Vacation

Having a great time in Europe and extending my stay - will be back with recharged batteries! ~Honor~

Dangerous Job: LAPD Gang Officer Targeted

Don't think that this type of thing isn't happening in Santa Barbara County - this is a reminder to the public that there ARE miscreants who DO set out to harm peace officers just because of the job they do. So the next time you see an officer, thank him or her for protecting your community and your family 24/7!


AP: FBI arrests head of anti-gang group in Los Angeles

"...An FBI news release said five of the defendants, not including Sanchez, allegedly conspired to murder a veteran detective with the Los Angeles Police Department's gang unit.

The indictment also alleges members of the gang were responsible for seven murders and eight conspiracies to commit murder since 1995.

A well-known and respected anti-gang worker, Sanchez has testified as an expert in legal cases, lobbied for better intervention and prevention programs, and spoken to youths about the depressing consequences of gang life...."

LA Times: Federal indictment targets MS-13, anti-gang activist

"...Asst. Chief U.S. Atty. George Cardona said in a news conference that Sanchez was a shot-caller with the Normandie clique of MS-13 and conspired to commit the 2006 killing during the time his organization was taking public and private funds.

"He took public funds while furthering the gang," Cardona said.

LAPD Chief William J. Bratton said the Sanchez case reinforces the thinking behind the city’s efforts to consolidate and more strongly regulate anti-gang funding."

Bits & Pieces 06/24/09

Independent: Hollywood on the Stand, Day Two

"On Tuesday, defense attorney James Blatt finished the direct examination of his client, Jesse James Hollywood, by asking how he feels about the brutal murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz in August 2000...."

Daily Sound: Hollywood tells his story
LA Times: Jesse James Hollywood denies ordering death


Daily Sound: City budget is balanced for now

"...Other concessions came from the Police Officers Association, which agreed not to cash out any leave time, including accrued vacation and holiday hours, for a cost savings of $259,000.

Councilmember Iya Falcone went to bat for the association, which has already backed her in the mayor’s race, in advocating that two vacant positions in the police department be restored to the budget.

She called the two positions — for a firing range and equipment expert and a computer and network technician — very important to the department and noted that officers came up with nearly twice the amount of funding that would be needed to fill those jobs...."

LA Times: Ventura County considers letting public decide on pension increases

"Alarmed by spiraling pension debt, Ventura County could join a growing number of local governments requiring that future increases in retirement benefits for public employees be put on the ballot...."

OC Register: Up to 50 Sheriff's Department layoffs coming

"...In a letter to supervisors in early June, Hutchens laid out 109 positions that would be lost if the board adopted the budget cuts, including 58 positions in the women's and Musick jails, 15 investigator positions and four 9-1-1 dispatchers. However, some of those positions already are vacant, and other employees would avoid layoffs by being relocated to alleviate overtime.

Generally, when it comes to sworn personnel, the lowest ranking sheriff's deputies would be laid off, and higher ranking officers, or those with more tenure, would be moved down into the lower-level positions,..."

LA Times: Orange County slashes $1 billion, cuts sheriff and jail budgets

Bits & Pieces 06/23/09

LA Times: Jesse James Hollywood takes the stand in his own defense at murder trial

"Looking like a young banker in a dark suit and striped tie, accused killer Jesse James Hollywood testified in his own defense Monday, giving a concise overview of his lucrative marijuana business in the San Fernando Valley...."

Independent: Jesse James Hollywood Tells His Story
Daily Sound: Hollywood comes to his own defense (best story)


OC Register: Sheriff Hutchens says she's made progress revamping department

"Marking one year since she was appointed, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said today that her administration has made “significant progress” toward overhauling a department marred by scandals of accusations of corruption, violence in the jails and allegations of a “code of silence” among its ranks...."

OC Register Editorial: Judge rules retiree benefits deal stands (it's not what you might think)

"When elected officials vote to increase benefits for public employees, those votes are set in stone – the courts consider them binding contracts that must be paid for by future generations of taxpayers. Even when the new promises are based on unrealistic or even deceptive financial scenarios, they still are binding. A deal is a deal, and unions are the first ones to use that phrase whenever anyone questions the wisdom or actuarial tables used to justify the new benefits...."

Crime, Jail & I.C.E.

This article from the SM Times has dealing with immigration status of arrestee's has generated a lot of discussion on the blog. I thought it best to take this off of my Have You Counted the Cars Yet? Part 2 and give it it's own space for discussion.

Tool to help in immigration checks

"...Lt. Lisa Bondietti, who works in jail operations at the Santa Barbara County Jail’s main facility in Santa Barbara, said that when someone is booked into jail, his or her name and other general information is recorded. The inmate is fingerprinted, and the fingerprints are sent to the Department of Justice, where the person’s identity is verified using any other records.

Jail staff do not check the immigration status of inmates at booking, Bondietti said.

If an inmate stays at the jail, he or she goes through a classification process, during which a criminal history is run, and jail staff will sometimes be notified that an inmate has been previously deported and to notify ICE, she said.

ICE is at the main jail at least three times a week screening inmates for being in the country illegally, Bondietti said.

The booking system is similar at the other, smaller jails in the county, she said.

Bondietti said she does not know enough about Secure Communities to have an opinion on how it would work in the county.

Officer Brady Doyle, a custody deputy with the Sheriff’s Department who works at the county jail in Santa Maria, said that ICE comes occasionally to the facility, but that jail staff don’t deal at all with whether inmates are illegal aliens.

“We don’t even step into those boundaries,” Doyle said.

Most inmates are transferred from the Santa Maria jail to the main jail in Santa Barbara, where more immigration checks are available, according to custody deputies.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Ugo “Butch” Arnoldi said deputies don’t look for illegal immigrants in the field.

“We really don’t care if they’re legal or illegal to begin with,” he said.

He said an immigration hold will only be placed on suspects who are in the country unlawfully and are charged with serious misdemeanors or felonies...."

Bits & Pieces 06/22/09

Independent: Gang Prevention Effort Off to Slow Start

"....youth violence reached a 14-year high a couple years ago. Gang related offenses during the first four months of 2008 were up 78 percent over the same period a year prior. Broken down, that figure includes a 100 percent increase in attempted murders, a 200 percent increase in brandishing a weapon, and 175 percent in assault with a deadly weapon. Of great concern to the officers writing the grant application was the surge in gang participation among females and elementary school age students...."

SM Times: CEO selected for SB County retirement fund

"While two separate boards hold the reins of Santa Barbara County’s runaway retirement fund, a recently hired administrator and his staff will hold quite a bit of persuasion in the following years.

Vincent Brown previously held high-level positions with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the state Department of Finance and the California State Controller...."

LA Times: San Francisco D.A.'s program trained illegal immigrants
This is a scary article and voters should be enraged at the people who run the Back On Track program.

As she runs for state attorney general, prosecutor Kamala Harris faces questions over a program that trained illegal immigrant drug felons for jobs, kept them out of jail and expunged their records.