioned as existing let alone being named, is a contentious issue. An arrest was just made on Latino gang members who police allege shot two men who community residents said were Black who were walking a dog earlier this month.

The men were wounded and the dog, killed. However, no arrest was made in the case of the two male teenagers whose (in an article by the Press Enterprise) death was linked to Eastside Riva. No one in the department said that those responsible were members of that gang but the allusion was there, because the gunmen might have believed these two men were members of Eastside Riva gang. That was the reasoning given by the police. So what about those who shot them, who may not have even been Latino for all the public knows? Because many of the shootings in the Eastside have been interracial over the years.



For at least 10 years, when there were murders and nonfatal shootings in the Eastside, they were mostly interracial. Black on Latino. Then Latino on Black. Back and forth, tit for tat in waves that could continue unspent for months. Beginning usually but not always during the summer months, not long after schools released their students for the year. Intensifying every third year or so.

Has the picture truly changed since then? There's no mention of any Black gangs being involved even as the East Coast Crips spray painted signs and walls in the Eastside in 2007 and 2008 laying claim to a huge chunk of the Eastside, stating that they were ready to "bang" with anyone who challenged them. This wasn't long after the temporary and then permanent injunctions were filed against Eastside Riva.

In a city where gang violence has increased and not just in the Eastside and the city's handing off the intervention and outreach responsibilities of its Project Bridge program to its parks' directors because it's fired Project Bridge employees. Police enforcement is important but so are gang intervention and prevention programs and active involvement by communities in the lives of the children who live in them. Including in cases where the parents aren't available or involved for a variety of reasons, who might fall between the cracks because the networks that exist for middle-class families might not be there for poor or working class ones.




If people want to have the debate about undocumented immigrants as they already are on the comments sections related to these articles, then that's fine. Go for it. The perspective that I'm interested in examining is looking at the communities of undocumented immigrant who with about 4.5 million of their counterparts already live and work here and their relations with law enforcement agencies and officers just as that goes for other communities in the city. And how do their experiences as a community that might not be engaged in community policing compare with other communities which may or not be in the same circumstances?

The Press Enterprise did a very good article about how the Riverside Police Department's domestic violence division handled a case involving an undocumented female immigrant who was being abused by her husband and there's language against the Violence Against Women Act and other laws which provide visas to victims of crimes impacting women so that they will come forward and report them. That was a policing success story, helping a female crime victim from a vulnerable population.



Stories have circulated about how Guatemalan immigrants have been the victims of hate crimes including assaults by Whites in some neighborhoods including Orangecrest (and in that area of the city, "white power" tattoos and twin lightning bolts are worn on bare arms in public). If this is the case then this is a terrible thing as any assaults would be, but if the victims are too scared to tell police what happened to them or are too scared to tell police what they've witnessed, then the police department has failed in its mission to protect and serve the public in this city because the sales tax which goes to pay for police budgets isn't just contributed by citizens or legal immigrants.



Many crimes including violent crimes are solved (or not) because of people who come forward sometimes during the most difficult circumstances (if it's family involved) to talk to police about what they know or what they saw or heard. If it's not for people from all communities doing this, many crimes would never be solved at all.



But what facilitates this communication? Trust or distrust of law enforcement by communities? Trust or distrust of communities by law enforcement? And what can be done to improve these interactions?

What roles are played by community leaders? And what roles are played by members?







Demonstration at City Hall in Riverside against the raids and arrests on Friday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.





The investigation and discipline of officers involved in shootings in the Inland Empire was the subject of two articles in the Press Enterprise.



Investigations of shootings by officers unfold over a period of months. Actually it's the review process that takes that long. If you look at case books on criminal investigations of officer-involved deaths, you'll find that the vast majority of the investigation and the paperwork it creates is done the first week or so.



If officers are disciplined for onduty shootings, there is no way to know. Since officers' actions are backed up by the law enforcement agencies pretty much from the first day, that in itself provides the appropriate answers. Either that or these agencies aren't being truthful with the public by upholding the officers' behavior in the press and disciplining them for policy violations in secret.




The Press Enterprise filed its lawsuit to unseal the search warrants related to the investigation of San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus but the presiding judge just said no to opening them.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Douglas Elwell stood his ground this morning, saying that public disclosure of such documents could harm an ongoing investigation.

Elwell sealed 10 search warrants Jan. 14, the day before investigators unexpectedly found methamphetamine inside Postmus' Rancho Cucamonga apartment. Investigators were initially searching for information relating to Postmus' political activities.

Elwell said he weighed the public's right to know against the secrecy needed to protect the investigation when he sealed the warrants as well as the documents justifying their execution.

Elwell said publicly releasing even selected portions of the documents could bring harm to a person he did not identify in court.

"There was no way I could make this more tailored," Elwell said. "There was some possibility the safety of that person could be endangered."






The trial has started with opening statements in the case of a former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy who while off-duty shot his friend to death while returning from a night out.


(excerpt, Belo Blog)



A San Bernardino County prosecutor on Thursday told jurors that Christopher Sullivan put his service gun in the mouth of Cesar Valdez and pulled the trigger after a night of drinking in April 2006.

His attorney argued that Sullivan, 26, only held the gun as he stood in front of his Upland home, and it was Valdez, 24, who pulled the gun to his mouth and caused the weapon to fire.








When it rains it pours in Oakland











The situation with Oakland's police department continues to deteriorate after the resignation of the police chief and the federal probe announced against the supervisor of Internal Affairs. And now documents have emerged that indicate there was a coverup of a beating of a man nine years ago.









(excerpt, Oakland Tribune)







The FBI is investigating Amaro's death, and police last week suspended a senior officer, Capt. Edward Poulson, with pay as his role in the matter is probed. Poulson is suspected of kicking Amaro and then ordering subordinate officers to lie about it.


Administrative charges against Poulson were sustained for interfering in an internal affairs investigation. Then-Chief Richard Word changed a recommendation to fire Poulson to a two-week suspension.


Last year, Chief Wayne Tucker put Poulson in charge of Internal Affairs. In announcing his resignation Tuesday, hours before City Council members were scheduled to call for a no-confidence vote on him, partly because of the Poulson matter, Tucker said he would have fired Poulson if he had been given the same choice as Word.


But Tucker also described Poulson as his best choice last year to head Internal Affairs.

A separate confidential document City Attorney John Russo wrote to City Council members in 2005 stated that Poulson was "permitted to issue directives concerning the investigation to the other officers who were being investigated even though he was (the) subject of the investigation."


Tucker on Tuesday ripped council members for criticizing his decision to promote Poulson even though they had been briefed on the Amaro case.


Russo declined to comment on the document Wednesday, saying "it speaks for itself." Poulson, who has not commented since his suspension a week ago, could not be reached.




Meetings:


Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. at City Hall, the city council interviews prospective candidates to fill vacancies on the Board of Public Utilities and the Community Police Review Commission.



Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m., the Governmental Affairs Committee meets to discuss the investigative protocol for the CPRC. City Manager Brad Hudson submitted this report on his proposal to use Long Beach's own protocol to direct "reviews" (as he never mentions the word "investigations") of officer-involved deaths. The report contains many flaws in its historical facts which is to be expected because it was drafted by individuals who weren't in Riverside when the CPRC was created through a vote taken by the city council and to compensate for that short-coming did a very poor job of researching local history. I have to admit that after reading the report, I had a good old belly laugh especially over the invocation of the legal proceedings surrounding the current governor of Illinois. And then I found myself hoping that Hudson's protocol does make it to the full city council. It's pretty and it's grand, brilliant in its own way and more than worthy of the $285,000 per year in tax dollars going to pay Hudson's salary.

But then again, the Titanic was all these things too before it hit the iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, because it was beautiful, grand but alas, also contained several key flaws in its design.




This was pretty much anticipated by those following the case of the BART officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant on New Year's Day but now the officer's own attorney is saying that his client may have mistaken his gun for his taser.

Judge Combest: Former Riverside Police Officer Robert Forman is going to trial

The preliminary hearing for former Riverside Police Department Officer Robert Forman began this morning in front of Judge Ronald R. Combest in C3 which might be the former elementary school that's been converted into a court facility but that's just a suggestion that I received. The odd thing is that the use of the elementary school if that's where the mysterious C3 actually is located was supposed to be reserved for civil case hearings and trials and not those involving criminal cases. There was some concern that the renovated classrooms couldn't provide the same security for criminal proceedings as could be provided by a regular court facility.

The case minute record from Jan. 23 actually shows that Forman was ordered by the judge to report to the downtown courthouse in Riverside to Dept. 42 for his preliminary hearing on Jan. 29 but that hearing was vacated and Forman's hearing was moved to 11:20 at this dept. C3 without a minute trail.

There's actually no reference on the court's Web site to where exactly C3 is so it will just be called the shadow courtroom where a public servant who once was paid tax dollars gets to have his preliminary hearing. So if you're charged with sexually assaulting women, it doesn't hurt to be a police officer because most individuals would have had to sit in Dept. 42 for three hours and then drive or travel to the other venue And there's usually a minute trail of the decision of the presiding judge to send their case to another venue and the time that it was sent out. But there's no such order online in this case. In this case, that early morning appearance in Dept. 42 was vacated meaning that it never took place.

Further inquiry and it turned out that C3 actually is located at a structure in Corona but guess what, the Corona courthouse isn't included on the "Locations" page either. And what's also interesting in a different context is that Combest is a retired judge from Mendocino County. He's been working on and off in the courts in this county since at least 2007.

There's a lot of judges still working on and off in Riverside County. In fact, a lot of the judges that people thought had retired are actually working on handling cases in the overcrowded Superior Court system. A lot of the emphasis of using retired judges was to handle the backlog of civil cases but according to that list, quite a few of them are actually assigned to handle the criminal case backlog.

But there was still no minute trail leading from Dept. 42 in Riverside to C3 in Corona.

Here's the minute order from the preliminary hearing that took place in the "shadow" courtroom.

AT 11:15, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

HONORABLE RONALD R. COMBEST PRESIDING.

COURTROOM ASSISTANT: LAK-L. KING

COURT REPORTER: JEB-JANE E. BRUGGER

PEOPLE REPRESENTED BY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY ELAN ZEKSTER.

DEFENDANT REPRESENTED BY PVT-MARK JOHNSON.

DEFENDANT PRESENT.

ORAL MOTION BY PEOPLE REGARDING DESIGNATE INVESTIGATING OFFICER IS CALLED FOR HEARING.

MOTION GRANTED

SERGEANT JULIAN HUTZLER DESIGNATED AS INVESTIGATING OFFICER.

AT 11:16, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

PEOPLE'S WITNESS, DETECTIVE LINDA BYERLY IS SWORN AND TESTIFIES.

LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT THE WITNESS IDENTIFIES

THE DEFENDANT FROM THE WITNESS STAND.

AT 11:44, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

WITNESS DETECTIVE LINDA BYERLY EXCUSED.

AT 11:45, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

PEOPLE'S WITNESS, SERGEANT JULIAN HUTZLER IS SWORN AND TESTIFIES.

AT 12:00, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

COURT IS IN RECESS.

SAVE MINUTE ORDER TO CASE.

AT 1:30, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

PEOPLE'S WITNESS JULIAN HUTZLER, PREVIOUSLY SWORN, RESUMES THE WITNESS STAND.

LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT THE WITNESS IDENTIFIES

THE DEFENDANT FROM THE WITNESS STAND.

AT 2:19, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HELD:

WITNESS SERGEANT JULIAN HUTZLER EXCUSED.

PEOPLE REST.

ORAL MOTION BY DEFENSE REGARDING REQUEST TO DISMISS LACK OF EVIDENCE IS CALLED FOR HEARING.

MOTION DENIED.

COURT FINDS SUFFICIENT CAUSE TO HOLD THE DEFENDANT TO ANSWER ON ALL CHARGES.

INFORMATION ARRAIGNMENT SET FOR 02/17/2009 AT 8:30 IN DEPARTMENT 42.

DEFENDANT ORDERED TO RETURN ON ANY AND ALL FUTURE HEARING DATES.

CURRENT BAIL BOND CONTINUED.

SAVE MINUTE ORDER TO CASE.




In normal words, this means that Forman will be moving ahead in his criminal case and will face a formal arraignment on the three felony charges including two counts of oral copulation under the color of authority and sexual battery. He'd already been fired from the police department.

In an aside, the minutes indicate that Hutzler is a sergeant. If that's true, that would make him the third Oceanside Police Department lateral to be promoted to that position this year following Dan Warren and Chad Milby, an impressive streak.





Numerous arrests by ICE at a day laborer site in Casa Blanca in Riverside have led to protest of that action including a possible demonstration at one of Riverside's police stations. Reports by individuals apparently said that several of those detained and arrested were beaten in the process and that local police officers participated in the arrests. A lot about this incident remains cloudy.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Border Patrol spokesman Agent Richard Velez said he could not confirm the exact number of arrests but said it probably was not as many as 30.

Suzanne Foster, executive director of the day-laborer group, said members of her organization and the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network witnessed and filmed the arrests, which occurred between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m.

"The Border Patrol is going out of its bounds," Foster said. "We don't think the Border Patrol should aggressively raid people walking down the street or riding their bikes and not committing any crimes."

She accused the Border Patrol of racial profiling, by stopping random Latinos on the street.

Velez defended the arrests and denied targeting any ethnic group.

"We have a mandate from Congress to enforce our immigration laws, and that's what we're doing," he said.





A demonstration of 30-35 people took place at Caesar Chavez Community Center in the Eastside of Riverside against the death of a young woman by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department near Lake Matthews.

Also in attendance was a representative from the U.S. Justice Department's Community Relations Division, James A. Williams III who covers the Western region. Dropping by was Sgt. Don Tauli who works in the East Neighborhood Policing Center (with Sgt. Val Graham switching to the North NPC) who advised marchers to be careful crossing the streets during their march to the Sheriff's Department's administrative headquarters downtown.




Even though the city council's trying to force Greyhound out of downtown Riverside, the RTA will be staying at its current location instead of moving to where it had been heading near the Metrolink station.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




City officials said they are committed to finding a new spot for Greyhound.

"We're not sure what impact that will have on the project," Rouzaud said. "We phoned city officials after we saw the article ... they have not returned any of our e-mails or phone calls."

The intermittent communication between bus and city officials was worrisome to transit board members.

"Frankly I am a little miffed they are not returning phone calls or e-mails," said bus agency board chairwoman Karen Spiegel.

Bus officials were aware the city was considering extending Greyhound's time on Fairmount, said Riverside councilman Mike Gardner, who brokered the extension.

"The executive director (of the bus agency) was sitting there when I said I had made the offer in a public meeting," Gardner said.

Rouzaud said after the meeting that Greyhound's six-month extension would not affect plans or construction of the bus system's new terminal, but prolonged delays in moving Greyhound could hurt the project.






Here are some poll questions including one about whether the city manager or city attorney in cities should be an elected position instead of an appointed one. An anonymous cyber bully with his hands down his pants (and the feminization of men's names reminds me of one visitor to my site with a penchant for paddling ) has already weighed in on the poll but there is still plenty of opportunities to weigh in.

Most cities appoint city attorneys including Riverside. Others like San Bernardino, Huntington Beach and Los Angeles elect them. Riverside's own, Gregory Priamos is in a position of being the "four vote" legal counsel meaning that he needs at least four votes on the city council to keep his job. Does that pose the risk that he and other appointed city attorneys will shape their interpretations of issues and laws to please their constituents which are the elected officials? Who directs them?

Of course, city attorneys who are elected risk being politicized in a different way, because they receive campaign donations from contributors while running for an elected seat? What would it say about a city attorney if he or she received huge donations from some of the same development firms which clog the campaign contribution disclosure lists of several elected officials currently serving on the dais in Riverside?

The same debate has come up in law enforcement as well in a country where cities tend to appoint chiefs and counties tend to elect sheriffs. Scandals have plagued the heads of different law enforcement agencies whether they've been chiefs or sheriffs. But the difference is that the sheriff is theoretically accountable to the voters as well as his employees while police chiefs are quite a few degrees removed from being accountable to their cities' residents. Chiefs are also more vulnerable to being ousted by their employees' labor unions through no confidence votes.





Some people on Hemet's city council want to reform the city including through the imposition of term limits and an independent review of the city's financial situation involving its public safety departments which have seen layoffs and other cuts.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



McBride said many of the issues raised are things he thinks need to be dealt with.

"I'm glad they're jumping on my bandwagon," McBride said.

In their letter, Franchville and Youssef, who ran as a slate in the elections last fall, said they "favor a much smaller and more efficient" local government.

They said they do not plan to take advantage of health benefits available to council members and will not accept city-issued credit cards.

The issues they raised include:

Proposing a local term-limit initiative to go before voters.



Hiring an independent party to conduct a fiscal analysis of the police and fire departments and review "options available to the city" in terms of public safety services.

Contracting out more services now provided by Hemet's Public Works Department.

Returning City Hall business hours to an eight-hour-a-day, five-day work week, instead of the current extended hours and every other Friday off.

McBride said he supports the idea of term limits but doesn't think this year is the right time to put a measure before voters.

He said he prefers drawing up a "strategic plan" for police and fire, outlining how the departments plan to deploy resources instead of hiring an auditor.








The battle over sealed search warrants in the case of San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus begins in earnest by the Press Enterprise.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The newspaper is challenging a Jan. 14 order by San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Douglas Elwell sealing all search warrant documents leading to the Jan. 15 raids of 10 locations in San Bernardino and Orange counties.

"The assessor is under investigation for public corruption," the document says. "It is difficult to imagine a circumstance in which maintaining public trust in the integrity of the judicial process is more crucial."

A hearing is scheduled for this morning.

Postmus was arrested on suspicion of two drug offenses when investigators raided his Rancho Cucamonga apartment in search of information relating to his political activities.

Elwell's order, obtained by The Press-Enterprise, says only that he determined that "good cause" had been shown to justify the sealing.

The newspaper argues that Elwell's order goes against California law, which requires that court records be sealed only "in the rarest of circumstances."









The mayor of Norco gave a state of the city address. She said that times were tough but that her city had a bright economic future.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Azevedo told the audience that the city has worked to keep expenditures under control by not replacing employees who have left.

In 2008, 10 positions were eliminated after the employees left, and two were eliminated this year, she said.

At the same time, the city has increased its reserve funds, with the reserve projected to be about $6.2 million at the end of this fiscal year, Azevedo said.

"We must continue to be fiscally prudent as reserves can be exhausted quickly," Azevedo said.

Federal prosecutors dropped corruption charges against the wife and mistress of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.

After Carona was acquitted of most of his charges, a judge ordered that the charges for both women be dropped.









Oakland's police chief has resigned but here's one major reason why. Amid a series of controversial incidents involving the police, it turns out that the department's internal affairs division was in tatters and that its supervisor was under investigation for an onduty murder and a cover up.



(excerpt, San Jose Mercury News)

The beating allegations are just one aspect of a wide-ranging FBI probe covering many of the department's recent high-profile problems, including the handling of the 2007 slaying of journalist Chauncey Bailey, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of workplace reprisals.

Capt. Edward I. Poulson, who heads Internal Affairs, was suspended with pay by the department Thursday.

Poulson, of Danville, did not return messages. Police Chief Wayne Tucker refused requests for an interview. In a written statement released Thursday night, Tucker said the department was cooperating with the FBI.

The FBI is investigating allegations that Poulson, working with an undercover team in April 2000, kicked a drug suspect, breaking his ribs, the sources said. The suspect, Jerry Amaro, died about a month later of pneumonia caused by broken ribs and a collapsed lung, according to a coroner's report. Before Amaro died, he told several people about the incident, according to police reports.

Internal Affairs investigators at the time found that Poulson ordered subordinate officers to lie about his involvement, and those investigators called for his firing, according to the sources. Then-Chief Richard Word instead suspended Poulson for two weeks. No charges were brought in Amaro's death after a homicide investigation, the sources said.

Someone criticized me once for being too harsh on Oakland Police Department which is under a consent decree of sorts but not by the federal or state law enforcement agencies. Its decree came about through lawsuits filed by its city residents. Not to mention that a White officer racially profiled a Black officer in the same department and shot and killed him. Not to mention that the department had organized gangs within the department. Is anyone shocked that the supervisor of the division which is supposed to try to keep all this behavior in check might be facing serious criminal charges himself?

They shouldn't be. Any police department who is in this situation deserves a consent decree.





Citizen complaints against the New York City Police Department are getting a closer look.

CPRC briefed on the Hyatt shooting; Now the wait begins...

***Update***

Former Riverside Police Department Officer Robert Forman's preliminary hearing transferred to Dept. #3 in the Riverside County Superior Court's older courthouse. He's facing three felony charges of onduty sexual misconduct filed against him in October.




Court records provided more information on an incident in Rubidoux where four Riverside Police Department officers became trapped in a residence while serving a warrant and were rescued by other law enforcement officers from different agencies who responded including the Riverside Police Department SWAT Team.

Officers Darren Hill, David Castañeda, Eric Hibbard and Michael Crawford were placed on administrative leave after the incident which ultimately led to the arrest of Joe Luis Armenta.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



According to the declaration in support of an arrest warrant, the officers went to the home at about 9 p.m. on Jan. 6 to arrest Armenta on an outstanding San Bernardino County warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

After no one responded to a knock at the door, Castañeda and Hibbard went around back and entered the home through a second story balcony door, triggering an alarm system, according to the declaration.

Meanwhile, the other officers identified themselves and demanded entry, which the man inside refused.

When shooting erupted inside the home, Hill and Crawford climbed in through the same balcony window.

But the four officers were pinned down on the second floor when Armenta hid in a downstairs laundry room that had a direct line of fire to the escape route and began using his red laser sight to search out the officers.

The declaration does not give details of the rescue.







Capt. Mark Boyer of the Riverside Police Department gave the department's presentation on its initial investigation into the fatal officer-involved shooting of Russell Franklin Hyatt to the Community Police Review Commission.


The police department had received calls for service on Saturday, Jan. 17 about Hyatt threatening to kill himself with his handgun. Boyer responded to a question from a commissioner about whether he had threatened to shoot other family members by saying yes. An earlier Press Enterprise article stated that Hyatt's wife had said that he had only threatened to shoot himself and hadn't aimed the gun at any of the family members.

Another call was made to the police and Hyatt was found on Mulberry Street

Hyatt lied on his stomach on the ground and aimed his weapon and then got up on his knees and according to the police department, aimed his weapon. One officer who was not identified (and that's more the trend with shootings in recent months despite a legal opinion on the issue released by State Attorney General Jerry Brown) fired twice, hitting Hyatt once and a garage. The handgun found on Hyatt was later found to belong to an acquaintance and Hyatt had taken it without this person's permission.


More on the Hyatt death here.




Boyer said that no shotgun was discharged in the incident as stated in a Press Enterprise article and he wasn't sure where that information had come from.


The Press Enterprise article on the Hyatt shooting is here.


The department press release on the shooting is here.




For the first time, no one on the CPRC requested or proposed a motion that the commission launch an investigation into the death of Hyatt. Some members including City Attorney Gregory Priamos and Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis who sat in the audience for a while perhaps waiting for something like that to happen before leaving the meeting, which was actually one of the shortest meetings in recent memory clocking in at just around two hours.

If you can recall, the CPRC approved motions to launch independent investigations into the deaths of Carlos Quinonez, Fernando Sanchez and Marlon Acevedo, but Executive Manager Kevin Rogan refused to contact one of the commission's two investigative firms to conduct an investigation on any of these cases. In addition, City Manager Brad Hudson had authorized City Attorney Gregory Priamos to serve as the CPRC' s Treasurer and to refuse to allow the commission to spend any of the funding provided in its annual budget for investigations.

However, the commissioners who have made motions to have the commission initiate investigations have either had their efforts thwarted by Priamos' rather opportunistic interpretation of the Brown Act or by letters sent to them by Councilman Frank Schiavone. The CPRC will have yet another stake driven into its heart at the Governmental Affairs Committee (which is chaired by Schiavone) on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. on the Seventh Floor of City Hall.





The CPRC is still discussing the drafting of a public report in connection to the Oct. 19 fatal officer-involved shooting of Joseph Darnell Hill. Yes, the correct year is 2006. It's taken over two years for this case to return to the CPRC and undergo its process there. This is what the CPRC has to look forward to in the upcoming years since the Hudson directive essentially grounded its ability to investigate officer-involved deaths in an independent, parallel and timely manner.

More questions came up from Leslie Braden, who's Hill's sister over conflicting statements given by the officers and civilian witnesses regarding whether or not Hill had one of the officer's taserin his position when he was shot and killed.

One civilian witness had said that Hill was reaching for a taser assigned to Officer Giovanni Ili when he was shot by Officer Jeffrey Adcox. Both Adcox and Ili said that Hill had the taser in his hands when he was shot. The department's investigative team tried to collect DNA samples and latent fingerprints off of the device but were unable to obtain usable samples for identification purposes.

Jim Ward said that he was concerned that Ili had said in his interview that he had turned on his department-equipped digital recorder when Hill began to get argumentative but transcripts of Ili's recording include only a conversation with a witness that took place after the shooting. Adcox recorded portions of his second contact with Hill but not his first contact, even though while interviewed by detectives, Adcox said he regularly activated his digital recorder before he left his vehicle.

Brian Pearcy, who chairs the commission responded to Braden's concern about the exclusion of one fact which was that Adcox had run a check on Hill's license and it had come back "1030" meaning that he wasn't on probation or parole.

The commission moved past the fact listing phase and went to the policy certification phase where they asked for training on tasers, use of force and collecting fingerprints. Executive Manager Kevin Rogan said he was trying to schedule the training with the police department's training division which had undergone a supervisor shift change but that it probably wouldn't be soon.



Information from the investigations into the Hill shooting.


Riverside Police Department's Officer-Involved Death investigation


CPRC investigator's report





After nearly six weeks, the new police station located in the downtown bus terminal finally received its signage. The station serves as the new home for both the North Neighborhood Policing Center and the Internal Affairs Division. It's a mystery why it took so long for the signage to appear on the building that's been housing the Internal Affairs Division since mid-December and why the general services was only given two weeks notice that the division would be moved from its former digs on Central Avenue by the city manager's office. The general services representatives who were assessing the site several weeks ago did say that work remained to be done both on the exterior and interior portions of the building.

However, what was interesting about the new signs is that one of them designated the right section of the terminal building as being used to house both the NPC and the Internal Affairs Division, which if that's true would be quite crowded and not provide the separation for the two divisions that city representatives assured would be there.

The woes of the Internal Affairs Division since its move were noted in a matter of speaking by CPRC Executive Manager Kevin Rogan when asked to update the commission on the complaint review process going paperless. He said that the Internal Affairs Division representative said that he was working on it but that the division was still in the process of adjusting to its relocation.

The building is scheduled for a water blasting to improve its appearance and more cement signage is being constructed for the parking area of the police facility.




An environmentalist group and the city of Riverside settled a lawsuit over growth and development of housing projects.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Friends of Riverside's Hills sued, saying the plan was flawed because it failed to adequately consider the substantial environmental impacts it could cause.

Under the settlement, the city agreed to several changes to the plan meant to strengthen environmental protections and improve quality of life.

Friends' member Len Nunney and Supervising Deputy City Attorney Kristi Smith said the document is better as a result of the settlement.

"The issues on which we felt most strongly got a reasonable response" from the city, said Nunney, a biology professor at UC Riverside.

The council has approved the settlement and is set to vote Feb. 10 to enact the changes, Smith said.






Plymouth Towers is getting renovated.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


In the next 40 days, Ensign awaits the state's approval of new skilled nursing and independent living licenses for Plymouth. On the applications filed by the company they listed the facility's new name, Plymouth Tower Care and Rehabilitation Center, Stapley said.

Meanwhile, he said they plan to "enhance its hominess" through an interior remodel.

"We expect to spend a sizable sum, at least 7 figures in the next two years," Stapley said. "The city is very much interested in keeping the building open."

The privately owned, publicly traded Ensign Group rescued the seven-story tower from closing. Ensign is in still in escrow to buy the building from Long Beach-based Retirement Housing Foundation for more than $1 million.






The Jean Grier Leadership Academy has graduated many people committed to civic participation.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The Riverside African American Historical Society and The Group started the academy with the help of a three-year, $90,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation and named it after a late teacher and civil-rights leader in Riverside.

The course covers subjects from public speaking and volunteerism to financial literacy and raising funds. Many civic leaders, from elected officials to nonprofit heads, speak to the classes.

The academy has graduated 48 women and 19 men, including 57 blacks, seven Latinos, two whites and one person of mixed ethnicity, said Patricia Byrd, project coordinator.

The participants have come from across the Inland region -- 36 from Riverside, 14 from Moreno Valley and others from Corona, Perris, Rialto, San Bernardino and Ontario, Byrd said.

At least 15 of the academy's alumni meet monthly to continue their education and engage in community service, such as volunteering to help with the Martin Luther King Walk-A-Thon in Riverside and at local candidate forums, Vaughn-Blakely said.

The academy is applying for another three-year grant from the foundation and is seeking corporate sponsorships, she said.

The Grier Leadership Academy can be reached at 951-682-5306.





The Group meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Coffee Depot in downtown Riverside (on Seventh Street and Vine). There's guest speakers usually local politicians or city employees and discussions of community events and issues.



The Hemet Children's Museum is getting another chance from private donors. This saved the museum from the same fate it suffered at its former home in Riverside on the corner of University and Main.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




Fingerprints Youth Museum, formerly known as KidZone Youth Museum, which serves children from throughout the Inland region, is no longer in danger of closing. However, it still needs financial support to remain viable, said Bob Duistermars, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit organization that now runs the museum.

"It's an amazing community asset and we're working to keep it on the right track," Duistermars said.

The museum, which serves many low- and moderate-income families, features about a dozen interactive children's exhibits, including a miniaturized world for kids with a police station, medical office and more; play areas for toddlers; and rooms for rent for children's parties.

In late 2007, the then-board of KidZone stunned community members by announcing that the museum would close by the end of the year unless a funding source could be found.

Museum supporters came forward, allowing the facility to remain open until United Communities Network, a Hemet-based organization that spun off from Central County United Way, took control of the museum a few months later.






The ACLU of Orange County sent a letter to Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to limit taser use to when officers experience a threat of death or bodily injury.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



Further, the group recommended that the department revise its policy to provide more specific guidelines and clarifications for deputies about Taser use.

"There's a real question of what situations you're going to allow Tasers to be used in, and whether you think it is a lethal force weapon or no," said Hector Villagra, director of the Orange County office of the ACLU.

"Our initial recommendation is to classify it as a lethal force weapon; if you don't do it, then we think you have to seriously consider the limitations of its use and application in various circumstances," he said.




Moreno Valley's offering incentives for its employees to retire early.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The City Council approved a plan Tuesday to give workers credit for two additional years' service with the California Public Employees' Retirement System if they decide to apply for early retirement.

"We're making it available, and it's voluntary," City Manager Bob Gutierrez said by phone.

CalPERS provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.6 million public employees in California.

Benefits are calculated by age, salary and length of service in CalPERS, so getting credit for two more years of service would increase those benefits.

Having employees retire early would save Moreno Valley money on salaries and benefits.

The city would have to pay CalPERS to give the employees the two years' credit, but that cost would be paid out over 20 years, city Human Resources Director Chris Paxton said by phone.

Workers must be at least 50 years old, have been a member of CalPERS for at least five years and must file for retirement between March 28 and June 26, Paxton said.

About 135 employees are eligible, he said.



Different cities and counties are taking steps like this one to cut their annual budgets including Riverside County.






Cyberbulling among high school students gets an examination as it's a growing problem faced by teenagers who use computers to go online.





Several demonstrations and marches planned in Riverside in response to the fatal officer-involved shooting of Annette Garcia by Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputies near Lake Matthews.


Here's what the local response is so far:

THURSDAY JAN. 29TH:Candlelight vigil and Press Conference at Cesar Chavez Community Center in Riverside (University Ave., two blocks west of Iowa Ave. All actions have been called by Brown Berets de Aztlan, Riverside Chapter.


SATURDAY JAN. 31ST:Rally and Protest at Cesar Chavez Community Center at 10m1pm (same day) Press Conference. March route not determined yet, possibly will meet at 10m, march downtown to police station, with press conference there at 1pm.

Inland Empire: The ripples of the budget crisis continues

The Riverside City Council held its weekly meeting and voted to freeze its salaries, keep Greyhound downtown until June 30 and to enforce zone changes in one city neighborhood upsetting property owners there.



The budget picture in the city of Riverside has looked pretty bleak during the past several months with layoffs, hiring freezes and other budget cuts. Even the spending spree, Riverside Renaissance has come to a slowdown with the city tabling several projects in the nine figured range last year and at least two in the eight figured range this year. City Manager Brad Hudson said during a workshop conducted for the library and museum renovation projects that the city couldn't afford to do any more than simple renovations or design proposals. People weren't sure if that meant the city had gone broke or was tabling the renovations for several years to give people time to forget about them. But it's likely that the renovations won't even start certainly not on the downtown library until two years or so down the road.

But the cuts likely will still continue and people are waiting to see if there will be another round of layoffs and when it will be coming.

For example, the Riverside Police Department which is the city department with the highest operational and personnel budget began the year with a slight increase in its annual budget from the previous fiscal year. The increase resulted mostly from the final salary increases to personnel from MOUs that existed between the labor unions and the city management. The two public safety departments weren't spared budget cuts when the city's proposed budget $224 million had been slashed to around $200 million before the fiscal year had even reached the midway point.

The police department like other departments has taken some cuts and frozen positions in its ranks both on the civilian and sworn divisions. In 2007, the city froze a bunch of civilian positions in the police department temporarily but this year saw more extensive and longer lasting freezes, leading to vacancies in the department at nearly all levels.

The last time the department saw cuts in staffing through freezes or other measures was back in the 1990s not long before it entered into the five-year court-mandated reform process instituted by former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer after he filed a lawsuit which alleged among other things serious deficiencies caused by inadequate staffing at different levels. Is Riverside once again heading in that direction? It's too early to tell but it doesn't look promising since neither the city manager's office nor the city council nor even the mayor have come up with an exit strategy meaning what will happen to address these shortages when the economic picture improves?

As some people have said, they are taking a short-term approach to a long-term challenge which when you think about it is counter to forward progression.



The following are the known vacancies which took place during 2008. Another planned retirement by Sgt. Don Tauli was postponed until December 2009.



Employees terminated: Steve Frasher, public information officer due to budget cuts in December 2008


Supervisory and management vacancies:



Deputy Chief Dave Dominguez: (vacated by retirement): Unfilled

Lt. Pete Villanueva: (vacated by retirement) Unfilled

Lt. Ken Carpenter: (vacated by retirement) Filled July 1, 2008 by promotion of Sgt. Leon Phillips

Sgt. Randy Eggleston: (vacated by retirement) Unfilled

Sgt. Lisa Williams: (vacated by transfer to newly created position in Communication) Unfilled

Sgt. Leon Phillips: (vacated by promotion to lieutenant) Unfilled

Sgt. Kevin Stanton: (vacated by retirement) Filled by promotion of Det. Dan Warren

Sgt. Terry Meyer: (vacated by medical retirement) Unfilled

Sgt. John Romo: (vacated by retirement) Filled by promotion of Det. Chad Milby



What's particularly notable about the sergeant positions and whether or not they were filled through promotions is that the two promotions that did happen appeared to be in the wake of sergeant retirements that didn't appear to be anticipated and weren't exactly on the radar. So if that's the case, then on some level that shows that the department's management and perhaps the city's is aware that the level of supervisors is at its critical level. Whenever a retirement happens that appears to be more sudden, then there's a promotion to fill that position.


Detective vacancies: Unknown. Most vacancies are filled in accordance to an ongoing MOU between their bargaining unit and the city that's been in place since the days of Chief Ken Fortier.



Officer vacancies: Unknown in numbers. Could be as many as 19 vacancies. Hiring was unfrozen briefly late last year to attempt to fill eight positions vacated by retirements, resignations, failures to make probation and separations but hiring even of attrition is currently frozen. A representative from the Personnel and Training Division said that ideally, the department would like to hire 19 officers. Controversy over the department's staffing levels has erupted between the management and the labor union with management personnel saying that they would attend more community meetings where staffing issues were being discussed. Still, given the number of vacancies and reductions in the personnel overtime budget, it's difficult to believe that staffing levels haven't been impacted in some way. It's called doing the math.

All this taking place during a year which saw a spike in the city's murder rate.


Civilian position vacancies: At last count several months ago, at least 24 positions frozen.


Who's said that the department is "fully staffed"?

Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis has said this at a city council meeting held last June when several people including police practices consultant Joe Brann expressed concern about the department's forward progress being hampered by not immediately addressing the department's staffing issues even in difficult economic times. A California Public Records Act request to Hudson's office to ask for documentation of information provided by DeSantis resulted in a letter being sent by City Attorney Gregory Priamos stating to look on the city's Web site for the preliminary budget. However, the information was not included in that report.

It's amazing that the city manager's office which still staffs its own public information officer and which employs an assistant city manager who had been employed in that capacity for Riverside County can't come up with someone who knows how to draft a CPRA response without having to pass it off to Priamos who's probably busy doing the work in his own department without having to do work for Hudson's department as well.


Different parties or stake holders as they are often called had different responses to the situation of the impact of budget cuts on the police department's staffing and training levels and thus its forward movement in terms of reform.


Who have expressed concern?


A rather eclectic but broader group of individuals inside and outside of the department.
Several individuals in this article by the Press Enterprise are among them.


(excerpts)

For Mary Figueroa, a Riverside Community College governing board member who served on the panel with Clarke, the lack of diversity and adequate staffing makes her believe the scenario could happen again.

"It's almost the perfect storm," Figueroa said.

While authorized to have 405 sworn employees, the city has funded 395 of those positions, said Capt. Michael Blakely. A report earlier this month showed the department having 382 sworn staff, a 4 percent increase in the last three years.

Blakely said he fills openings when he can while staying within the budget.

"The goal over time is to have more officers but that's not going to happen today or tomorrow," Leach said.

Brann said economic cuts to training and recruitment in the decades before the Miller shooting led to the department being neglected.

"The city could easily find itself back in that type of situation again," he said.

Leach said the department has shortages in every unit from fleet maintenance to finance and records but still wants to respond promptly to calls.

"We don't want the economy to take us backwards," Leach said. "We have to manage through that."

Riverside Police Officers' Association president Detective Chris Lanzillo is also concerned about the need for more officers. With not enough officers, he fears large incidents could quickly get out of hand, endangering residents and officers.

He also said officers do not have enough time to speak with residents and explain situations, contrary to the technique they're supposed to be using.

"I see us today falling back in the same rut," he said.

It remains to be seen what the future holds in terms of whether or not staffing levels will continue to drop or remain level. The department also made other changes in recent months including dissolving the community services division (under the decision made by the management to "decentralize" it) and have the audit and compliance bureau double as the public information office. Not to mention moving the Internal Affairs Division on two weeks notice to a building which inside and outside wasn't ready to be used by that division during at least the first month it occupied that space.

Police Chief Russ Leach has begun talking about life after the completion of the agency's five-year Strategic Plan in December 2009 and proposed creating another similar strategic program for the department's operations. One component of it should be to have a blue print in place for restoring the frozen positions to the police department at all levels when its feasible to do so. Part of the danger is that when positions get eliminated or frozen, people in power forget they were ever there. That's what happened in the 1990s. History shouldn't have to repeat itself to be learned.





The Riverside Transit Agency is changing bus routes and raising fares.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



In addition, bus agency officials are considering raising fares to $1.50 by 2013. Two options for raising fares have been discussed; either raising rates to the 2013 level immediately for all types of fares, or gradually raising fees annually until 2013 when the charges will be at the full rate.

Weaver said staff do not have a preference between the options.

The rate increase, if approved, would start in May.


The goal is to keep fare collections about 18 percent of the agency's total budget, Weaver said. As a result, the prices of all services will increase because of additional costs to running the system.

The increase comes as the bus system contends with two years of declining sales tax collections. Weaver said in fiscal year 2007-08, the agency received $38 million from county sales-tax collections, representing 70 percent of the system's budget. By the end of this fiscal year on June 30, officials expect to receive $28 million.

The news is bleaker in fiscal year 2009-10, when officials expect bus system sales-tax revenues to slide to $25 million.





Riverside's city electeds are asking and searching around for funding for the proposed medical school at UC Riverside.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




The Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, a medical school proponent, is seeking letters and resolutions of support from elected officials as well as healthcare, education and business leaders, said Cindy Roth, chamber president and CEO.

Health Executive Exchange, a 75-member Riverside healthcare-coalition group, voted Monday to send a letter of support, said Dan Anderson, president and CEO of the Riverside Community Health Foundation, which created the group.

Riverside Councilman Mike Gardner said he expects the City Council will vote to do the same at its next meeting Tuesday.

Supporters of the medical school, including UCR Chancellor Timothy White, argue it's critical to solving a physician shortage in the Inland area and an important economic engine, especially as the economy continues to deteriorate.




Plans to can the city attorney in Hemet due to budget cuts have put him on the defensive and he's fighting back.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The effort calls for a review of the duties and costs of the city attorney, prompting Tuesday's presentation.

Vail, who spoke for more than an hour, said he charged the city for the hours he was asked to do work.

"Over the years, we have been asked to get the job done, and I think we have gotten the job done," he said. "I was told, 'You do the services, we'll deal with the budget.' "

Vail said the city took on a lot of work in recent years, when its housing market was booming and its economy was flourishing, and completed a number of major personnel-related projects that required intensive legal work.

Vice Mayor Jerry Franchville, who first asked for the review, asked Tuesday why the city's legal costs were so high compared with other cities.

Based on his research, he said, neighboring cities' legal service budgets ranged from $600,000 to $1.2 million.

"What are they doing to keep their costs down?" Franchville asked.






Riverside County doesn't like proposed cuts to outpatient mental health services by Sacramento.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to redirect about $227 mil- lion collected from Prop. 63, a 2004 measure to expand outpatient mental health services, and put it toward existing state mental health care programs. The redirection would alleviate shortfalls created by the state's estimated $42 billion budget deficit, he has said.

Patricia Ryan, executive director of the California Mental Health Director Association, said Tuesday that Schwarzenegger's plan violates state law and would end up costing taxpayers more for hospitalizations and law enforcement.

By law, Prop. 63 money can't fund existing programs or involuntary institutionalized mental health care. It pays for counseling, job training and housing to help mentally ill people care for themselves.

"That is the entire intent of the act," Ryan said. "The governor's proposal would put us back to where we were if not worse."

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said the state's budget deficit has required the governor to make some tough choices.

"The governor has put out seven budgets this year, and as we move along, as we have said all year, the problem gets worse and the options for solving the problem get worse every time," she said. "He understands how difficult this is, but with a $42 billion deficit, there simply are no good options."





The Press Enterprise Editorial Board blasted sealing of search warrants involving an investigation against San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus.


(excerpt)



The court ruled then that prosecutors failed to meet the "especially high burden" for keeping documents from public view. There is no reason to believe secrecy is more justified this time.

Postmus is a public figure who has been under intense scrutiny since last June, after a grand jury report found he abused his office and authorities arrested his top aide. And the search this month resulted in Postmus' arrest on drug charges. The case has been high profile for months, which undercuts any argument that a few new details about a search will harm the investigation.

Keeping the warrants secret is a matter of prosecutorial convenience, not necessity. Releasing the documents would not sabotage the investigation, but would provide voters with insights into the actions of their assessor and the accusations against him.

And that public interest far outweighs prosecutors' desire for confidentiality.


After a recent state appellate decision in California, questions are being asked as to whether red light cameras are legal and any evidence they obtain is admissible in court if the contracts which led to their adoption and installment by cities are not.




After officer-involved shootings, civilian oversight is very much needed.


(excerpt, Jacksonville.com)

It would be better to already have in place a review process that's not tainted with the idea - fairly or unfairly - that the police are protecting fellow officers.

If not a civilian review board, what?

Would adding one or two civilians to the current review process work?

Would it be better to involve the U.S. Department of Justice in questionable shootings?

Is there something else that would be better?

The Times-Union reported that of the 28 people police shot last year, 23 were black.

Understandably that has raised concerns among some African-Americans.

Eddie Staton, one of the founders of the anticrime group MAD DADS, said during the TV-7 program that something needs to be done to instill trust in the police in many African-American neighborhoods.

Once again, if not a civilian review board, what?

That's a debate that still needs to take place.

A woman in Atlanta used her taser to help a police officer in trouble.



(excerpt, WSB-TV)




Cross said while others gathered to watch, she sprung into action.

"I went straight for my kid’s diaper bag and I got it and asked it if he [officer] wanted me to do it and he said, 'Yea,'" said Cross.

Cross said the officer had a hard time defending himself because the attacker had taken the officer's radio and managed to rub pepper spray in the officer's face and eyes.

Jolting the attacker, Cross' timing couldn't have been better. Cross said she tasered the suspect in his arms and legs.





If you have a My Space or Face Book page and apply to be a law enforcement officer in New York City, that city's police department is going to check it out. In an officer's presence, you will have to show them all your public and private postings.



(excerpt, New York Post)

The measure is designed to weed out would-be cops who litter their Web sites with violent or explicit imagery, racist rants and any other material deemed objectionable, a law-enforcement source said.

Applicants Processing Division officers are demanding any recruit with an account log on to their pages, even if those pages are private and not accessible to the public, the source said.

Without the applicant logging on, only a subpoena could get the NYPD that much access to the private Web pages.

The policy has successfully alerted the department to some decidedly unsavory would-be cops - including one whose pages included a picture of himself jokingly pointing a gun at his buddy.

"He said it was just his friend, but at that point the interviewer thought it best that he not join the New York City Police Department," noted the source.

In Sonoma County, a rash of officer-involved shootings has led to discussion of mental health intervention.


(excerpt, Sonoma Sun)




Many audience members wanted to discuss the recent shooting death of Craig Von Dohlen, as well as officer-involved shootings and citizen review committees. Interrupted by a raised hand from the audience, Cogbill was asked for comment on what many believe has been a rash of deputy-involved shootings throughout the county. He said there have only been six of these shootings in the past nine years.

Cogbill said he couldn’t comment on the Von Dohlen case as it is still under investigation, but went into a lengthy explanation of the protocol involved. He said that the Santa Rosa Police Department is handling the investigation and that all cases automatically go to a court-appointed grand jury for review. He argued that this serves as a sort of citizen review, which didn’t convince all community members present.

Cogbill and Brown also criticized budget cuts to mental health services and drew attention to the impact of methamphetamine use.

“What’s been a huge factor in deputy-involved shootings has been not just mental health, but drugs as well,” said Cogbill. “When mental health services were cut back years ago, I predicted that law enforcement would be left to deal with it. A large percentage of inmates in jail have mental health issues. They shouldn’t be there - they should be getting treatment. We have to find a way to help these people.”



Investigators of the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer are examining more video footage which showed him being slapped by a different officer earlier in the incident while he was lined up against a wall with other individuals.



(excerpt, San Francisco Chronicle)



The cell phone video, one of a handful that have surfaced, aired Friday night on KTVU-TV. It shows a male BART police officer walking over to three men lined up against a wall near a female officer, and then striking one in the face.

The victim of the punch - identified by Channel 2 as 22-year-old Grant - slides to the ground. The video then shows the moments preceding the shooting, then the shooting itself. It appears that the officer who punches the man is the same person who later is seen kneeling on Grant's head when he was shot.

Sources have identified that officer as Tony Pirone. He and the other officers present at the time of Grant's shooting all remain on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues, but until Saturday BART was not investigating the conduct of anyone besides Johannes Mehserle, 27, who shot Grant.

Mehserle later resigned from the force and was charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

Police investigators have said Grant put up a brief struggle with officers but was restrained and had both arms behind his back when he was shot. It was not clear whether the struggle investigators referred to was the same incident caught on the new video.




The Oakland Police Department's chief has resigned. Anyone surprised after the latest round of scandals in that department?