Rain's come to Riverside

The first Pacific storm of the season's hit Riverside, dumping rain and flooding streets. There's another round due on Wednesday which might bring the snow levels down lower than is usual as this is a cold front.


A Riverside Police Department representative said recently that the officers were so impressed with the new female hires that they said that whatever the department did to hire the latest female officers, they should just keep on doing it and if they had done it this way all along, it would have been better. If this is the case, it's very interesting news on different fronts.

In one sense it's tremendously positive, in that it would show that the department's attitudes towards female officers are changing. It could also be showing that female officers are being categorized into two groups, those that there needs to be more of and those who are needed less? That there might be a two-tier system for "good" and "bad" female officers. Like this one provided by an anonymous commenter at this site in 2005. Only in this case, the categories are "weak" and "tough".



(excerpt)



And a word to those females on the department reading this right now...If you are one of the weak ones... you already know it...and the tough ones, the ones that can handle their beat...can go out there and take people to jail..the ones that aren't going to let some parolee "chip" at them without smacking that punk into the ground know who you are too...and we respect you for that...nuf said




This individual whoever it may be provided his insight into whether or not the field training officers were too easy on the women or whether they were just weak field training officers. Meaning that there were different categories of field training officers as well along the same lines of "easy" and "tough". This individual is possibly afforded the unique perspective of what this field training thing is all about given his experience. Perhaps having been involved in training himself. Would this individual categorize himself as "weak" or "tough" is an interesting question. Clearly the latter based on his comments but as the trainer or the trainee? The parallels of the relationship between the categorization of the two is interesting.

In addition, the field training program's infrastructure had undergone dramatic study and changes in accordance with requirements under the city's stipulated judgment with the state attorney general's office. Was the categorization of some of the field training officers as "weak" or easier on female officers based on actual deficiencies or the renovation of the program overall and response to those changes?

But apparently these categories may not be just applied to female officers. A woman told me about a year ago about her friend's son who was undergoing field training in the police department and he apparently had some awareness of a "weak" and "tough" categorization. However, the woman said that her son believed that the former, otherwise known as the "wuss" category referred to police officers who used verbal communication over physical skills and the "tough" officers were those who were stronger in the physical skills. Perhaps this individual is an anomaly in the department and views things differently or perhaps not. But the text quoted above more than hints at similar criteria for membership in the "tough" vs "weak" classifications.

What's interesting is that both skills are very important for policing and each of them play critical roles but in this case for identification purposes, they seem to be bifurcated. People seem to be either one or the other, both in the comment left in 2005 and observations made in more recent times but in past history as well rather than a mesh of both.

Former Officer Rene Rodriguez talked about a similar dynamic when he was in the police department back in 1998 during the period when he had brought his allegations of misconduct to light. He said that while undergoing training, he saw how officers who were involved in fights received positive reinforcement from training officers and supervisors while officers who de-escalated situations through verbal skills were usually ignored and rarely if ever given positive reinforcement. It's not clear whether the "weak" and "tough" categorization which seems to be partly (but not completely) split along gender lines is the same today as it was back then or a different form that's evolved since that period in time.

The police department currently offers a course in tactical communication which is now a component of the mental health crisis intervention training and when I attended it, was an excellent and well presented and taught course. The officers in the class seemed to respond to it, asked questions and did the exercises in de-escalation which is an important tool in policing outside of that involving interfacing with mentally ill individuals which was a positive sign. But whether they take that information out into the field with them, is not as clearly seen as response to it in a classroom.



But as far as female officers, what ultimately will tell the tale as it always does, is what will be the retention rate of these female officers that have been classified in this more favorable group. In the past when the police department's hired female officers, they usually don't seem to last very long, as the department lost quite a few of them in the pre-academy phase and at the academy. Will these new ones that have been essentially called improved break that trend or will they be added to the department's poor retention rate for women?

When someone asked Police Chief Russ Leach what the pre-academy phase was at a city council meeting in October 2006, he described it as a two-week program where newly hired police officers were given opportunities to see what working in the Riverside Police Department would be like. He added that it had saved the city considerable money because it served as a weeding out process of eliminating officers who weren't serious or didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they took the positions.

And many of them were apparently dropped out or fired by the department. It's hard to know which category the departing women fall into because while the employment status of an officer is a public record, their reason for leaving, be it resignation or termination, is not. But in early 2006, the department hired a group of about nine new female officers and they were all gone in six weeks. The furthest any of them got was into the academy portion of their training.

More recently, the female officers hired have been cited by department representatives as particularly outstanding including one who graduated second in her academy class. They should be still in the process of being in the field training program, that is the ones who are still working for the police department. Still, the retention rate for female officers the police department is viewed as being very poor with the majority of them who are lost dropping out of the academy or failing to make probation.

The department's recruitment of female officers has been higher in recent years due to increased and improved efforts by the personnel and training division but the retention rate for those officers hasn't followed that trend. In fact it's still low enough that the police department assigned the task to its audit and compliance bureau to do a study on what's going on with the department's female officers and why they lose so many of them in comparison to male officers. It will be interesting to see what this audit uncovers, not that the public will ever know anything about it. Will it uncover any major problems, will it even look for them? Its purpose is to make sure there's nothing left of the "good old boy" dynamic in the department but will it be able to separate itself from this same dynamic?

And what if the audit uncovers some serious problems or even misconduct by officers? What steps will it take then?

In 2005, the police department fired one of its newer female officers, Kelsy Metzler on the day she showed up for her field training assignment. She had graduated from a local academy but during her stint there had filed a sexual harassment complaint or at least tried to against another male officer. According to her lawsuit, two Riverside Police Department officers showed up and warned her that they and the department were unhappy with her actions. So was her supervisor in the academy who she stated refused to show her a copy of her harassment complaint. After graduating and completing a two-week orientation session, she showed up for work and was led into a room with individuals including a representative from Internal Affairs for a meeting. And in that meeting, her career at the police department ended before it had begun and likely ended everywhere else in law enforcement as well.

Her firing and a quick and quiet settlement by the city of her lawsuit threw up more than one red flag that there was potentially a problem. Was she fired for problems in the academy or because she filed a sexual harassment complaint? Unfortunately, if it was the latter, she wouldn't be the first person in the police department to file a complaint. Last year, another individual was allegedly let go when she complained about an environment where other individuals including one she was working with were telling jokes at a local business. One man she worked with who she had problems with allegedly asked a police officer if he wanted to hear any "African-American" jokes. She didn't and complained but her supervisor told her yeah it was bad, not much could be done about it but they all had to learn to get along with each other.

Three days later, she was told that she was gone.

If this woman did indeed experience this, what exactly does it say about the complaint process in this city?

Maybe the right person to ask would be former director of housing, Tranda Drumwright, who was fired after filing a complaint with the state's fair employment and housing department or one of Project Bridge's former case workers who was fired by the city within three days after he filed a complaint when another employee used a racial slur in his presense. The city shrouded that shameful episode behind an alleged reconfiguration of the gang intervention program. So if it's a problem in the department, that might be because it may be a problem in the city.



The Human Resources Board has become interested in that study being done involving women and voted to ask the police department to present a presentation on the issue of the retention of female officers at one of its future meetings. In fact, it was so passionate on the issue it wanted to schedule the presentation from the department in January but that's not likely to happen. It will be interesting and hopefully informative when it does.




Some of the history of women in the police department was posted here and elicited some interesting responses including the one cited above. Some anonymous dude stated that I and other people were forcing the police chief to go out and kidnap helpless women to draft them to be police officers and then putting all the male police officers in danger. Are men hired and women kidnapped to be officers? That doesn't seem likely but the hyperbole is duly noted.






Riverside's City Council agreed to pay out $625,000 to Greyhound Bus Lines to vacate its current space at the downtown terminal. So it's a pretty good bet that unless the city council and its direct employees work diligently to not disenfranchise the over 80,000 people a year who ride the bus line, that Greyhound's history in this town. But guess what, even though the city's spending city residents' tax dollars, it doesn't have to tell them how much of those dollars it spent to buy out Greyhound's lease through eminent domain. That's just silly. Who's money do they think they're spending?




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

But company spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said Greyhound is working with Riverside County officials to find a new location near Riverside and is hoping the city redevelopment agency will let Greyhound stay in place until they find one.

Councilman Mike Gardner, whose ward includes downtown, said he is willing to discuss the matter.

City officials did not announce the settlement, signed Dec. 9, at the council meeting that day.

Priamos said the council, while meeting behind closed doors, set a dollar range for the city's negotiators to stay within. The settlement fell within that range so no further closed-session discussion was needed, Priamos said. And because the agreement wasn't reached in a closed-session meeting of the council, he said, the state's open meeting law doesn't require an announcement.

Downtown resident Chani Beeman said the city should not have to be asked in order to tell the public how it is spending taxpayer dollars.

"Perhaps under the law, it's OK" not to announce the settlement, she said. "But is this the right thing to do?"

Still, will the city council be as energetic about finding a new home for Greyhound now that it's lost its current location? Councilman Frank Schiavone said he was interested in finding a new home for Greyhound at the Friday Morning Group meeting nearly two weeks ago and Councilman Mike Gardner said he'd talk about it. Let's see what action that this talking will translate into because there's tens of thousands of people including seniors, poor families, military veterans and/or disabled individuals who rely on this bus service.






The Riverside City Council's meeting and one of the items which will be discussed in closed session is the performance evaluation of City Manager Brad Hudson which is just a formality because his contract allegedly doesn't expire until some time in 2013. One of the items that will be used to grade him on may very well be his recent directive to severely limit the Community Police Review Commission's ability and budget to perform its duties to investigate officer-involved deaths under the city's charter.

But since it's likely that he's simply carrying out the orders of several elected officials, he'll probably receive high scores from those individuals for his currently expressed ability to weaken the CPRC.





Developers are showing up in Moreno Valley to provide feedback on affordable housing options.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Palm Desert Development Co. and a group consisting of the Family Services Association, the National Community Renaissance and Workforce Homebuilders will present their proposals at a council study session. The city is considering a housing complex on about eight acres at the northeast corner of Alessandro Boulevard and Day Street.

"What they're doing is presenting their qualifications and their plans for their project," city Economic Development Director Barry Foster said by phone. "The council will determine which one should be chosen for the exclusive right to negotiate."

Negotiations would lead to a formal development agreement, he said. The affordable housing complex, at 225 units, is expected to be the largest in Moreno Valley; city officials intend to re-designate the area to allow up to 30 apartment units per acre, with four- or five-story buildings.




The federal corruption trial involving former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona continued with one witness testifying about a financial payoff he gave to one of Carona's friends.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



The businessman told jurors that he'd been told the money was necessary if he wanted "to move the project forward."

Giovanni D'Egidio, who along with his business partner was seeking a site for a paintball park in the late 1990s, said he did not consider the cash a bribe. But he said he became nervous about the transaction because when he arrived at Joe Cavallo's law office to pay him, Cavallo was sitting in his parked car and flashed his headlights to get his attention.

"I remember it was dark. . . . I heard my name. He was in the corner of the parking lot. . . . He flashed his lights and said 'Giovanni, I'm over here,' " D'Egidio recalled.

"I got a little nervous in the stomach. . . . It was an awkward, weird moment. . . . I thought we were going to meet in the office," he testified.



In the meantime, Carona's attorneys are trying to track down witnesses.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)

At day's end Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel told the court that the defense had not provided a list of who would be testifying after prosecutors rested their case.

Sagel said that the defense had provided a list of 25 possible witnesses and that many of them lived locally. He specifically named former Assistant Sheriff Jo Ann Galisky, who was fired earlier this year amid questions about her conduct during an investigation into the death of a jail inmate, and retired sheriff's investigator Bud Hood.

"Neither have jobs and both are local," Sagel said. "I'm not sure why we're scrambling for all these people."

Carona attorneys Brian A. Sun and Jeffrey Rawitz acknowledged that they were having trouble lining up their witnesses for a variety of reasons, including scheduling conflicts, ongoing negotiations with lawyers for some of the people they would like to put on the stand, and 5th Amendment issues.

U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford reminded the lawyers of the powers of the court that could be used to get potential witnesses on the stand.






More witnesses testified in the trial but one Orange County Register columnist asks, is it really a good idea to try Carona's wife and his girlfriend separately?




Over 160 seasonal fire fighters based in the Inland Empire have been laid off due to the budget crisis. When La Nina brings another dry winter to the southern part of the state, increasing the fire risk again towards the summer and autumn, the state will be missing these fire fighters.






A Philadelphia Police Department officer has been accused of sexual assault at a massage parlor and placed on desk duty while an investigation is taking place.




In Jacksonville, the editorial board of the daily newspaper is telling the police department to be open in its discussion of officer-involved shootings. In the past two years, Jacksonville Police Department officers have been involved in 47 shootings.


(excerpt, Jacksonville.com)




This raises deadly questions:

- Is it the result of an escalating culture of violence? Or are police officers tending to resort to deadly force quicker? Is it some combination of both?

- How do local policies and training on deadly force affect the outcome?

- What can be done to lessen violence for police and people?

The president of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, Adora Nweze, wants the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and called for a citizen review board created to probe all police shootings.

Regardless of whether the Justice Department comes or a full-scale review board is launched, it's clear more could be done to broaden public participation in the shooting review process.

Public perception and cooperation - particularly in lower income neighborhoods where police shootings tend to happen - play a huge role in how effective police can be as partners with the public on countering crime.

Without more public involvement with the process, community tensions stand to rise and relations with police deteriorate.

That creates a potentially vicious cycle.

Several law enforcement officers working for agencies in New Mexico were sentenced to prison time for assisting drug dealers while working in narcotic assignments.




A Colorado Springs Police Department officer was arrested for burglary and domestic violence in Pueblo.



Atlanta's civilian review board which is facing pressure from that city's beleaguered police department has invoked the "S" word. It's not the one you're thinking, this one's much worse.



(excerpt, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The Police Department has refused to turn over police officers’ statements in connection with an incident the Review Board is investigating. The board has meeting for 1-1/2 years and has been asking for police documents for several incidents since September.

The department also is trying to amend city law to prevent the Review Board, created after the illegal police shooting of an elderly woman, from getting most police reports and documents until after the department conducts its own investigation.

The board was created to investigate complaints against Atlanta law enforcement officers and, in a broader sense, to restore the public’s trust in the Police Department.

The standoff puts the city Law Department in the position of having two of its attorneys representing the Police Department, and two others counseling the Review Board.

R. Roger Bhandari, one of the Review Board’s attorneys, told the board Thursday that it needed to exhaust all administrative options before pursuing legal action against Pennington or his department. Bhandari acknowledged that the next step would be asking city officials for a subpoena.

Why do people yawn? The answer's kind of fascinating. Just as fascinating is the news that this week has seen the biggest box office flop ever.

Ten years later: When past meets prologue

"When she went to the party that night, she gave me a kiss, and that was the last time I saw her alive. I haven't been the same since my baby died."



----Delmer Miller, to PEOPLE magazine, 1999






"We received more help from more sources than we ever could have imagined, and everyone worked as a team toward a common goal. We haven't achieved total victory yet, but we're getting close."


----Former Riverside Police Department Officer Wayne Stewart, 2002 to PORAC after an arbitrator reinstates him and Michael Alagna in the police department.

"What experience and history teach is this--that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."

---Georg Hegel, 1770-1831, German philosopher

As the 10th anniversary of Tyisha Shenee Miller's death approaches, there's been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about where the city is and how far it's come since that tragic shooting forced it to reexamine its police practices beginning in the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 1998.

Some say the police department today is vastly different than that which existed 10 years ago. Others say that the police culture remains intact inside a law enforcement agency which experienced an 80% turnover in employment in the years following both the shooting and the stipulated judgment imposed by the state attorney general's office in 2001. The fact that so many officers either resigned, retired or were persuaded to leave shouldn't be so surprising as it mirrors similar exoduses in other cities including Los Angeles which has been under a federal consent decree since 2001. In fact, some of the LAPD officers came to Riverside and lateraled into the department, from one consent decree to another.

But in the past few months, a series of incustody deaths, the neutering of Riverside's civilian oversight mechanism, the further shielding of the police department and an alleged racial profiling incident have caused people to ask more questions about the status of the police department nearly 10 years down the road from the Miller shooting and nearly three years out of its court-mandated reform process with the state.


Here is one recent comment that appeared to be in response to the recent incident involving the Black Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who alleged he was racially profiled by Riverside Police Department officers. It's been a common sentiment expressed in Riverside lately.


(excerpt, Inland Empire Craigslist)



10 years later very little has changed with the RPD. The culture is still the same. The state needs to come back in, clean things up, and stick around for a while to make sure the PD doesn't relapse. Of course it would help if the City would allow the CPRC to do its job.






A lot of talk has been raised recently about what the state had done, what it was supposed to do and whether it had done what was needed to modernize and reform a police agency long the setting for a racist and sexist police culture as well as long-term neglect from the city government. A lot of talk has been raised recently about whether or not the Riverside Police Department still needs to be placed under some form of oversight or whether it's truly moved on. Only two years after it completed one form of oversight, the same questions are being raised again in light of recent events. Not the kind of discussions that would be wanted around the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting that brought upon that oversight.

But Riverside's not unique in that regard. The city of Pittsburgh entered into the first consent decree in history stemming from the Violent Crimes and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 which allows the federal agencies to impose consent decrees for patterns and practices of problematic behavior and operations inside law enforcement agencies and how they interface with the communities around them.



(excerpt, Department of Justice, text of act)



Section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. § 14141 (Police Misconduct Provision):

Sec. 210401. CAUSE OF ACTION. UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful for any governmental authority, or any agent thereof, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of juvenile justice or the incarceration of juveniles that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

CIVIL ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) [sic] has occurred, the Attorney General, for or in the name of the United States, may in a civil action obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice.




The DOJ's COPS division provided its perspective of the consent decree in Pittsburgh which was somewhat different than that provided by city residents who at least were surveyed for this report by the Vera Institute.

Now in 2008, community residents are trying to turn key components of the since-lifted consent decree into law. This arose from ongoing discussions beginning after the dissolution of the bifurcated consent decree several years earlier. But it illustrates how concerns about the removal of court-mandated outside oversight can impact communities who often feel estranged from the process to begin with. Part of that is because the nature of utilizing the courts to push reforms on law enforcement agencies is often kept between the suing government agency and the government agency being sued. The community residents may be listed collectively and namelessly in the title, "People" but that's about it. For the most part, the community which is cited as the focus of these decrees is some distant third party while all the power players like local governments, law enforcement agencies and the outside oversight agencies play their roles in an evolving situation. That's one reason why these concerns are felt after decrees and judgments are dissolved and why actions are taken to try to continue the reform mandate as is the case in Pittsburgh.

So what do the people concerned about their post-consent decree police department want in Pittsburgh?


(excerpt, Pittsburgh City Paper)



"What we're looking to do is [make] the work of 1997 not be in vain," said Tim Stevens of the Black Political Empowerment Project, speaking at an Oct. 21 Pittsburgh City Council hearing. "We don't want to depend on who the mayor is or who the police chief is or what their prejudices may be."

Established one police chief and two mayors ago, the federal consent decree was designed to improve the way the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police tracked officers' actions and the handling of public complaints. The move was prompted by a class-action suit alleging police brutality, but the city was released from federal oversight in 2002. Stevens and others, from the Black and White Reunion to the local NAACP and ACLU, opposed ending federal oversight in the first place -- and they've been pushing to enshrine the decree's provisions in city law ever since

"If professionalism is at a higher level and the issue of police-community relations becomes a top priority" for police and the city, Stevens added after the meeting, police "will be more comfortable going into the community and the community will receive them better. Many police officers do approach [people] in a professional manner. But some don't."



These comments sound like they were made in Riverside during the past several weeks or months. In fact, there's not that much difference really between two cities on opposite sides of the country.



In October, the Pittsburgh City Council received these concerns from the city residents. Several city council members asked for further information on the codifying process, which is one step above either ignoring the concerns or telling people that they've been "received, reviewed and filed" away. Another word for saying they've been ignored without actually coming forward and admitting it to the constituents. That puts Pittsburgh one step above Riverside at least in this regard in that the response the city residents redressing their government was different than happened in this city.




Given that the pool of post-consent decree law enforcement agencies is fairly small, Pittsburgh's has attracted quite a bit of attention. As will Riverside by other cities and states given that it's in an elite class of departments placed under some form of outside oversight and a member of a very exclusive group of departments placed under a state consent decree. Although it's likely that the city of Maywood, California will be next on the list to fall into that category.





The People of the State of California v The City of Riverside---RIC355410


In 2001, the state came in, instituted through the court system structural reforms to change the pattern and practices of the police department and watched the police department for five years until the stipulated judgment was dissolved in 2006. At the time that took place, the city council pledged in a workshop held in late March to rise to the challenge of maintaining and building upon the reforms implemented under the state, reforms that cost the city at least $22 million. At the end of the period of the judgment, the department had made a lot of progress particularly in renovating its infrastructure and implementing better training of its officers. The department was able to create and implement new training to address issues arising out in the field and address the components of the police department including its citizen complaint process which violated state laws.

So it came out of its consent decree in better shape in many ways than it went into it. But there were some essential issues including those involving parties at City Hall which no decree could ever fix especially if the parties involved had no issue with the way they conducted themselves. Those issues would soon reemerge again once the watchful eye of the state attorney's office was gone and people on the dais and at City Hall had to stop acting so concerned about the future of the police department.

The city council voted 7-0 to do so and waxed eloquently enough throughout the meeting both how much more astute it was than its preceding councils and how committed it was to ensuring the police department's continued growth.

Of course, summer came and the city promptly forgot its promises. Perhaps another round of marquee billboards congratulating them for passing measures to promote Riverside Renaissance erected around town like a traveling show drew their attention away from what City Manager Brad Hudson wasn't doing to ensure that its wishes regarding the future implementation of the department's five-year strategic plan were carried out. And the funny thing, is that when Hudson does go astray or in this case tried to change his marching orders, the city council doesn't rein him in or redirect him effectively or even at all. Instead, a member or two will try to run interference for their wayward employee. It gives credence to the often-quoted phrase that the city manager runs the city council, the tail wagging the dog in the city of Riverside.

That's what happened in the summer of 2006, mere months after the dissolution of the consent decree. While the city was still in its honeymoon period after the ball and chain, the foot on the neck of the city had been removed (as it was viewed by some), it quickly forgot what it had promised. After the hallelujahs died down, the city started slipping almost immediately into older patterns and the city council stopped caring. I wrote some bloggings about it, including one titled, "What would Bill Lockyer think" that apparently someone in his office read. After all, even now I still get occasional visits from the California State Office of the Treasurer, which is Lockyer's newest political title to my site.

I guess they were wondering what exactly was going on in Riverside and why both the city government and the community weren't doing anything to keep the progress moving forward where it needed to go. Going away doesn't mean completely turning your backs, after all. Several Riverside City Council members committed themselves to holding Hudson's feet to the fire on the mandate they had passed to implement the strategic plan and did what they should have done in the beginning.

You can change all the faces on the dais, and Riverside did...save one and in some cases, more than once to try to foster more responsible behavior from a governmental body. However, the patterns and practices of the 1990s didn't disappear with the decade or through the consent decree. For all practical purposes, this city council makes the same mistakes as its predecessors did. They put the department back on the shelf after they were done playing with it, to gather dust while they reached for another toy. In fact, even the Community Police Review Commission gets more playtime from some of those on the dais these days than does the police department.

What was the city council doing in the 1990s again?

They were cutting budget expenditures during an economic downturn, milder than this one. The staffing levels in the department dropped including those at the supervisory level and the department failed to grow or keep up with the exploding population from migrations and annexations around it. Community policing couldn't grab a foothold in the department. Racial and sexual discrimination lawsuits were filed from among its ranks, alleging hostile working environments, "exclusionary rules" and glass ceilings in the promotional process.

The city council was passively aggressively challenging the city's only form of civilian oversight at the time, which was the Law Enforcement Police Advisory Committee. In its report to the city council, the Mayor's Use of Force Panel in April 1999 stated that LEPAC was a form of civilian review but that attempts by various entities including the Public Safety Committee to institute discussion of policy changes involving LEPAC and civilian review in the city received the same "read and filed" response that current Mayor Pro Tem Rusty Bailey gave to CPRC Chair Brian Pearcy's recent letter on behalf of the commission just last month.

What's interesting about the interaction between LEPAC, the Public Safety Committee and the city council in the 1980s when this started was that it instituted a much firmer and longer-standing precedent for the Public Safety Committee handling these policy issues than had been recognized earlier. In light of the claim apparently made by the Governmental Affairs Chair Frank Schiavone that only his committee has jurisdiction, it appears that precedent-wise that clearly hasn't been the case at all.

But at any rate, the attempts to weaken the CPRC by members of the city council and their direct employees, the city manager and city attorney, mirrors those attempts to do like to LEPAC in the 1980s and 1990s before the Miller shooting. In fact, if you read the opinion piece authored by Schiavone and Council members Steve Adams and Nancy Hart, you'll see their definition of the CPRC's role and responsibilities as matching those of LEPAC, meaning when they look at the CPRC, they don't see what's charter-mandated, they see a policy recommendation machine. How's that for some deja vu? The thing is, they probably think that they came up with the idea but what they've shown instead is that history's probably not one of their better subjects.

The city council members of the 1980s and 1990s couldn't know that their actions to weaken an already weak form of civilian review and to table the issue of developing a true civilian review board would play such a large role in discussions that would take place after a tragic critical incident involving the police department. They didn't know that their neglect of the city's law enforcement agency would either. But it appears that the current city council hasn't learned from its predecessors' mistakes on that avenue either. And since that's not the case, the city's clearly not there yet to the point where it can responsibly even discuss these issues let alone make decisions about them. Because unlike their predecessors, the current city government can't position its argument on being ignorant.

Public safety's budget is probably safe for the rest of the fiscal year because no one who's seriously thinking of running for city government is going to make further cuts of its operations and personnel (through freezing positions) while the violent crime rate including homicides appears to be increasing. But the damage that's been done so far won't be impacted by merely keeping the status quo. Questions have arisen about the staffing levels including at the supervisory levels, most particularly involving the dual issues of officer to supervisor ratios and utilizing lieutenants as watch commanders 24/7.

For the latter, the incidence of shifts where the department staffs sergeants as watch commanders should be decreasing from the 15% that was about the percentage cited in an audit conducted by consultant Joe Brann last June, only because the cuts to overtime expenditures rendered the use of sergeants as financially prohibitive. Lieutenants on the other hand aren't paid overtime so they are more likely to fill those shifts. Even if they've worked other assignments on other shifts that day.

In June, Brann who was hired after the dissolution of the stipulated judgments had expressed caution in that he recommended that the city immediately address issues involving its staffing levels. He gave a lot of positive observations in his audit but said that in order for these developments to keep going in a good direction, the issues of the department's staffing levels impacted by freezes, injuries and personal leaves in both the civilian and sworn divisions had to be addressed in a way that relied on long-term planning rather than short-term fixes. You could feel the temperature from the leadership in that room drop about 20 degrees.

Then Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis sitting in the big chair responding citing some figures he allegedly pulled out of the budget (though some people say they were pulled out of somewhere else) reducing the ratios of officer to supervisor down to lower numbers without bothering to tell his own employers let alone the public that this was due to staffing reductions at the officer level which artificially lowered the ratio. Attempts to get documentation in writing of two different sets of officer to supervisor ratios resulted in responses from the police department and city attorney's office which produced documents or referential links which didn't contain the requested information.

The city council didn't really respond to that and they haven't responded publicly since despite numerous requests by myself to bring these staffing issues up for discussion at Public Safety Committee and the City Council. Emails to elected officials on this issue were only responded to by one or two council members who said that they had asked the city manager what was going on individually but not for a public discussion. But if you can't get a public discussion about the recent changes impacting the CPRC, it's not likely there will be any public forum on the department's staffing levels. It's like Dan Bernstein said so well in his column, "We Can Handle the Truth"


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

We need to know much more and right now the city is being less than up front. It fits a pattern. Over the last few weeks, City Hall has made it clear that, when it comes to matters of police conduct, Riverside civilians should mind their own business.

City Hall has ordered the citizen police review commission not to investigate officer-involved deaths until law enforcement wraps up its own probes. It harbors a bogus fear that professional investigators, dispatched by the police commission, will tromp all over crime scenes.

The later an investigation begins, the more inconclusive it is likely to be. City Hall's edict undercuts the police commission, whose legal mission (endorsed by voters) is to "promote effective, efficient, trustworthy and just law enforcement in the City of Riverside ..."

And now, in the Guillary case, the city tersely dismisses an incident that has provoked the same charges of racial profiling the city faced in 1998, when RPD officers shot and killed Tyisha Miller. (The 10-year anniversary of that case, which the city eventually settled for $3 million, is 20 days away.)

Haven't we been through this enough? The stonewalling, the spinning. The tight-fisted central control. (At least the city hasn't hired a PR firm. Yet.)

The increasing lack of transparency with the police department goes back more than a few weeks, it goes back to several months after the dissolution of the stipulated judgment. Documents that the police department used to release in response to CPRA requests can't be found while searching for them now. What Bernstein observed has been rewoven into the city's fabric in the last year.

But what has been known by the public about the staffing issues raised by more than a few people including Brann? Very little.

The city council meeting in June was the last one with an audit Brann presented to the city council six months before the expiration of his contract. Maybe as long as he provided good news to the city council and city manager, his audits were useful to them but when he expressed concern on one issue, no further audits were deemed necessary for the remainder of the contract and if that's the way the city makes its decisions, then that's too bad for the police department and the residents of this city. It would have been useful to have a final followup audit within the contract period to further address the concerns that he had raised in the prior report and see if any work had been done to deal with them but that didn't happen. And unfortunately, that was the only way whether or not the city council, city manager's office and police department addressed those issues at all would be discussed in a public forum. It shouldn't have to come down to that and it wouldn't if the city government had truly learned from its predecessors' mistakes.

It wouldn't be the first time the city treated an expert it hired to assist it with a city department like that and it won't be the last.



The issue of racial profiling is one that's been raised, here and with the renewed interest of the ACLU in the police department's operations in recent months. The national coordinator of the Racial Profiling division in the ACLU, King Downing, attended the CPRC meeting last week. Questions have been asked on the comments on these Press Enterprise article threads and other sites about the police department's cultural diversity training which has been renovated and revamped several times in the past few years. The current program created through a professor at the University of California, Riverside is more top-secret than a CIA briefing as far as the public is concerned. The police department representatives say in public that the officers taking the training love it and give it good reviews. But then you have to ask, give what good reviews?

The reason there's renewed interest in the status of this training and that involving how officers conduct pretext stops in Riverside is because of a recent incident that was reported here and in the daily newspaper.

And what's striking about this case is how the police department responded to it when it came to light. The police department's statement released by former public information officer, Steve Frasher was that it couldn't respond to litigation. Yet, Chief Russ Leach told Bernstein the following,



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



"He's launching a publicity campaign to exonerate himself from misconduct (that will be found by the LAPD)."



I was surprised to read about Leach's comments because I didn't expect him to take this route because in the past, he was careful about avoiding making those kind of judgments. I thought if he would respond at all, it would be to say that the department was conducting its investigation and that's all that could be said about it. His comments could be based on the truth of the incident or not, it's not clear what is the case at this point in time. But they are still unfortunate, because they are reminiscent of how the department behaved after the Miller shooting when releasing information on the shooting to back the behavior of its officers which were the same officers later fired by the department for misconduct.

The line, "she was drunk" or "she was on drugs" among others were used by the department later came back to haunt the agency when five police officers were fired in connection to this incident including the supervising sergeant and revelations of racist comments made by officers at the scene were brought to light by one of their own. Were they true? Perhaps, as toxicology tests showed but citing them so early in the investigation damaged the community's look at the department's investigative process as anything but trying to rewrite a bad incident early on. And as it turned out in this case, allegations were sustained that led to the firing of five officers. Still, there's this strong perception that too often is based on reality that departments can't investigate their own employees.

But the department was left doing all the talking after the Miller shooting because the elected leaders couldn't open their mouths either individually or collectively without hiring a public relations firm to teach them how to be civic leaders. And the first thing that the department did was focus on negative comments about Miller as it had done on earlier similar cases.

It's unfortunate that the same thing is happening in the Guillary case because whether or not the incident is ultimately proven to be true or false, the comments made labeling it as false without providing evidence of that has tainted the investigation and any ability to trust it. At the same time, the city is saying that the CPRC can't investigate officer-involved deaths within a week of when they happen because it risks damaging the integrity of investigations even though they can't cite a single case when this ever happened.

And judging by the comments and conversations so far, it seems like the comments made about the outcome of an investigation which hasn't been completed yet are almost as much a part of the problem as the incident could be.





The discussion on that incident which resulted in a $5 million claim being filed by Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Wayne Guillary continues here.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Chargedsrt8: First, looking at the responses from the majority of people that have made a written contribution to this article about Guillary, it’s apparent that you are the only person with a conjecture that appears derisive. Moreover, it has come into view that you support the actions of RPD. You have not exclaimed vehemently in writing about the vicious and pernicious injustice that Guillary and his visitor (both African Americans) experienced with the unknown RPD officer on his private property. And may I add, a right that is guaranteed and protected by the 4th Amendment. Furthermore, you are more concerned about the 5 million dollar claim than the significance in demanding justice for 2 human beings who were dehumanized and demoralized by an RPD officer, his supervisor (and possibly by the responding officers). According to the many written responses, these contributors have voiced their concerns about debasing encounters with RPD. Many seem to believe that nothing has changed. We as a people must send a prodigious statement to RPD and their “agents” that we will not tolerate the cover ups, abuse of power and corruption of our elected leaders and law enforcement officers.

Secondly, let us be clear, let us not be deceived, race is the most explosive issue in American life, the most difficult dilemma in American Society. It’s America’s rawest nerve. The majority of unarmed people that have been shot and killed by law enforcement officers across this country have been African American. In 1998, (10 yrs this year) here in the City of Riverside, Tyisha Miller was shot and killed by RPD. Just this year (2008), two unarmed African American men were shot and killed by RPD and an unfortunate death of a 20-year old African American male in the City of Anaheim (simply, an unfortunate an accident). Additionally, Just this year, RPD settled a 1 million dollar lawsuit with one of their own, an African American officer who was claiming race discrimination. If RPD is discriminating against officers of color from within their organization on the basis of race, then it leaves me with a belief that RPD will mistreat the community of color.

Lastly, it has been my experience that municipalities demand immediate change of their police and fire departments/agencies when they have to payout large judgments/settlements. Talk is cheap. Money changes things and holds managers accountable for their lack of progressive oversight and management of their personnel. Therefore, if it takes 5 million to correct one officer’s severe and earth-shattering mistake, then so be it. In 2001, RPD was in a state consent decree and fulfilled it in 2006. It obvious, some of the officers have forgotten about it. Conversely, there was a literary genius from Oxford Mississippi, named William Faulkner who said, “The Past is never fully passed.” Left to chance that a diminutive settlement will correct RPD’s behavior, I’m not willing to take that chance. People of color like Guillary, can’t afford to take that chance. Dr. King said, “injustice anywhere, it a threat everywhere.”

And as far as “GET A GRIP!” is concerned, it has been my experience that “great spirits will always encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds.”





Actually, the two African-American men who died in shootings were Lee Deante Brown and Joseph Darnell Hill who were shot by police in 2006. This year, four Latinos died in custody, with two from shootings. And the Black Riverside Police Department officer, Roger Sutton, received his $1.64 million from a jury's verdict in 2005. But that aside, this commenter raises the issue of whether money can be used as a tool of accountability to instill reform in law enforcement agencies.

Whether $5 million paid out in the Guillary case if racial profiling and excessive force were indeed used, will stem those behaviors. The only problem with that line of thinking is that the vast majority of lawsuits that are paid out on in Riverside involve settlements which include provisions involving confidentiality either in terms of the monetary amount the city settled for or any other terms. The money paid out is done so by insurance companies or if the city is "self-insured" which Riverside is now then the tax payers foot the bill. Unless the people who actually pay out on these lawsuits for bad practices by the city and its police officers start asking questions or raising concerns about doing so, then it's not likely settling these cases including Guillary's would do much to improve any problematic behavior by police officers.

Kindjustice, That you for that informative search of the subjects past. Too often these events are made to seem just a complaintant looking for a payday however, the truth is if these officers are held accountable it may change the behavior of hundreds of impressionable new recruits. The illigal method of policing must be done away with. I support a well trained crime reducing police force but the bad apples must go to show that this behavior and violation of department policy.Laws and a persons civil rights will not be tolorated amd mmust be inforced from the top down. I know Leach found himself in hot water himself some years ago however he must show leadership now and rid this agency off rougue cops. RPD Officers ...Those that are good I want to hear from you. Speak up against officers that are ruining your departments reputation by casting a blimish on it's officers. Break the code of silence for the sake of law abiding citizens!

One of the officers did break the code of silence in 1999, Rene Rodriguez who is no longer in the police department. His experience is not one that would exactly inspire other officers to come forward and report misconduct. The department says yes they do and yes we have policies in place to protect whistle blowers and then it proceeds to show the world how its actions may not always support its words.

Rodriguez discussed his experience whistle blowing in Riverside's police department on 60 Minutes so the rest of the country knew about it too.


"Bad apples" or "rogue" officers might indeed exist but it's how they are handled or treated or dealt with which shows whether problems in a police department are individualist or systemic. You want to know which is which, watch how the "good apples" and "bad apples"are treated. Watch which officers get positive recognition from the department and which ones don't. Each community knows who its good and bad apples are in their neighborhoods when they interact with these officers over time. There's a lot of compliments about officers in most neighborhoods in this city but not all of them.





let's forget about the fact that Wayne Guillary is a supervisory police officer for LAPD himself. The most important fact is that Wayne Guillary is an American Citizen that was minding his own business on his own property on a nice day in a nice neighborhood. The fact that a Riverside Police Officer thought that it was OK to violate Wayne Guillory's CIVIL RIGHT'S by displaying this militeristic superior attitude by ordering him of of his own property. I guess this officer who has been brainwashed by the system couldn't believe that an Afro American male could be successful enough to actually be a resident in this perticular neighborhood. I wonder how many caucasion residents in the neighborhood were told to get off of their own property by the officer "NONE". For those of you who dont know, there is such a thing as consensual encounter, that all police officers,sheriffs, Highway Patrol etc are trained to use as a way to communicate with citizens in the community, in a positive manner. If this officer had been trained properly by the Riverside Police Department, the officer would have used this technique to exit his car and approach Guillary and talk to him in a friendly manner. There was no immediate threat, a man was just sitting on a wall on his own property talking to a female who could have been the man's wife. But then again im assuming that the Riverside Police Department is interested in the cival rights of the citizens of The City of Riverside. I wonder how many other complaints the officer has that the Rivrside Police Department has been brushed under the carpet. It's a sad day when the Riverside Chief of Police, the watch commander and the field Sergeant who was at scene could not recognize that a citizen's right's had just been violated and are not professional enough to admit it. Oh yeah, as for the City Attorney that said Guillary's complaints have no merit, I guess protecting Riverside's pocket book is more important than having the intestinal fortitude to stand up and tell the police department they were wrong in this case. This is a blatant case of racial profilining and an attempt to cover it up. If the police department filed a false police report to aid in covering up of a potential civil rights violation, everyone connected to writing, reviewing and ok'ing of that report should be fired. This case should be reviewed by Local State and Federal authorities. Good luck Mr. Guillary the right's of not only Afro American citizens, but the rights of all citizens of Riverside County are at stake, be safe.


This raises interesting points. What was the demeanor of the officer when he approached or first addressed Guillary and the woman? Was it "friendly" or was it adversarial right away? People assume that it had to be adversarial or else the officer didn't do his job right but if you're approaching from a "customer service" perspective as claimed by the city, then the "friendly" approach would seem to be what would be used in this case. But was it?



To be continued....






The New York Times still keeps an archive on its coverage of the Miller shooting and its aftermath.




The San Jose Police Department needs to publicly release the records on drunk driving arrests amid much controversy about the high number of Latinos arrested.



(excerpt, San Jose Mercury)




Simple questions

The Mercury News' reporting on this subject and analysis of the available arrest data have put two very simple, if uncomfortable, questions at the feet of local public officials:

# Has the police department been making large numbers of false arrests for public drunkenness?

# If so, are Latinos much more likely to be the victims of these bad arrests?

According to state law, people cannot be lawfully arrested for public intoxication unless they are so intoxicated that they are a danger
Advertisement
to themselves or others or are obstructing use of sidewalks or streets. Officers must document these facts in a police report. Therefore, the obvious starting point for any serious examination of whether police are misusing this law is to review the police reports for these arrests. As the Mercury News reported, there were a whopping 4,661 of them in 2007. Fifty-seven percent of those arrested were Latinos.

The law is crystal clear that police officials have the discretion to release these records. But in the absence of a strong local sunshine ordinance in San Jose, as exists in some other California cities like Oakland and San Francisco, they do not have to do so.






The double murder trial of former DeKalb County Sheriff's Department deputy Derrick Yancey has been delayed. He's on trial for the June 7 shootings of his wife, Linda and a day laborer, Marcial Cax Puluc.

Initially Yancey claimed he shot Puluc after the man had shot his wife while trying to rob her in the basement of the house but after an investigation, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of murder.


Last month, the case was assigned another judge.

Questions continue to be asked in the Guillary case

The Riverside City Council will be meeting again for both afternoon and evening sessions on Dec. 16 and among other things will be setting a public hearing for next month to determine whether or not the elected officials will be getting pay hikes. It's very unlikely that anyone currently sitting on the dais will be foolish enough to actually push for a pay hike especially the four individuals whose seats are up for reelection next year.

Also on the consent calendar for the evening session is a resolution to add an amendment to the conflict of interest regulations involving city employees.

In closed session, the city council will be briefed on the $5 million dollar claim for damages filed by Los Angeles Police Department sergeant, Wayne Guillary against the city and police department. City Attorney Gregory Priamos has already announced that the claim is frivolous and the city will deny the claim, an action that it takes involving the vast majority of claims that it receives so it's hard to read too much into that. The police chief has already told Dan Bernstein from the Press Enterprise that the allegations were unfounded so that investigation must obviously be completed as well and if Guillary filed a complaint through the Community Police Review Commission then that case should come up for its own discussion and deliberation process fairly soon. It's great news that this complaint can be resolved so quickly and make its way up the chain of command so quickly as well for final resolution, in light of the 100-200 or so days that is the current average of days it takes a complaint just to reach the CPRC. And that the results of this investigation have been made public, clearly in the interest of transparency which has been sorely lacking in the police department as of late.

The only problem is, is it the truth? Because it's not necessarily the truth that's transparent.


And just like the city council has apparently remained mum and apparently refused to provide comments to the Press Enterprise on its upcoming retrospective on the 10th anniversary of the fatal officer involved shooting of Tyisha Miller by four police officers, it will remain silent on this situation. Why? Because allegedly the elected officials have little or nothing to say about what the city and the police department have been through or done in the past 10 years and it has nothing to do with them. That echoes similar attitudes that were held by elected officials in the troubling 1990s which led to the initiation of pattern and practice investigations by the federal, state and county investigative bodies.

There will be more discussion of this disturbing dynamic and how it developed in future postings but several recent incidents have got community members discussing how much things have changed with the police department since the shooting in 1998 and the end of the city's stipulated judgment with the state attorney general's office in 2006 even if the city council have opted out of it all.

The claim stems from an Oct 7 incident where Guillary was allegedly held on the ground at gunpoint by a Riverside Police Department officer who had asked him and a woman he was talking to on his own property to leave and continue their discussion at a local park. Both Guillary and the woman who sold bibles door to door were African-American. Eight other police officers responded to the situation and Guillary was released without arrest and to this date, no criminal charges including resisting arrest have been filed against him in Riverside County Superior Court eight weeks after the incident took place. The police department at least at its management level seems more preoccupied with the internal investigation initiated by the LAPD than its own.

But on the eve of the anniversary of Miller's death, this incident has caused a great deal of concern in the communities, even as the leadership in them remains quiet on the issue. City residents in different neighborhoods talked about this incident even as their leaders haven't said one word in public. Just as some of them talked not long after the incident happened and before it came to light even in this blog. Rumors of a troubling incident in one of Riverside's more affluent neighborhood had been making their way through the city, just as they had about an equally troubling incident allegedly involving an off-duty police officer in Orangecrest had been in that area of the city. Some details about that alleged incident were posted anonymously on the comment thread of one of the Press Enterprise articles on Guillary.

Incidents involving African-Americans who live in affluent neighborhoods and their negative contacts with police officers in this city have taken place before, but haven't made the newspapers. Whether it's a Black woman reporting that officers follow her as she's driving down the streets of her neighborhood or the son of a well-known Black minister who was pulled over near Mission Grove and told by officers he didn't look like he was from the neighborhood, incidents like these have caused people to ask just as they have in the case involving Guillary whether or not the city's police officers have been taught or trained that not all African-Americans are poor and not all of those in wealthier neighborhoods are there to commit crimes.

Allegations arose that in the late 1990s, retired Sgt. Al Brown made comments during roll call sessions which were racially offensive including one about a Black woman who was a student at University of California, Riverside who had complained about a traffic stop. Brown allegedly said that the only way that woman could be a university student is if she'd been on welfare. Other sergeants had allegedly made offensive comments during roll call sessions as well, to the extent that one of the requirements of the consent decree entered into with the state was to place cameras in the roll call room that allowed the police chief and other officers to watch the roll calls without being there.


Hopefully, those days aren't anything but memories. But when you have a disturbing incident take place and the investigation of the officers' actions are the bottom of the list of priorities provided by the police chief, it makes you wonder. Is the incident true or false, remains to be seen but the words of the police chief while meant to point out that no it was not, just served to make it appear that the department's doing damage control through its leadership even if it's not. That's what a lot of people are saying in the neighborhoods even as their leaders don't ask questions.




The debate continues here.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



thanks -kindjustice- but you can keep your wake up calls for yourself, I think you need one more than anyone here. and -kcgirl05- you should hit the dictionary again to look up a few more words that you dont understand, and then use them repetitively in your comments. Have fun with that. But on to more logical responses, whoever proclaimed something about spending taxpayers dollars, yada yada yada...well lets see genius, police, as well as everyone else that is legally employed in the state of California pays taxes, police arent exempt, and if in fact this $5million figure is payed out (im pretty sure any LAPD office can retire off 5 million) where do you think the money will be coming from? You dont think that it will trickle down to taxpayers? thats just ignorance on your part. Come on people, is this guy really deserving of $5million for ignoring the law and dealing with the consequences ? Check this perspective, lets say that the officer involved took Guillary's "word" and allowed him to enter the home to "locate" his identification only to find that he wasnt the home owner, and rather then return to the officer with his I.D. and badge, he took the occupants of the 'million dollar estate' hostage ? Then who would all of you arrogant people be pointing fingers at ? In this screwed up world you cant predict anything, these guys put their lives on the line everytime they clock in for work, not many people can say that. Nor can they explain to the family members of slain officers who have died in the line of duty simply because they gave someone the benefit of the doubt, gave them the opportunity to right a wrong, only to have their lives taken by some harmless looking person who turns out to be a homicidal maniac. There's your "wake up" call KINDJUSTICE, its called reality, GET A GRIP !




Chief Leach, this matter is not just about racial profiling. Had Guillary been an ordianry citizen(for a lack of a better term)and not a police officer, he would have had his butt kicked, arrested and booked for something he didn't do. Think about RPD did? They sent a "fraudulent report" to his employer in order to get him in trouble with the LAPD. We as ordinary citizens/community members don't have a badge and ID card. If Guillary did not have those items he would have gone to jail, and so would we. It is an abuse of power, a violation under the color of authority and done so under your oversight.





Some more delays in the renovation of the Fox Theater project in downtown Riverside.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

he city is spending as much as $30 million to renovate the historic Fox Theatre, which opened in 1929, converting it into a 1,600-seat performing arts center. The project is part of efforts to revitalize downtown and make Riverside the "City of Arts and Culture," as designated by the City Council.

The renovation is on schedule, but "we're lagging a bit on where we'd like to be on the programming," Gardner said.

Officials also decided to delay the opening so it wouldn't compete with the annual Festival of Lights, which runs from the day after Thanksgiving until around New Year's Day, he said.

A probe into a heated exchange between two Banning city councilwomen ruled that racism was not a factor according to the city's own investigators.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Hanna issued a statement Friday in which she wrote: "Although I am pleased the investigator has found absolutely no basis of racial discrimination or bias on my part it doesn't remove the stigma of having to confront such a horrible charge. I want to state this as clearly as I can -- I emphatically reject racism of all forms of illegal or unethical bias."

She wrote that she has apologized to Franklin "for any behavior that was perceived as aggressive."

Franklin said by phone Friday that she is "very disappointed" in the investigator's conclusions.

"I did not think it was a valid investigation," she added. "I don't know of anyone of color being interviewed," other than herself.




A former Riverside County fire fighter has been sentenced after being convicted of embezzlement.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral requested Burton be sentenced to 12 years in prison because of the amount stolen, the fact that he was a government employee, and because he altered the budget to gain more money that went to favors for friends.

Cabral said Burton was responsible for about two-thirds of the theft.

Warren said he understood the seriousness of the crime but added that Burton did not have a criminal record and had been a leader in the Fire Department.

Defense attorney Rena Wallenius said after the sentencing that her client was honored for service during the Vietnam War and for his time with the Fire Department. She called the punishment severe and said prison will be difficult for Burton.

"He accepted responsibility for this loss, unlike many others who contributed to it," she said in a written statement.

Restitution is going to be determined by the financial services division. Wallenius said Burton has been offering to pay back the money and plans to pay as much as possible.

Cabral told the court that Burton had promised to make a $25,000 payment to the Fire Department.





Former San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger defends his spending habits while he held his political office.




Another former San Jacinto Community College Police Department officer has joined in on the ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit filed by several others.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The latest terminated officer, Scott Jensen, spoke at a community college trustees meeting Thursday afternoon about his complaints. Jensen said his probation had been due to end Tuesday.

Jensen said earlier in the day that he was handed a letter by college Police Chief Kevin Segawa that said Jensen "failed to report the misconduct of Mark Medina," a police corporal.

Jensen said Medina threatened to get him terminated if he complained. He said the letter stated that was no excuse for not reporting Medina's conduct.

The three other former officers filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the college district and two employees on Tuesday in Riverside County Superior Court, according to court records.

The plaintiffs are probationary Officer Ron Navarreta, who was terminated in September; probationary Officer Chris Kuhl, who left in June; and Pedro Gonzalez, a volunteer.








The federal corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona continued with the revelation that his former aide, George Jaramillo will not be testifying for the United States Attorney's office.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)

The former assistant sheriff of Orange County also was expected to be a star government witness at the trial of his former boss Michael S. Carona, who was the county’s three-term sheriff until his indictment last year.

But federal prosecutors Tuesday ended widespread anticipation about whether he would actually take the stand by confirming that they will wrap up their criminal corruption case against Carona this week without calling Jaramillo as a witness.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel and Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Julian, who have called dozens of witnesses since the trial opened seven weeks ago, did not reveal any reason for their decision.

Interpretation from courtroom observers is varied: The government is so confidant in its case that it is simply unnecessary to call Jaramillo to the stand; Jaramillo is such a risky witness that Carona’s attorneys could have a field day during cross-examination, undercutting his worth to the government.

A Salem Police Department officer was suspended after an arrest he conducted appeared on YouTube.


(excerpt, Boston Channel)

The video titled "Bad Salem Cop" showed Puleo using what police called a "neck grabbing takedown" in his arrest of a 21-year-old Swampscott man.

The investigation found that Puleo was justified in making the arrest because Travis Markarian ignored repeated warnings to disperse after downtown bars closed for the night. However, the report calls Puleo's actions "improper and intemperate."

The video, which had been viewed more than 55,000 times on YouTube, shows Puleo walking across the street, pointing at Markarian and yelling "Get the (expletive) out of here now!"

As a woman attempts to pull Markarian away, Puleo grabs him by the throat and pulls him to the ground.

Riverside City Hall: Comments and commentary

"You've got to look at the larger picture."


---Riverside City Attorney Gregory Priamos' answer to most everything.




Yvette Pierre, the community relations director in Riverside was laid off by the city last week as was the police department's public information officer Steven Frasher and two other employees from the general services division and the fire department. In an article by the Press Enterprise which was released during that time, Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis told the publication that only one employee had been laid off that week.

Unfortunately, it's more than likely that there will be more layoffs to come in future months with the next round likely to begin in January as the city reaches the midpoint of its current fiscal year.

What hasn't been explained by the city manager's office or Mayor Ron Loveridge (whose office oversees Yvette's position), is what staff will be allocated to the Human Relations Commission now that it has no director in place and will not have one for the foreseeable future.

Loveridge did say here that all departments had to make spending cuts in his response to the termination of Pierre. On Tuesday, the city council and mayor will be voting to recommend take spending cuts when it comes to reducing their own salaries, a practice being adopted by other city governments in light of the current budget crisis. The proposal to "review" the salaries of elected officials will take place at a public hearing in January.

If you recall, HRC lost its staffing the first time around while housed under the city manager's office after it wrote that letter to City Manager Brad Hudson asking him for the racial and ethnic breakdown of employees at City Hall in the wake of the departures of a number of Black and Latino management level employees at City Hall. Hudson didn't respond at least not in writing but he did soon after reduce their two full-time employees to two part-time employees. Soon after the HRC was moved to the umbrella of Loveridge's office which as can be seen, didn't quite put it out of reach of Hudson's office.

Yvette at least is doing well under the circumstances and is treating a very difficult situation with a positive attitude. But getting laid off before the holidays is even more difficult so keep her and the other laid off city employees in your thoughts even if the city manager's office apparently can't keep track of exactly how many employees it's laying off at any given time. At least one city council member repeated DeSantis' calculated figure at a community meeting which isn't surprising considering one of the biggest jokes among those who try to keep up with the political antics at City Hall is that the city council is accountable to the city manager.

There's some hilarious if appalling stories going around about the micromanagement being done by city government and city employees' involving the Community Police Review Commission including just how involved some of this city's elected officials truly are, that it's a shame that some of those who have told them don't seek careers in late night television.

What's not as funny is what's happening to the city's form of police oversight on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the fatal officer-involved shooting that brought its inception. What's interesting is that new organizations are forming through out the city and the CPRC is on of the central points of concern. There's been a lot of discussions about what's been going on throughout the city with the commission during the past six months.

Some individuals were shocked when City Attorney Gregory Priamos said during one intense moment of the latest episode of As the CPRC Twists (in the wind) that before the commercial break (or lights out), Executive Manager Kevin Rogan answered to the city manager's office according to the city's charter and ordinances. That was in response to a question asked by Commissioner Jim Ward who had survived another round of being chastised by assorted commissioners led by Chair Brian Pearcy, about who the executive manager answered to, meaning the commission or the city manager. Pearcy, however was struck silent for a solid minute by Ward's revelation that the letter that Pearcy had authored to the city council on behalf of the commission regarding the Hudson directive was the "real" Brian Pearcy, which the commission didn't see very often.

A nice remark made to and about a man who had insulted him only minutes before by treating him like a five-year-old.

It's pretty obvious that this was the case involving the executive manager but to hear Priamos say it (alas, sans the proper organ music) has still elicited some interesting comments from people who've been avid followers of the city's greatest soap opera. If the commission believed its executive manager was there to serve it, they were mistaken and for sure, they know that's the case by now. And that's the way it shall be.

At least until the commissioners sign the paychecks. Of course it can't even write its own checks since Priamos has been designated keeper of the commission's allowance. And if it's naughty, the purse strings get pulled. A wrist slap of the dollar sign kind.




While on the topic of the beleagured CPRC, the discussion on the upcoming Ward Four election in Riverside continues as both the pro and anti forces show up to present their arguments on whether Councilman Frank Schiavone should be reelected to a third term or not.

The first topic for discussion is DHL-Gate, that unfortunate travesty that residents of Southern Riverside were forced to put up with for years being called "crazy" and "gadflies" by assorted individuals before their voices were heard.

Here are two different ways to look at this issue of Schiavone and DHL-Gate.


(excerpt, Inland Empire Craigslist)




For anyone that isn't aware, Mr. Schaivone brought us DHL, and wants to add even more night-time overflights.

He is a real-estate developer, and what has he done to help Ward 4?

He has only helped line the pockets of his developer buddies, and March JPA.

Oh, and he is generally an arrogant, mean man.

We need some change here in Ward 4. Schaivone's re-election is not a
no-brainer. He's on the outs.




Here's someone who disagrees with the above assertion.



The March JPA brought us DHL. Yes, Schiavone is a member - he's also the one that has fought tirelessly to remedy that situation once it was learned that certain facts were misrepresented to March JPA.

You said: "and wants to add even more night-time overflights" - I'm pretty sure this is an out and out lie considering how hard Schiavone fought to STOP the disturbing night flights!

You said: "He is a real-estate developer, and what has he done to help Ward 4?" - Schiavone is a custom home builder not a developer. He builds one home for a customer that wants that one home built. Big difference there buddy. What has he done? Since you live in Ward 4 - look around you! He's done plenty and I'm sure it will be spelled out here over time.

You said: "Oh, and he is generally an arrogant, mean man." - Well, this just sounds like sour grapes. Besides, even if this is true, which I have no idea whether it is or not, what difference does that make on whether he's an effective leader or not?

You said: "We need some change here in Ward 4" - Do we? Really? By all means spell it out. What needs to be "changed"? Seems to me you are just using the new hip buzz word because it worked for Obama.

Actually, your entire post appears to be a sound bite for a campaign platform. Interesting.



The filing deadline for city council elections is still several months away so if anyone else wants to jump into the ring, you still have some time to prepare. So everyone who's putting a sound byte out there (and it's interesting how the above commenter associates "sound bytes" with campaigns), should go and fill out their papers and run for political office.





Riverside's city land use committee conducted a meeting to discuss the future of Fairmount Park which is being renovated after Election 2007 brought out a new awareness among city government that public participation might win them votes. The 17.7 acres of public park land that was swapped in order to open it up for developers was placed back under the protection of state law or it will be if approved by the majority of the city council at one of its future meetings. Does it mean the land won't be developed in the future? Of course not, but it makes it a bit harder for the city to do so. But stay vigilant, because putting the CPRC in the charter gave it about a year reprieve from interference before certain factions at City Hall renewed their feeding frenzy over the panel where they'd left off.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

The effect would be to force the city to replace the acreage with the same amount of similar property if it develops Fairmount for uses that are not strictly park uses, said Kristi Smith, supervising deputy city attorney.

If the full council approves the item, the view into Fairmount Park is less likely to be blocked by buildings, said Councilman Mike Gardner, whose ward includes the park.

"This makes it a little more difficult for the council to do something that I see as a mistake," he said.

Gardner last year defeated former Councilman Dom Betro in part over park issues.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and Riverside Councilman Andrew Melendrez urged the Parkview Hospital nurses union to keep fighting for their contract.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Nurses held signs saying: "We love Parkview" and "Respect Nurses." They chanted, "Yes, we can," a phrase made popular during President-elect Barack Obama's campaign.

During his brief speech at Hunt Park, Garamendi said everyone knows the economy is tough and now is not the time to seek large wage increases.

Nonetheless, he said Parkview nurses have the right to organize and get a contract.

No one from the hospital administration could be reached to comment.

After the rally, union spokeswoman Laureen Lazarovici said hospital officials canceled a contract negotiation meeting that had been set for Thursday.

The meeting was rescheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The elderly residents of Plymouth Tower are going to be looking for another place to live because the senior version of affordable housing for those on fixed incomes is closing its doors with its eviction date on Feb. 15.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The news, announced at a meeting Dec. 1, has shaken the tower "family," as residents call themselves.

"There was a lot of crying," said administrator Ray Lau. "It was heart-wrenching. Some got angry. Some walked out."


Studies suggest a link between "transfer trauma" and a higher incidence of death and depression among nursing home residents who are abruptly discharged.

However, Lau said the long advance notice and solicitous efforts to resettle residents have eased the shock and reduced the trauma.

Lau and social worker/activities director Edoardo Estrada are scrambling to relocate residents at facilities with the same rates and to find jobs for the staff.

McBride is 101.

"I don't want to leave," said the tiny woman who still wears earrings every day. "This is a sad situation. This is a good, homey place."






The Riverside County Public Defender's office conducted a study on the trials and stated in a report that juries agreed with the defendant more often than in previous years. The office attributed this to issues with the Riverside County District Attorney's office overcharging defendants.

And so goes the latest round in the ongoing war that's broken out between the two county agencies but the study provided interesting food for thought.




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

The defender's office review of 574 felony trials over the two-year period shows guilty-as-charged verdicts on cases handled by its office fell from 53.2 percent in 2006 to 46.9 percent in 2007.

For 392 misdemeanor trials over the two years, the guilty-on-all counts category went from 49.7 percent in 2006 to 41.8 percent in 2007.

The 2007 results from the analysis shows "Fifty-three percent of the time, the community says after trial that a felony case was overcharged," said Assistant Public Defender Robert Willey, referring to jurors' decisions.

"On misdemeanors, the community rejects the filing decision on almost 60 percent of the cases," he said.

A leading prosecutor cast doubt on the effort.

"You can create statistics by your own measure and declare victory in any situation," Assistant District Attorney Chuck Hughes said in a telephone interview. The study "concocts" statistics from a few hundred cases "while ignoring many thousands of cases" that pass through the system, Hughes said.

The D.A.'s office disputes the findings and has stated in previous years that its conviction rate at trial is over 90%. It's not clear whether or not this office has also conducted a study.






This letter was published in the Press Enterprise about the Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who filed a $5 million claim against Riverside. The discussions taking place in this city this past week or so have been considerable.

(excerpt, Readers Views)

Your article about the $5 million lawsuit against the city of Riverside is another timely message about why Barack Obama's election victory is such an important milestone to those who have felt repressed simply because of their skin color ("Officer files claim against city," Dec. 7).

How many times must a black man be treated so harshly without apology by the police because he is perceived as not belonging in a particular place?

Despite Obama's major achievement for African-Americans, we see clearly by this incident how far we have yet to be enlightened and transformed before we live in a truly colorblind society that provides freedom for all.

I hope this lawsuit results in justice for this Los Angeles Police Department sergeant. But I hope that it will also serve as a training aid for the Riverside Police Department.

PHIL GOODGE

Riverside

Comments about the article continue in several articles published in the Press Enterprise this week and also here. They mirror comments being heard all over the city this past week.



(excerpt, Craigslist)




10 years later very little has changed with the RPD. The culture is still the same. The state needs to come back in, clean things up, and stick around for a while to make sure the PD doesn't relapse. Of course it would help if the City would allow the CPRC to do its job





(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

barbiemacs, you posted that "This is too incredible to believe"

Ask any black man living in Riverside, if this type of treatment by RPD officers is possible. You will be hearing many stories that are too incredible to believe.

So, are the officers of RPD any more out of control than any other major city in the US?

I have a good way for the citizens of our city to judge for themselves if this is the case or not. Unfortunately, it will require the cooperation of the courts, judges and DA's office, so I can't see it happening.

However, if there was a published figure of the monetary amount that is paid out by our city each year, a record kept, which gave us a breakdown of the costs our city incurred to defend civil actions which are filed as a result of police activity and the amount that is awarded to the plaintiff in each action (if any) then we could compare those figures with cities of similar size and draw our conclusions from there.

This would require all information and settlement amounts to remain public and there could be no gag orders or settlement deals made with the stipulation that the records are sealed.

Lets face it, if the police investigation of themselves, determines there was no wrong on the part of the police, then we shouldn't have million dollar awards going to the plaintiff/victims in these cases either.
If we do, then something is just not right.

Holy cow. Five Million Dollars? Wouldn't an equally embarrasing apology or community service for the officer be more appropriate? Five million dollars because a guy had to sit in his flowerbed "in his gardening clothes". If a white man, Mexican or Asian was sitting on the wall and the same thing happened you would never hear about it. They would have probably laughed it off and thanked the officer for trying to protect the property. Why is that racial profiling? How did an honest cop get a 1.3 Million Dollar house? My son is a cop and he sure can't afford one. I suspect this isn't poor Wayne's first suit. So the officer held a taser on him, which he didn't fire, but somehow 'roughed him up'? This is CRAP. I hope the judge charges him with bringing frivolus lawsuits.

RPD sent a report to his employer. What's that about? Sounds like an attempt to get the officer in trouble with the LAPD in order to get the heat off of them (RPD) rather than just provide the officer an apology! This is crazy!








City employees in Colton's public works division have filed a petition for an investigation in the city's labor practices.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The letter was signed by 21 of the 25 employees in the streets and parks divisions that Roque oversees and circulated last week to his supervisor, City Manager Daryl Parrish and the City Council.

Parrish said Thursday that he had received a copy of a letter signed by numerous employees in the Public Works Department stating that they have issues with and concerns about Roque.

"Understanding that there are always two sides to a story and all employees have rights, I have spoken to our interim public works director and have asked our human resources director to look into the matter," Parrish said.

Calls and messages left on Roque's cell phone seeking comment were not returned.

Lupe Celaya has worked for the Colton street department three years and said he has seen Roque verbally abuse employees.

Celaya said the final straw was an alleged incident in which Roque took city workers and a weekend laborer to one of his rental properties in town to paint over graffiti.

"We want him removed from his position. If it means termination, so be it," Celaya said. "If it means moving him to another department, fine. Morale is down, production is down...it's not a good thing."







The New York City Police Department is defending its internal investigation of allegations of serious misconduct against Michael Mineo who was allegedly sodomized by officers in a subway station. Three officers were just indicted on criminal charges by a grand jury stemming from that incident.


(excerpt, New York Times)

A day before Brooklyn prosecutors unsealed the indictments against three police officers, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Monday in an interview on NY1 that the department’s internal investigators had helped build a criminal case for prosecutors.

“If it wasn’t for Internal Affairs,” Mr. Kelly said, “there’d be no case here.”

On Tuesday, Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief spokesman, issued a statement after Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, announced the multicount indictment charging one officer with brutalizing the tattoo worker, Michael Mineo, and two others with trying to cover it up.

“Contrary to some critics, the N.Y.P.D. Internal Affairs Bureau, after locating two witnesses in close proximity to the incident who said they did not see the alleged sodomy, continued its aggressive investigation of the allegations,” Mr. Browne said, without naming the critics. “I.A.B. located and interviewed additional witnesses, reviewed hours of videotape, secured officers’ lockers and retained equipment for DNA and other testing, documented officers’ whereabouts, located MetroCard swipe records and identified users in the search for additional witnesses.”




But the reason why the NYPD has to come out and defend its investigation is because earlier this year when this incident was first reported, it refused to put its officers on administrative leave and issued statements to the media essentially saying it didn't happen and branded Mineo as a liar using those aforementioned two witnesses as its "proof".

Police departments often have to issue statements like this when they come to conclusions about allegations before the investigations been started and make them public.




Columbia, South Carolina is creating a civil rights panel for its state police.


(excerpt, The State)

“We don’t want to put law enforcement in a position that they will not adequately do their job for fear of prosecution,” Wilkins told The State this week. “But at the same time, we certainly don’t want those (officers) to overstep their boundaries and take it to the next level and violate someone’s civil rights.”

Wilkins, who became South Carolina’s top federal prosecutor in June, said he created the four-attorney task force about two months ago in the wake of allegations of excessive force by state Highway Patrol troopers.

Two troopers were indicted this year on federal civil rights charges, though a Greenville jury acquitted Steve Garren. The other indicted trooper, John Sawyer, is awaiting trial.

Wilkins said the task force, headed by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald, has reviewed “a little over” 10 alleged excessive force cases. Some cases are still under review; others, including the one involving Charles Green, have been closed, he said.

“We really felt we needed a formalized system in place,” Wilkins said. “It’s a work in progress; we take our cases very, very seriously.”

Wilkins declined to discuss specifics of the cases under review.

There's a job opening in Eugene, Oregon.




Police Auditor
City of Eugene, OR
(Population: 153,690)

Salary $86,715 to $108,056. Oregon's 2nd largest city, Eugene is an
attractive community with quality schools, a beautiful environment, a
temperate climate and a diverse, dynamic culture. The Police Auditor was
established in 2005 and reports to the City Council, and is responsible
for receiving and classifying complaints, monitoring or participating in
internal investigations, and preparing reports on complaints trends and
police practices.

The Police Auditor promotes organizational changes to improve police
services and community relations by identifying, analyzing and making
recommendations regarding complaint investigation process and policies,
practices and training. Requires a JD from an accredited university and
5 years of progressively responsible experience overseeing
administrative investigations and performing program development,
analysis, and complex professional staff support, preferably in the
public sector. Interested candidates should apply immediately for the
position and can find additional information at
<http://www.alliance resourceconsulti ng.com/>
www.allianceresourc econsulting. com
<http://www.alliance resourceconsulti ng.com/> .

The position is open until filled. Questions may be directed to Eric
Middleton at (562) 901-0769, or emiddleton@alliance rc.com.



The unwritten job description includes the willingness to be micromanaged by political forces in Eugene which rival those in Riverside. Despite this, at least 33 people applied for the position. The city's hoping to attract more applicants but maybe news about its reputation has slipped out.




A Los Angeles Police Department officer has been accused of jury tampering.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



A Los Angeles County district attorney's spokeswoman said the office is considering criminal charges against Officer Dominick Fuentes, who had testified in the trial a day before he allegedly spoke to the jurors.

The alternate jurors complained to a judge earlier this year that Fuentes had approached them in the hallway of a downtown Los Angeles courthouse and told them that evidence showed the defendant was clearly guilty, according to court records.

One of the jurors said Fuentes held up a hand while discussing the defendant's past crimes and said, "Do you see the number of fingers I have? He's done many more times than that."

The defendant's criminal history was never introduced as evidence in the trial.