Showing posts with label LA County Sheriff's Department (LASD). Show all posts
Showing posts with label LA County Sheriff's Department (LASD). Show all posts

July 5, 2013

Lakewood, CA Fireworks Report July 2013


It has been 7 years since the explosion on Dunrobin and apparently memories have faded for all the good reasons to sell fireworks in Lakewood (and all the neighboring co-conspiring cities):

1. To piss off all the people in Long Beach that thought they were safe from Lakewood's mania..

2. To ensure that slave labor children in India and China continue to be gainfully employed with full OSHA safety regulations protecting them..

3. To make sure safety is job 1

4. Fireworks never start fires in developed areas!....

5. To ensure that LA Sheriff's dept. employees get enough overtime to get that new boat..

6. To make sure our pets are patriotic as well.

Long ago we said that if "civic" clubs in Lakewood really wanted to raise some cash (for uniforms!?) they would sell pot. Quite frankly that is much less offensive, toxic and dangerous than fireworks. How many people a year are injured by Pot? (this is not an endorsement of Pot use by the way; we are just making a point). Lakewood might go for that as after all its for a good cause. What you're selling is really not that important if its for a good cause, right?

Seriously folks we would like to know what is spent on "special" fireworks enforcement and advertising each year versus the net profits the "civic" clubs make on these fireworks sales. I suspect they are close. So the city should just give the money to the clubs and call its a wash.

Patriotism is not found in Chinese fireworks. Sorry. We had to laugh at a neighbor down the street who (unwittingly) flies a faded flag night a day that is shredded to pieces. Is he patriotic? Veterans and Boy Scouts would say no. But by God he was out there supporting the troops with Chinese fireworks! Amazing. You want to be be patriotic Lakewood residents? There are about 42,000 of you registered to vote in the city and about 3,500 you vote for city council every 4 years (if we even have an election). That is sickening and pathetic. How about starting there. I am going to guess that very few lighting the fireworks in Lakewood voted in the last City Council election.

We can wait until the environmental agencies catch up and overtake the fireworks lobby which has lots of friends in Sacramento. After all who could be against the "essence of Patriotism". Didn't George Washington support fireworks? Let me check Fox News on that... Its like speaking out against NSA "wholesale spying" which keeps you "safe"! So America (Lakewood) light your fireworks and turn on your phone's tracking. Be a proud American. Lets not call them fireworks. Lets call them PatriotBombs! (oh on second thought maybe not...) lol...

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

April 29, 2011

Crime mapping in Lakewood gets a facelift (once it comes on line)

We of course were not surprised when the Sheriff's dept. (LASD) managed to once again drop the ball on crime reporting. We applaud the LASD in trying to find a cheaper (not sure how much cheaper or if better) alternative to crimereports.com which they have been using for some time as we reported. What bothers us the most is that the city of Lakewood NEVER even mentioned crimereports.com on their website or in any other literature we can find. Why? The Press Telegram did not even mention this safu below with the transition to crimemapping.com. We mentioned crimereports.com when we first happened upon it by accident in January 2009. Only time will tell if crimemapping.com gives us better detail and more customization than crimereports.com. In addition, one must remember that these third party privately run websites are only as good and as timely as the data supplied by LASD. One must also remember that these are only incidents that are reported AND where a report is taken or an incident number is assigned. In most cases people don't even bother to report stuff to Lakewood LASD as nothing good ever comes of it. And none of us will ever know how much of that crime goes unreported. (in speaking with some recent victims of Lakewood burglaries we were told by the victims that reporting it to Lakewood LASD was a total waste of time)

When we recently heard of a rash of residential Lakewood burglaries in March and April 2011 we became even more interested in the realtime crime data. Also we learned that the LASD Cerritos substation puts out a weekly crime related email with maps and a very nice one page summary of significant crime trends (and some insight) for residents to keep on the lookout for. Now what puzzled us is why is Cerritos substation putting out these weekly crime reports when Lakewood is not? Could it be that Cerritos has more crime than Lakewood? Hardly. They also have the same Sheriff service Lakewood does. Cerritos LASD also still uses crimereports.com and will be using crimemapping.com in addition to the email summaries they are sending out unlike Lakewood LASD. Its key to note that the emailed reports come from the CITY of Cerritos (crime_information@cerritos.us), not LASD (lasd.org). So there you have it. The difference is that the Cerritos city council acknowledges that crime exists in their city and they want their residents to be aware of an uptick etc in crime or abnormal pattern and the types of crime as well as where the hotspots are. Now on the other hand the Lakewood city council (which happens to have a Sheriff sitting on it) does not want to even acknowledge that there is any crime in Lakewood as this hurts reelection. So the best way to pretend there is no crime in Lakewood is to make sure the city never officially acknowledges any (by sending out crime reports like Cerritos) other than to say at the end of the year "crime is down..." Oh great. What about the rash of burglaries in North Lakewood. Oh well those just get merged into the overall yearly rate. Problem Solved. If you want to dig a little deeper you are on your own. The city of Lakewood is not going to help you and they are not going to ask LASD to help you either. Again as we said before there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Denial is not just a river folks. Again lack of transparency is very "apparent" when you take even a little bit of a closer look at what is going on in this city.


Sheriff's online crime data unavailable as department switches software
By Brian Day, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/28/2011
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17952798

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Online public crime information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is temporarily unavailable as the agency switches to a new crime reporting software, officials said.

For more than a year, the sheriff's department has provided limited information about the type, time and locations of crimes reported to the department via the website Crimereports.com. Several other Los Angeles County agencies, including the Baldwin Park, Covina and Whittier police, also provide crime information to the public via Crimereports.com.

The department has elected to start using a new system, effective this weekend, officials said, and the process has had the unintended consequence of no online crime information being posted on Crimereports.com since April 18.


"We don't know what the glitch was, but we're going to get it fixed," Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Michael Parker said.

"It was supposed to be seamless," Parker added of the transition between crime reporting systems.

The sheriff's department has paid for services from Crimereports.com through Saturday, Parker said, so it was unclear why crime data is no longer being updated. Once informed of the issue, authorities began looking into it.

Starting this weekend, Parker said, sheriff's officials will post crime data on the website Crimemapping.com, which is already used by agencies including Pasadena, Los Angeles, Arcadia and Sab Gabriel police.

When sheriff's data begins to show up on Crimemapping.com this weekend, Parker said, it will likely take a week or two to work out all the bugs.

"We expect glitches, because that's what happens when you do a big transition," he said.


Once in place, Crimamapping.com will retroactively pull all crime data from the previous six months

The switch is designed to provide better information to the public at a reduced cost to the sheriff's department, Parker said.

"We have changed systems because we found a system that was less expensive and was able to provide more information to public," he said.

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17952798#ixzz1KwU1TI7F



Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

April 20, 2011

Wonder where your law enforcement tax dollars are going?

Well when it comes to the LA County Sheriff's department it's not going to enforcement and keeping you safe, but to lawsuit payoffs. This Blake Dupree case was settled very quietly 2 months ago and we just recently came upon one article that just mentioned it. The only reason we mention it is because the incident happened at the Lakewood Sheriff substation in 2008. From the LA times story on yet another settlement for bad behavior:


"Lyznick's settlement comes less than two months after the county agreed to pay $4.25 million and other costs [so its even more money?] to Blake Dupree, a man who was paralyzed from the chest down after a sheriff's deputy Tasered him, causing him to fall from the top bunk of his jail bed. Dupree, who had been refusing to leave his cell, was then carried out to the station's fingerprint area and dumped on the floor, according to his lawsuit. Much of the 2007 [we understand it was 2008] incident was caught on tape." (keep those iPhones rolling!)

You ask yourself why the county settles these? Its because they cant take them to trial as it would be so obvious to a jury that LASD screwed up (per the LASD defense attorneys) and the jury would likely award a lot more money that then settlement. Also don't forget we still have this little gem yet to be "resolved". The LASD is very good at keeping these settlements out of the press as they dont want you to know where your tax dollars are really going. The Dupree settlement is almost half of he Lakewood LASD budget for a year! Like we said before, the Deputies that are causing these problems need to go. To never be hired again by another agency. Oh but wait the LASD union is in the way preventing us from getting rid of the "lawsuit magnets"....

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

April 8, 2011

justice really slows down when the criminal is a deputy sheriff

This story below just popped up today on the news wires and in the interest in thoroughness (unlike some media) we wanted to post a follow up as we had posted on this years ago. A few things the nice little news article below does mention. First this first surfaced in October 2008 as we first noted and that was for a crime going back to 2001!  And just now Deputy Dyer is pleading no contest..in April 2011... two and half years later? Are you kidding me? For a no contest plea? What took so long? There was no trial. The no contest plea is used when the criminal wants to avoid the plea from being used against him in any later civil action. It is good to see that he is paying the money back. Ill bet he serves no jail time on this regardless of the three year potential. I also note he is apparently paying the money back with no interest? Nice. I guess the taxpayers can foot that bill as all the cities are hurting right now (many due to paying guys like Dyer). Also he must have a really sweet pension from LASD as a reward for all his good years of thievery in order to cough up $550,000 so fast. (44k in back taxes likely means you have a substantial income). I see he paid for the investigation costs. But was he given a free defense attorney via the LASD union (ALADS) which in the end comes out of your pockets? One final note. In a way its a good thing Lakewood never tows any cars...we would just have this to worry about as well.


Retired deputy pleads no contest to embezzling $450,000
From wire service reports
Posted: 04/08/2011 07:28:42 AM PDT
http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_17801387

A retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy pleaded no contest Thursday to a felony count for embezzling about $450,000 in towing fees that were intended for the city of La Puente.

Joseph Dyer, 56, pleaded no contest to one count of a public officer crime, according to Deputy District Attorney Amy Pellman Pentz.

Dyer is facing three years in state prison when sentenced May 31 by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus.

Dyer supervised the impound program at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Industry Station and collected towing fees from residents between June 2001 and December 2007 that should have been paid to the city of La Puente, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Dyer's wife, Lydia, 47, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false tax return and was immediately sentenced to one year of probation.

The couple repaid the sheriff's department $554,588, which included the loss along with $100,000 toward the costs of the investigation, according to the District Attorney's Office.

They also paid just over $44,000 in back taxes to the state's Franchise Tax Board, according to the District Attorney's Office.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

June 22, 2010

illegal fireworks seized from La Puente home

Its the season for fireworks. I guess the Chinese fireworks biz is booming in this economy. Whats funny is that these raids really are a big benefit to the legal fireworks companies. They should get their own private police force like Microsoft used to nab pirates. I am sure Lakewood will be so much quieter this year due to the "heroic efforts" of LASD. Right. This "war on illegal fireworks" has been about as successful as the "war on drugs" while letting "medical marijuana" go on sale with virtually no regulation or enforcement.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/500000-in-illegal-fireworks-seized-from-la-puente-home.html
$500,000 in illegal fireworks seized from La Puente home
June 22, 2010 | 8:12 am

L.A. County sheriff's deputies made an explosive discovery this week when they uncovered a La Puente home filled with nothing but half a million dollars' worth of illegal fireworks.

Deputies set up a surveillance operation on a house on a cul-de-sac in the 14800 block of Hartsville Street after receiving a tip that it was being used to sell and distribute fireworks, said Sgt. Russell Boucher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Industry station.

They stopped a large van leaving the residence just after 9 p.m. Monday and found it loaded with about $10,000 worth of illegal fireworks.

When they went inside to search the home, they found every room stacked floor-to-ceiling with illegal fireworks.

"It sounded like the house was rented specifically for the purpose of housing fireworks," Boucher said. "There wasn't any furniture. Basically every room was filled with fireworks."

Arson and explosives investigators were dispatched to the scene, where they disposed of the fireworks and estimated their value at $500,000.

Three men were taken into custody.

Authorities said the entire house -- and at least several nearby -- could have blown up if any of the firecrackers had ignited.

-- Tony Barboza



Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

April 19, 2010

L.A. County budget shortfall at more that $500 million

Read the headline below closely..."layoffs POSSIBLE". What private employer in the US would have a $500 million loss and not lay off people immediately? I guess the County administrators flunked math as the total below is like 168 million. So what about the rest? Also note that 1/4 of the total is cuts from LASD, where we all know most of the cost and the fat is located. How does eliminating a vacant deputy postion save us money? Thats fake. Also how much overtime is being cut. Very "broad" picture being painted below. We need to see the details in the story below as we call know the deveil is in the details. Also when these cuts actually happen lets us know. We all hear about "proposed" cuts "in the news" that never really happen. Also lets take a  look at govt. employye job losses vs private sector job losses. There is no comparison. It must be like 700 private sector job losses for every one public secor job loss. Ill bet not one person that was a full time govt. employee in CA before 2004 has lost their job due to budget cuts. I would love to see just one real job cut, that actually really ocurred and by which we stopped paying tax dollars for that position. I challenge any reader to show us some evidence that this has occurred and that a real measurable "budget saving" resulted. I think this is all "press release" generated headlines to generate sympathy were none is needed or to drum up votes for the coming ballot proposition(s) in November. Surely when they run the ads in November for the "Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act" (which they hope to qualify for the November 2010 statewide ballot) they will run these headlines of "proposed" cuts and tell us how the sky is falling.

L.A. County budget shortfall at more that $500 million, layoffs possible
April 19, 2010 | 2:09 pm

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a5267e70970b-800wi

Los Angeles County Chief Executive William T Fujioka said Monday that he is grappling with a $510.5 million budget shortfall and may need to lay off about 100 workers to help close the gap, even with negotiations underway with labor leaders that could yield compromises.

“This will be the worst year,” Fujioka said at a news conference today, predicting that the economic downturn will continue to ease and the pressure on the county will be far less in coming years.

In addition to possible job cuts, Fujioka's proposal to close the budget gap includes shortened library hours, reduced overtime for sheriff’s employees and the elimination of more than 1,000 vacant positions across the county.

Fujioka also cautioned that the cuts might grow significantly worse in the coming weeks because of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed $1.5 billion cut to county funding. That situation remains fluid, however, and no state cuts are included in Fujioka’s plan so far.

Currently, his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year totals $22.721 billion, a decrease of $885 million from the current budget. The proposed budget is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, allowing for public hearings to begin May 12.

Among proposed curtailments:


* Sheriff: $128 million in cuts, elimination of 214 budgeted positions by downsizing the Pitchess Detention Center, deletion of 300 vacant deputy positions, reduction in overtime budget.

* Assessor: $7.9 million reduction and elimination of 22 positions, affecting appraisals, information technology projects and other services.

* Public Health: $7.9 million reduction and elimination of 81 positions

* Public Social Services: $7.4 million and elimination of 383 positions.

* Public Library: $4.8 million reduction and elimination of 9 positions, reducing service hours at selected libraries and elimination of the adult literacy program.

* Public Defender: $4.5 million reduction and elimination of 18 positions.

* Children and Family Services: $4.4 million reduction in programmatic areas.

* District Attorney: $3.6 million reduction and elimination of 25 positions.

-- Garrett Therolf at the L.A. County Hall of Administration

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

March 11, 2010

Making Lemonaid out of Lemons

This is an example of a shrewd move by LASD. On the news last night they were showing the LASD "hero" dispatcher, and the "hero" boy with a Sheriff hat on. Everything was happy smiles and what a great thing it was no one was hurt. Yep lucky for them. Now lets say the home invaders had shot the family then left? Do you think we would hear much about this 911 call? Nope. The real back story here, not covered by the mainstream media [especially the local TV stations who love to film whats fed to them by law enforcement in cases like this just to get ratings], is when was the 911 call placed and how many minutes later did the sheriff actually arrive at the scene? [this info is tracked by the way] If they were told a description of the car why could they not catch them? Was the LASD helicopter in the air at the time? How long did it take to respond? Was the cars description called in timely? They could not spot the car? If not why do we have two Sheriff's helicopters in the air all the time buzzing our homes at all hours of the day? How close was the closest sheriff's car to the house when the call came in? How far was this house from the LASD substation in Norwalk? [where the LASD helicopter lands by the way] These are the types of questions that should be asked in a situation like this and are not. Why? Most likely as the answers are embarrassing for the LASD. Its more fun to have a media event and hand out sheriff caps. Yep, making lemonade out of lemons. Hats off to the mainstream media for missing the real story and the LASD press spin masters.

We have heard stories of "911" calls before to Lakewood Sheriff's. Like "burglary in progress. I am watching them take stuff right now... Come quick." 30 minutes later a car shows up and asks where the burglars are. We kid you not. We could not make this stuff up. The deputy was told by the reporting witness that the burglars left about 5 minutes after the 911 call. Then the deputy just drives away. No report. Why make a report as that will just make LASD look bad as another unsolved burglary.

Now I am sure the sheriff response to all of the above would be "we need more units/deputies/dogs/radios/helicopters" or "we need more overtime" or "more lucrative pensions" but that is another story. The real issue is we are not getting much bang for our buck. All we get are "puff pieces" like the one below, and worse on the blathering local TV news. Oh and don't forget the stories that end badly or never get reported as their is no cute little boy in the story. Sure this is a "feel good" story, but lets not forget the "real" back story.

Norwalk boy, 7, makes harrowing 911 call during armed home invasion [Updated]
March 9, 2010
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/authorities-were-hailing-a-7-year-old-norwalk-boy-as-hero-tuesday-after-he-hid-in-a-bathroom-and-called-911-as-three-armed-at.html

Authorities were hailing a 7-year-old Norwalk boy as a hero Tuesday after he hid in a bathroom and called 911 as three armed attackers broke into his home and threatened his parents.

During the harrowing emergency call, the child pleaded with Los Angeles County sheriff's dispatchers to send help.

"Can you come really fast? Please! Please! ... They have guns. They shoot my mom and dad," the boy said, according to a copy of the 911 tape released by authorities.

The incident began about 8:30 a.m. when the three suspects, armed with handguns, stormed in through an unlocked door and said they were going to take what they wanted, the sheriff's department said.

The boy hid in the bathroom and locked the door.

"There's some guy who's going to kill my mom and dad," he said. "Can you come, please?

"Bring cops...a lot of them! ... And soldiers, too," the boy said.

He told dispatchers that he thought his parents had been shot.

The attackers broke into the bathroom and found the boy. At that point, screaming is heard on the 911 tape.

Authorities said one of the suspects grabbed the boy and asked who he called. "911," the boy responded, according to the department.

The suspects fled without injuring anyone or taking any property, authorities said.

"If not for the brave and educated actions of the 7-year-old boy, this might have ended tragically," said Capt. Pat Maxwell.

[Updated 10:18 p.m.: The boy hid in the bathroom with his 6-year-old sister, according to the 911 tape. Authorities said the suspects fled in a gray two-door Acura RSX.]

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at (562) 863-8711.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Robert J. Lopez

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

October 30, 2009

Trick or Treat from the Lakewood Sheriff's Department

The Press telegram reports that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's station in Lakewood is hosting a "Haunted Jail," complete with spooky costumed characters (does this mean deputies?), food and games (do tasers count as games?). The Lakewood Station moved all its prisoners to Cerritos for the event. Odd that the LASD did not send this press release to LAAG.

So are we to believe that no work hours (i.e. tax dollars) were "lost" on all this? Right. Trick or Treat? I think the taxpayers are being tricked. This is the highest and best use of a $20 million dollar new station? I mean we know the LASD Lakewood station does nothing useful for $10 million a year (except try to look busy) but lets not advertise the fact by turning the jail into something out of The Andy Griffith Show on one of the busiest nights out of the year. You want to read about something really scary that really happened in the Lakewood jail read this. Now that real scary episode will be a real "treat" for taxpayers. We'll see if the LASD has any tricks up its sleeve on that one. Likely not. Just some tax dollars for that "trick or treater".

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

July 7, 2009

LASD contract cities have nowhere to turn

This was an issue we brought up with the city of Lakewood over two years ago. Namely that without competitive bidding contract cities like Lakewood may be getting ripped off. In the sectors where there is real private competition (like street sweeping, tree trimming, trash collection etc.) the city is arguably well served by at least appearing to have used some competitive bidding. But given the length of time some private contractors have been "serving" Lakewood one really starts to wonder just how much these budget increases are due to lack of competitive bidding.

In the law enforcement arena this is doubly so. The problem of course is that the LASD services are offered on a take it or leave it basis. Surely Baca laughs off any complaints by Lakewood as we just built his deputies a $20 million new locker room. So its not like we can drop the LASD at the drop of a hat and get other law enforcement. Thats a real problem and its starts to breed the problems set forth in the story below. The first was total lack of accountability and oversight as to how the "liability trust fund" money was being spent. This issue has been brewing for years and there is still no resolution. Clearly the current situation with the trust fund was brought about due to pressure (in secret) by the deputies labor union.

The other problem is an unclear chain of command and lack of real accountability. The city council only has moderate control over the LASD as a contract city. This is unlike the control cities have over their own city police departments.

The other problem (as exemplified by the trust fund issue) is that cities that have few deputy "problems" (i.e. lawsuits) end up paying a larger share of the "rogue deputy cases" involving "shootings gone bad" etc. that occur in cities that have more crime problems or police clashes with citizens. Again this does not work in Lakewood's favor.

Finally this lack of real bargaining position by the small contract cities is resulting in costs just being passed on to the cities with no real way to control or curtail them, again because the city really does not "run" the LASD and has little ability to control costs other than when at the yearly "bargaining" table.

This lack of real bargaining power due to a lack of alternatives is fostering runaway costs. In FY 2007-2008 the Lakewood LASD contract was $8,862,113.00 (or approx. $216 per year for each registered voter in the city...such a deal!) The FY 2009-2010 the Lakewood LASD contract was $10,423,367.00 (or approx. $254 per year for each registered voter in the city). That is a 17.6% increase! How is this possible with no inflation and almost flat cost of living increases (how many of you in the private sector got a 17% raise in 2009-10?)

So what to do. Well surely we cant continue to deal with LASD the same way as in years past. We need to look at their services and cost of delivery like we would with any other contractor...more critically, especially in light of the budget probles we are sure to have over the next 5 years. One of the problems is that certain people on this city council are probably not very objective when looking at the LASD negotiations or service efficiency.

The other problem is where to turn for a competitive bid. Long Beach PD is an obvious choice but they have their own problems, mostly budgetary. But the real issue is would adding Lakewood to their patrol area and a large chuck of cash to their budget improve not only Lakewood bargaining position with LASD but also raise up the LBPD situation? The other option is looking at starting a city police force but pooling common resources with other small contract cities. Drawbacks include bringing in the same "bad apple" officers that are problems now at LASD. LASD also touts that we get "bonus" services like SWAT and the LASD crime lab etc. included in the deal. However that is not a free "add on". Also when was the last time we needed SWAT in Lakewood? And given the new crime lab's reputation its clearly no bargain.

We think given the way the state and country are headed budget wise that Lakewood is going to have a very tough budgetary road for the next 5 years (Lakewood admits that). The sales tax declines are also going to hurt badly and we dont see that improving any time soon. And we dont see LASD helping Lakewood financially in the future.

We think its time for some real competitive bidding.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_12765178
La Habra Heights to consider ousting sheriff's; look elsewhere for police contract
By Mike Sprague Staff Writer
Posted: 07/06/2009 11:00:00 PM PDT

LA HABRA HEIGHTS - The tiny rural community of La Habra Heights is at the vanguard of group of cities considering dumping the Sheriff's Department.

La Habra Heights City Manager Shauna Clark will ask the City Council at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Thursday to give her permission to consider contracting for police services with another agency and consider leaving the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

La Habra Heights is among 40 cities that contract with the Sheriff's Department refusing to renew. They are upset that Los Angeles County is forcing them to pay for legal liability in criminal misconduct cases against deputies.

Calls Monday to La Ca ada Flintridge, Duarte and the California Contract Cities Association were not returned. Officials in La Ca ada Flintridge and Duarte have criticized the new contract language.

The cities have threatened to sue the county after it took $5 million from the liability trust fund to settle a case against a Compton deputy who raped three women while on duty.

The cities pay for the fund, which currently has $52 million.

"We don't get to choose our deputies," Clark said. "We don't get to train them. For a small city like us, a large lawsuit in a case like that could break us."

It could mean that La Habra Heights, population 5,712, must purchase additional general liability insurance and establish a liability reserve, she said.

David Sommers, spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, said the liability issue may be on its way to being solved.

"We're pretty close to a final resolution," he said. "The talks are still ongoing and the supervisor is hopeful that it will be resolved shortly."

Sommers said he believes the issue between the cities and the county could be smoothed out.

"For more than 50 years, the contract city relationship has worked well," he said.

"Contract cities are the number one customer of the county," he said. "There are more residents in contract cities than in unincorporated areas. They are our No. 1 customer and we have a responsibility to provide excellent customer service."

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina has said that if the issue isn't resolved by Aug. 31, the contracts with cities won't be renewed.

The contracts were due to expire July 1, but the county extended them until Aug. 31.

In La Habra Heights, liability isn't the only issue.

Clark also is concerned about the rising costs of sheriff's services.

The cost for patrols rose a combined 47 percent over the last five years. In contrast, property tax - the city's main revenue source - increased by only 21 percent during that time.

One possible provider of police services could be Whittier.

Whittier City Manager Steve Helvey said patrolling La Habra Heights might not make financial sense for his city due to its small size and distance from Whittier.

The Sheriff's Department typically only keeps one car in the community.

"We'd still have to be prepared to send in other units," he said. "It's probably not the most convenient situation."

He needs to talk it over with the Whittier City Council, he said.

Should the issue remain unresolved, La Mirada could be another city that would look elsewhere for services, said Councilman Hal Malkin.

One of the last area cities to leave the Sheriff's Department was Santa Fe Springs, which contracted with Whittier for police services in 1995.

mike.sprague@sgvn.com

(562) 698-0955, Ext. 3022

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

July 5, 2009

Our hopes went up in smoke

Well we had high hopes for July 4, 2009. Things were looking up July 1-3 when sales at the fireworks stands were way down for the first three days they were allowed to open (July 1-3). We were hoping the economy was finally knocking some sense into people's heads. Why pay $200.00 for some fire and smoke when you can go to a public fireworks display for free? But alas Lakewood residents did not disappoint come July 4. By 8:30 things were rockin'. It seems that those that like to make the most noise and irritate the most people and pets are apparently doing well in the recession and spent like mad on "Chinese safe and sane" fire and sparks being pedalled by our "good friends" over at TNT (who appear to have gobbled up most of their competition) But we had hope. We saw a few LASD Sheriff cars cruising around with smirking deputies (knowing they were halfway to buying that new boat with fireworks duty OT).

But alas as 11 pm came and went the big guns came out (big illegal "fireworks"). And where were the sheriff's? I guess they had mostly gone home for the night having used up all the amount Lakewood budgeted for the holiday weekend (160 deputy hours for $10.931...fyi thats $68.31 per hour for that fine sheriff "protection" for a grand total of 16 deputies for one 10 hr shift...such a deal!). Also note that none of the clubs benefiting from these sales or TNT which benefits the most offered to pick up the any of these extra costs. At least the Lakers and AEG picked up some of the Lakers parade OT costs. Hear that TNT?

Calls to LASD station after midnight were met with 20 min hold times. When you did get through residents reported a litany of stupid questions (after you reported "illegal fireworks" at a specific address were still being shot off well after the 11 pm cut off). Questions like:

"how long has this been going on?"

Who cares? Its illegal! Its midnight already!

"What is the cross street?"
What you dont know the city street grid by now...how long have you been patrolling...or have you ever?

"What color is the house?"
Its midnight you idiot how am I supposed to know the color of the house?

"How many people are at the house?"
Are you serious? Who cares? How should we know? Do you need to know haw many tasers to bring?

All the time this was going on you could hear the rocket scientist on the phone typing this in. Oh and their tone of voice over at LASD is usually one of "why are you bothering us...go away you bothersome resident..." (I assume in the new sheriff locker room the words are not so kind)

Most of the time this is done after the long hold time so that callers will eventually just hang up and give up (and never call back). That is the way LASD works; make it a pain for people to report problems, then show up two hours later and do nothing. After two hours you know everyone will be gone from the scene so thats even better. You can bill 2 hrs for the call, honestly say you drove by but nothing was seen. How true! This is typical even on low call volume days.

So Capt. Christy Guyovich's "pleas" or "warnings" (depending on your vantage point) were nothing more than words or idol threats at best. The third 4th of July since the March 2006 "Dunrobin" (Brian Miler) "incident" and we really dont have much to show in terms of progress. Can't wait to hear the post July 4th spin from City Hall. They need to hire some retired Bush spokespersons to boost their credibility.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

July 4, 2009

2009 fireworks displays..see any on June 27th?

Ever wonder why Lakewood does their display so early? (June 27 2009). Do you think there would be fewer problems with illegal displays in the city if they did the display on July 4 like they used to years ago and most cities do currently? Given the budget crisis that were are in and the fact that the professional displays can cost upwards of $80,000 we think Lakewood should eliminate the professional display or hold it on July 4. Unless we change Independence day to June 27. Plus we can save on law enforcement costs as all the 'activity" is on one day (not spread over two weekends)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY
(all events below are on July 4, 2009 unless otherwise noted)
The cities of Pico Rivera and Placentia are not be holding fireworks presentations in 2009.

Artesia: Fireworks at 9 p.m. Artesia Park, Elaine Avenue and South Street. (562) 860-3361.

Baldwin Park: Program starts at 5 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. Sierra Vista High School, 3600 N. Frazier Ave. (626) 813-5245.

Calabasas: Gates open at 5 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Calabasas High School, 22855 Mulholland Highway. $10. (818) 222-2782.

Castaic Lake: Program begins at 5 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. All-day entrance to the park is $25 per car or $5 per person. Castaic Lake Recreation Area, 32132 Ridge Route Road, Castaic. (661) 257-4050.

Cerritos: Fireworks at 9 p.m. Cerritos High School, 12500 183rd St. (562) 916-1254.

Claremont: Program begins at 6:30 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Pomona College, 340 N. College Ave. $6-$8. (909) 399-5460.

Commerce: Fireworks at 9 p.m. Rosewood Park, 5600 Harbor St. (323) 887-4427.

Diamond Bar: Festivities begin at 5 p.m. and fireworks start at 9 p.m. Diamond Bar High School, 21400 Pathfinder Road. (909) 594-1405.

Hollywood: John Fogerty concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and fireworks at 10 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. $12-$116. (323) 850.2000.

Huntington Park: Program begins at 2 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Salt Lake Park, 3401 E. Florence Ave. (323) 584-6218.

Inglewood: Program begins at 11 a.m., fireworks at dusk. Edward Vincent Jr. Park, 700 Warren Lane. (310) 412-5370.

Lake View Terrace: Program begins at noon, fireworks at 9 p.m. Hansen Dam Amphitheatre, 11770 Foothill Blvd. (818) 899-8087.

Lancaster: Gates open at 6:30 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Avenue H at California 14. (661) 723-6077.

Los Angeles: Festival and jazz concert 1 p.m to 5 p.m. in Leimert Village at the Vision Theater, 3341 W. 43rd Place. Fireworks from the Coliseum at dusk. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 3911 S. Figueroa St., L.A. (213) 485-7616.

Marina del Rey: Fireworks at 9 p.m. Fisherman's Village, 13755 Fiji Way. (310) 305-9545.

Palmdale: Gates open at 6:30 p.m.; music starts at 7:30 p.m. followed by fireworks. Palmdale High School, 2137 E. Ave. R. (661) 267-5611.

Pasadena: Family festival begins at noon. Fireworks at 9:05 p.m.; Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive. $13; 7 and younger, free. (626) 577-3101.

Redondo Beach: Program begins at 2 p.m., fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Seaside Lagoon, 200 Portofino Way. $12-$300. (310) 746-7650.

Rosemead: Program begins at 12:30 p.m., fireworks at dusk. Rosemead Park, 4343 Encinita Ave. (626) 569-2256.

Santa Catalina Island: Fireworks at 9 p.m. can be seen from anywhere in Avalon. (310) 510-1520.

Santa Fe Springs: Fireworks start at 9 p.m. Los Nietos Park, 11143 Charlesworth Road, Santa Fe Springs. (562) 948-1986.

South El Monte: All-day festivities with fireworks at 9 p.m. South El Monte High School, 1001 Durfee Ave. (626) 579-2043.

Studio City: Program begins at 6 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. CBS Studio Center, 4024 Radford Ave. Adults $15, Children (6-12) $8, Children 5 and younger are free. (818) 655-5916.

Torrance: Fireworks at 9 p.m. Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd. (310) 372-2166.

Valencia: Fireworks at 9 p.m., off the roof of a parking structure, can be seen from the Valencia Town Center parking lot, 24201 W. Valencia Blvd. (661) 287-9050.

Walnut: Program begins at 7 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. Suzanne Park, 625 Suzanne Road. (909) 598-5605.

Woodland Hills: Program begins at 6 p.m., fireworks at 9:05 p.m. Warner Park, 5800 Topanga Canyon Blvd. (818) 704-1358

ORANGE COUNTY

Aliso Viejo: Program starts at 6 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Grand Park, Aliso Viejo Town Center, near Aliso Creek Road and Pacific Park Drive. (949) 448-5922.

Anaheim: Canyon Hills community celebration begins with annual Mary Castle Memorial run at 7:30 a.m. Fireworks at 9 p.m., Peralta Park, 115 N. Pinney St. (714) 283-6653.

Dana Point Harbor: Fireworks at 9 p.m., launched from a barge in the harbor. Dana Point Harbor Drive. (949) 248-3530.

Fullerton: Gates open at 5 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. Fullerton High School, 201 E. Chapman Ave. (714) 738-6545.

Huntington Beach: All-day community celebration culminates with fireworks at 9 p.m. Huntington Beach Pier Plaza, Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street. (714) 536-5486.

Laguna Hills: Gates open at 4 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Laguna Hills Community Center, 25555 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills. (949) 707-2680.

Los Alamitos: Gates open at 2 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Valid ID will be required for adults. Joint Forces Training Base, Katella Avenue and Lexington Drive. (714) 229-6780.

Mission Viejo: Street fair starts at noon with fireworks at 9 p.m. Olympiad Road between Marguerite Parkway and Melinda Road. (949) 830-7066.

Newport Beach. Fireworks at 9 p.m. Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, 1131 Back Bay Drive. $50 per car for five all-day wristbands. (949) 729-DUNE; www.newportdunes.com.

City of Orange. Program starts 4 p.m., July 3, fireworks at dusk. Fred Kelly Stadium, 3920 E. Spring St. $5 for anyone older than 2. (714) 744-7278.

San Juan Capistrano: Program starts 4 p.m., fireworks at dusk. San Juan Capistrano Sports Park, 25925 Camino del Avion. (949) 493-5911.

Yorba Linda: Gates open at 5 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Yorba Linda Middle School, 4777 Casa Loma Ave. (714) 961-7100.

VENTURA COUNTY

Camarillo: Program starts 4 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Adolfo Camarillo High School, 4660 Mission Oaks Blvd. $2 for adults and older children, free for children 5 and younger. (805) 388-5307.

Simi Valley: Gates open at 4 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Ave. (805) 584-4400.

Thousand Oaks: A daylong celebration concludes with fireworks at 9 p.m., with best viewing from the Oaks Mall and Janss Marketplace parking lots. The Oaks Mall, 222 W. Hillcrest Drive. (805) 381-2747.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

Fontana: Program begins at 2 p.m., fireworks at 9:15 p.m. Auto Club Speedway, 9300 Cherry Ave. Adults $20, Children (7-12) $10, Children 6 and younger are free. (800) 944-7223.

Indio: Program begins at 5 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Riverside County Fairgrounds, 82-503 Highway 111. (800) 811-3247.

Palm Desert: Concert starts at 7:15 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. Palm Desert Civic Center Park, Fred Waring Drive and San Pablo Avenue. (760) 346-0611.

Temecula: Program begins at 2 p.m.; fireworks at 9 p.m. Ronald Reagan Sports Park, 30875 Rancho Vista Road. (951) 694-6480.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

April 23, 2009

Sheriff's fail to timely warn parents of school molester

The print media failed to pick up on the anger most Lakewood parents have expressed at LASD (Lakewood Sheriff's) in TV news reports. Most were rightfully upset when they realized that this crime occurred on April 14 2009 (Tuesday) yet nothing was released to the media until the story appeared on the news on April 22, 2009 (Wed). No excuse for the delay was given by LASD. It seems to us that if you want to catch a perpetrator you get the sketch out the same day the crime it occurs, not EIGHT days later. This is especially true if you want to warn parents and teachers to protect against the perpetrator who could strike again. Way to go Lakewood Sheriff's department. I guess the school kids were not the only ones on vacation last week.

Sheriff's (LASD) Search For Lakewood Child Molester
LAKEWOOD, Calif. (CBS) ―

Sheriff's deputies want the public to be on the lookout for a man who exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl attending a spring break program at a Lakewood elementary school.

The girl was walking down a hallway at Samuel Gompers Elementary on April 14 when she was approached by the man, Sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Diane Hecht said.

The man put his hands on the girl's hips, then exposed himself and began laughing. He walked out of the school a few seconds later, Hecht said.

The suspect was described as a man between 18 and 25 years of age. He is approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He has crooked teeth, spiked blond hair and blue eyes, as well as a tattoo of a snake or dragon on the left side of his neck. He was also wearing a hoop earring.

He drove away in a champagne-colored, four-door Chevrolet Tahoe.

Anyone with information about his identity or whereabouts can call Sgt. Dan Scott of the Special Victims Bureau at (562) 946-8282, or a 24-hour tip line at (866) 247-5877.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

March 3, 2009

Now we're "policing" the sheriffs...

I guess this is good news but a few lawsuits too late. As we said last year, bad cops discharged from one agency for "problems" should NEVER be able to work in law enforcement again, given that its virtually impossible to get fired as a cop unless you are a complete idiot or psychopath. Oh and now LASD wants to take federal stimulus money and hire some more of these gems? I say lets save the money to clean up the mess from the last "recruiting drive".

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/kpcc/kpccnewsinbrief/2009/03/los-angeles-county-supervisors.html

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today ordered a watchdog agency to monitor sheriff’s deputies hired in the last three years. The action follows a report by the country’s Office of Independent Review; it found the department had lowered standards during a hiring push. Mike Gennaco heads the office.

Mike Gennaco: “One of the illustrations that’s noted in our report was an individual who had been hired by another agency up in Northern California, had run into problems with that agency – particularly allegations of unnecessary or excessive force – and eventually was released from that agency for that very reason.”

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department hired that individual, who later left because of problems with use of excessive force. The department hired about 2700 of its 9,000 deputies under relaxed standards. The Office of Independent Review will monitor those deputies for their first five years with the department.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

We need more fireworks money?

I guess this is the reason these "sports" groups need so much fireworks money...fraud. If this guy allegedly took $59,000, how much was their available to take? Was there so much cash floating around that the embezzler did not think they would miss the money? I think the city seriously needs to start taking a closer look at how all that fireworks money is being spent. Looks to us like its going up in smoke. Also of note the LASD was not the agency that uncovered this. Likely too busy trying to push their own problems to the back page of the news.

Embezzlement charges filed
COURTS: Ex-president of sporting league is accused of taking $59,000.
By Tracy Manzer and Sandy Mazza, Staff Writers
Posted: 03/02/2009
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11823185?nclick_check=1

Embezzlement charges were filed against a 40-year-old Lakewood man, who is among three people accused of stealing from local youth sports groups in two separate crimes, authorities said Monday.

Michael Sweet was arrested at his Lakewood home on Thursday and appeared in Torrance Superior Court that same day to answer to a charge of embezzling nearly $60,000 from the Pacific Coast Football Association, an umbrella group that oversees a number of community youth sports groups, including Lakewood Pacific Junior Football, according to the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Sweet, who served as president of the Pacific Coast organization until his resignation last year, is accused of writing $59,000 worth of checks from the umbrella group's bank account to pay personal bills over several months in 2008, Redondo Beach Police Lt. Paul Wrightsman said.

Redondo Beach investigators began looking into Sweet while investigating two other women who served on the board of the Redondo Beach Youth Football and Cheer Association and who were accused of pocketing the smaller group's snack bar money, police said.

Patricia Cotton, 63, of Buena Park, and Alesia Fleming, 42, of Palmdale, were arrested the same day as Sweet and arraigned on charges of stealing the concession stand money from the Redondo group while they served on its board of directors, Wrightsman said.

Cotton was the president, and Fleming was the treasurer.

The charge against Sweet does not include the time he served as president of the Lakewood Pacific Junior Football group, authorities said Monday.

Neither Sweet, nor anyone else with the Pacific Coast Football Association, could be reached for comment Monday.

tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1261.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

February 19, 2009

Can't pick out the good guys from the bad guys

Well this makes complete sense now. The reason the LASD screws up so much is they hire bottom of the barrel people for $70,000+ of your tax dollars each year, which does not include gold plated pensions (to retire at 50) and lifetime healthcare for your family. Oh by all means hire more. Lakewood is falling all over itself to hire even more of these gems with its $800,000 in "Stimulus" money it is counting on (don't count your chickens before they hatch as they say) Just think each brand spanking new deputy sheriff we hire represents a whole career of mistakes (like taser deaths and shootings) that we we get to pay for on top of it. Oh and there wont be any stimulus money to pay for those lawsuits. Just since January of 2008 there were 36 lawsuits filed against the LASD in one district in federal court. That does not include state court filed suits or other personal injury claims that were settled before filing. The total is likely three times that number and that is just for 2008! Cops tell me that the reason for the high starting salary is to get high quality recruits. Well that theory is out the window. Sounds like union speak to me.

And this hiring has been going on since 2006? I guess that explains why things are going down hill so fast. It probably now takes two new deputies at twice they pay each to do the job of the one they replaced. And Baca wants to continue to highlight these guys in a reality TV show?

The news is certainly looking up for the Sheriff's department. What can the taxpayers do about it? Nothing as long as the city council does not care. Just hope you dont get tased


In new hiring push, Sheriff's Department gives jobs to deputies with criminal records
February 19, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/02/amid-an-aggress.html

Amid an aggressive push to bolster its ranks with thousands of new deputies, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department loosened its hiring practices and gave jobs to recruits who in the past would have been rejected, according to an LASD watchdog report released Thursday.

Among those hired were applicants with criminal records, drug and alcohol problems and financial woes. One recruit, for example, had been fired for excessive force from another police agency. Another was hired despite being a suspected car thief and resigned months later after being arrested on assault charges. A third candidate was a heavy marijuana and steroid abuser who had been arrested and convicted of underage drinking shortly before he applied to become an LASD deputy.

The report, written by the county’s Office of Independent Review, criticized the LASD for its 2006 decision to abandon a strict hiring policy, in which aspiring sheriff’s deputies were automatically disqualified if they failed to pass an exacting background check or any other part of the application process. In its place, the report found, the department adopted a more “holistic” approach that allowed applicants to be hired if officials determined they had reformed themselves or that past mistakes were insignificant.

The change came as the department was ramping up its hiring. Coming off several years of stiff budget constraints in which the size of the department shrank significantly, sheriff’s officials set out to make up for lost ground in 2006, more than doubling the number of hires from the year before.

“They had a mission and that mission was to hire deputies,” said Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review, which oversees the LASD. “Unfortunately, it may have come at a price.”

-- Joel Rubin


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

February 17, 2009

Taser Reunion.

Talk about timing. Well obviously the filing of this Dupree taser lawsuit could not have been a coincidence. On the heels of the February 14, 2009 taser death in Lakewood here comes the Federal lawsuit for last years screw up which paralyzed the victim. Sheriff's Baca's former bodyguard made the call to use the taser. Seriously you could write novels and TV shows using the real life antics of the Sheriff's Department. As long as there is no crime or serious incidents they are fine. But once something happens that requires command decisions or judgement or follow thru, look out. Disaster is just around the corner. But hey no worries. The taxpayers just bail out the Sheriff's and the screw up officers move on to their next screw up. Great system. Cost effective too.

We keep saying it over and over. The screwups have to go. These are the same types of screwups that started this website in March 2006. That was when the Sheriff's could not connect the dots on "fireworks man" Brian Miller who finally blew his house up with illegal fireworks and damaged others. Many people filed complaints for years. Nothing happened. The same incompetence is at work with Dupree. Even if these incidents dont affect you directly they are getting costly for us to pay as this all gets added to Lakewood's "LASD bill" at the end of the year. This and all the screw ups from the rest of the other LASD stations. So what can we do? Nothing I guess as our city council is powerless over them or fearful of them (apparently) and one of their own sits on the city council so its a little hard for the City Council to criticise LASD. Internal investigations are a complete waste of time unless outside investigators are involved. I don't know what it is. I would like to blame management but I don't think that is all of it. I think its just poor training, too large of an agency, poor over sight and management practices due to poor management vision, an aging infrastructure built upon unnecessary secrecy, and people that are just not qualified to do the job, which is sad given that they are some of the highest paid in the country.

The information below is from www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=45457 (a pro police website) LAAG comments are in italics

On Tuesday [2/17/09], sheriff's officials said five deputies, including a lieutenant, were disciplined for their roles in the case. The lieutenant was demoted to the rank of sergeant, officials said. [LAAG: this incident occurred in Feb 2007 and the deputies were just now disciplined TWO years later? Or was that just an announcement date? If the latter when exactly did the internal investigation conclude?]

Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review, which monitors the Sheriff's Department, said the top supervisor was demoted for his actions in approving the Taser usage because the decision "fell below the performance expectations for the department."

Gennaco said the department has since enacted a policy for cell extraction in the station jails to prevent such events from occurring again. "When a Taser is used on someone on top of a bunk, it doesn't take much to realize the outcome will be a person falling," he said. [LAAG: so lets get this straight; the incident is in Feb 2007 and LASD still did not have a policy regarding using a taser in custody situations and they are the largest jailer in the USA? Great management and forethought for one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country. Just wing it I guess and rely on "quick thinking" deputies and the taxpayers to "remedy" bad situations]


Man paralyzed in Taser incident sues L.A. County Sheriff's Department
12:36 PM, February 17, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/02/jail-bunk-bed.html

A man left paralyzed below the chest after he fell from the top bunk of a jail bed at the Lakewood sheriff's station when a deputy used a stun gun on him sued the department today for violating his civil rights.

Blake Dupree filed the federal lawsuit for battery, assault and negligence against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, several deputies and two sheriff’s supervisors for the incident, much of which was captured on videotape. The two supervisors are the subject of an internal misconduct investigation for authorizing the use of a stun gun because Dupree refused to come out of his cell and submit to electronic fingerprinting.

According to the lawsuit, Dupree was standing from four to seven feet above the concrete jail floor on a bunk with his hands raised in a defensive posture Feb. 27, 2007, when he was stunned with a Taser gun, which delivers a 50,000-volt shock. The suit alleges Dupree fell and, instead of giving him medical treatment, sheriff’s supervisors ordered him to stand up and deputies carried him to the fingerprint area and dumped him on the floor.

“Defendants’ actions rendered Plaintiff paraplegic. Plaintiff has no use of his mid to lower torso or legs, and limited use of his arms,” wrote Dupree's attorney, Justin Sanders. "Deputies knew Dupree’s muscles would be incapacitated by the electro-muscular disruption of the Taser rendering him unable to break his fall."

Sheriff Lee Baca told The Times last year that "common sense" should have dictated that using the Taser on Dupree was inappropriate while he was on the bunk and likely to fall as a result of being shocked. The suit was filed after settlement negotiations broke down with the 22-year-old Dupree in Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.

After the incident, the Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation to determine whether use of the Taser violated department policy, Sanders said. Department rules prohibit using the device on "persons in danger of falling or becoming entangled in machinery or heavy equipment which could result in death or serious bodily injury."

Despite the prohibition, the policy allows for supervisors to decide whether use of a Taser is warranted on a case-by-case basis. Lt. James Tatreau Jr., who authorized the use of the device on Dupree, was reassigned to administrative duties along with an unnamed sergeant. Tatreau, a former driver and bodyguard for Baca, had previously organized a game called "Operation Any Booking," in which deputies competed to see how many people they could arrest.

Dupree had been arrested after he allegedly took his mother’s car without her permission. At the jail, he acted erratically and refused to cooperate, deputies said. According to Sheriff’s Department reports obtained by The Times, Dupree was given a verbal warning by Tatreau, who had conferred with the sergeant on the scene, and a deputy was ordered to fire the equivalent of a warning shot by activating the Taser, allowing Dupree to hear its buzz.

After the warnings, Dupree stood on the bunk and began to move toward the edge, in the direction of the deputies, according to sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. It was then that a deputy shot Dupree with the Taser, causing him to fall to the floor.

-- Richard Winton


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

Update on Lakewood Taser Death

Click here for our prior posting

Lots of Speculation out there. All the speculation about the deceased being on drugs has no basis. We will know that after today's autopsy. We should also know the cause of death. We had an anonymous poster send us information claiming that she was the fiance of this man, was present at the event and that that she had been with him all day and he had not taken anything but cold medicine. We have no information on this mans size. We do know he was black from the LASD press release and that multiple taser"s" were used per the press release. We have also checked his name (from the story below) and we know that the only residence address that shows up for him is near the 10 freeway and LA Brea Ave. in Los Angeles. So its not clear what he was doing near Del Amo and Bellflower Blvd. at the time of the incident. We do not know how many Sheriff's were present or if video or pictures were taken or who the witnesses were. LASD has not posted its taser policy if they even have one. Figures. It is also not known what taser training the Lakewood deputies involved had. All we could find of interest was a 2002 press release from taser regarding LASD purchases of "292 additional ADVANCED TASER® M26 less-lethal weapons" and this report from Merrick Bob of the "Police Assessment Resource Center" (he also investigates LASD "events gone wrong") on the November 2006 UCLA Library taser event which looks pretty detailed as far as Taser policy and use guidelines. All we know from the Oakland BART shooting and many others is that you better have video of the entire event as close calls on excessive use of force usually are made in favor of the cops as far as most juries that have decided the issue as most juries think cops never make mistakes as this story documents quite well. As we said before if you see LASD grab your video camera. It is not clear who it may help in the end but we do know that it changes jurors perceptions of the event. Its not perfect as we know the jurors are not in the "heat of the moment" and are second guessing what was done but we do think having an objective "eye" on the police operation never hurts the truth.


Man who died after being Tasered is ID'd
From wire service reports
Posted: 02/17/2009 06:37:24 AM PST
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_11721856

LAKEWOOD - Authorities today identified a man who died after being pepper-sprayed and shocked with a Taser by sheriff's deputies in Lakewood.

An autopsy was pending today to determine the cause of death of Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, of Los Angeles, said coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz.

Deputy Art Spencer said the sheriff's department got a report of a disturbance or fight near Silva Street and Dunrobin Avenue about 10:15 p.m. Saturday.

Deputies found a "very large" man running naked in the street, who then "advanced on the deputies in a threatening manner," prompting them to use pepper spray and at least one Taser stun gun on the man, Spencer said.

Once the man was handcuffed, deputies noticed that he was not breathing and started cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, according to Spencer.

Winfield was declared dead at a hospital, Dietz said.

A video crew at the scene reported that law enforcement officers, talking via radio, described the man as possibly under the influence of PCP.

According to an Amnesty International report in December, 334 people shocked with Tasers by law enforcement died in the United States between June 2001 and August 2008.

California and Florida were the states with the highest numbers of law- enforcement-related Taser deaths during the seven-year period under study --55 and 52, respectively.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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February 15, 2009

LASD "TV"

Again another classic Sheriff Baca management blunder. I guess all he was looking for was some quick private cash for some new sheriff toys or the hole in the CALPERS fund. Either way bad move. All the LASD TV show has done is lower morale even more among recruits and showcase how poorly they are trained. Great management decision right? All the show will be is Exhibit 1 in the upcoming taser trials.

So do you think there is any connection between the poor training and poor quality recruits they are getting and the taser incidents and shootings and all the other problems? Hmmm. I guess all they are interested in doing is hiring incompetents as fast as possible and giving them a gun and Taser. (FYI thats over $70,000.00 a year to start and that does not include the best healthcare and pension in CA)

Who is running the Sheriff's department? We can only hope when Baca finally calls its quits that who ever replaces him is not more incompetent.


Baca urged to cancel ‘Academy’
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/06/local/me-academy6

Fox reality show humiliates recruits and violates their privacy, report finds. Sheriff’s spokesman defends show, which has provided $250,000 from licensee fees and profits from the first two seasons.

By Richard Winton
December 06, 2008

When Sheriff Lee Baca agreed to let Fox showcase the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy in a reality TV show, he won praise for generating more revenue for the county and raising the department’s profile.

But after two seasons, the department’s Office of Independent Review is calling on Baca to cancel “The Academy” because it subjects young recruits to on-air humiliation, invasion of their personal privacy, harassment and threats to their safety.

“The show worked to the detriment of the trainees,” Michael Gennaco, who serves as the department’s independent monitor, told The Times. “They didn’t have a real chance to say no to being televised. The show featured some of their personal lives and then people called them out as they worked in the jails because they recognize them from TV. It ended up being a real problem.”

Gennaco said in his report that most of recruits who took part in the show said they would have preferred not to have been involved. Some recruits interviewed by Gennaco said they felt the show was a source of humiliation, with its tendency to focus on those struggling to meet the demands of the 18-week training.

“The show was dominated by scenes of drill instructors screaming at recruits” for such infractions as not polishing shoes, not tucking in their shirts or being careless with equipment, Gennaco said in the report.

The show also showed embarrassing moments when recruits were kicked out of the academy.

Gennaco also expressed concern that criminals were identifying deputies after watching the show. “Some of the recruits who were recognized by inmates reported having a sick feeling at the moment of this recognition because they believed the inmate saw them as vulnerable,” he said in the report.

A spokesman for Baca defended the show, saying that the sheriff disagrees with Gennaco and would like to see a third season filmed.

“The sheriff thinks it is worthwhile because of the transparency that the show provides. It is vital for the public to see the rigors a trainee goes through to become a deputy sheriff,” said Steve Whitmore, Baca’s spokesman. [LAAG; oh it shows transparency alright...like walking outside without your pants on; not what we had in mind when we speak of transparency]

“In this day and age, law enforcement needs to get used to it, when they do their job it is going to be television. As the sheriff likes to tell deputies, ‘When you are out on the street you’re doing your job on CNN.’ ” [ LAAG: too bad the "taser" deputies did not remember that]

The sheriff, he said, believes the issues raised by Gennaco can be addressed.

The report found the show also brought benefits, including boosting the department’s profile nationally, giving the public insight into policing and generating $250,000 from licensee fees and profits from the first two seasons. [LAAG: that barely covers the junket to the Obama inauguration]

County supervisors asked Gennaco to examine the TV show as well as a series of dire state inspections that led Baca to close the academy to new trainees in May for 30 days while problems were addressed.

Roxane Marquez, spokeswoman for county Supervisor Gloria Molina, said Gennaco’s audit “mirrors the supervisor’s concerns from the moment she heard about the show… . It’s sad that the supervisor’s concerns are now a reality.”

State inspectors had dubbed the show an inappropriate and unnecessary distraction that disrupted the learning environment and forced the Sheriff’s Department to change the one scenario of one test after it was broadcast.

Far from the gold standard training program featured on the Fox reality television show, the academy was nearly decertified as a state accredited facility to train police officers earlier this year because it was so poorly run, according to Gennaco’s report.

He found serious deficiencies in training and testing methods that were the result of attempts to fulfill the sheriff’s goal to train 1,000 new recruits, and an arrogant academy management that failed to listen to concerns raised by state inspectors since the fall 2007.

At the heart of the issues was management’s sloppiness with record keeping, and instructors who gave recruits answers to tests, allowed trainees to graduate without taking the required physical conditioning classes and allowing recruits to retake tests until they passed.

“The department’s hiring pushed in the past two years undoubtedly placed pressure on the academy – explicit or implied – to graduate recruits. The testing violations noted in the [state] report are partially explained by this atmosphere of accelerated hiring,” Gennaco wrote.

Although improvements have been made across the board in recent months, problems remained.

In an October 2008 class, Gennaco noted, 41 recruits had to undergo remedial training for failing the initial weapons test. All but five passed the retesting and became deputies, he stated.

Winton is a times staff writer

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Another serious taser incident (death) in Lakewood

click here for our story update posted 10:30 am 2/17/09

Here is what we want to know after reading the very sketchy details from below. It seems pretty obvious that a naked guy does not have any concealed weapons of any kind. Also safe to assume he has some mental issues or drug or intoxication issues going on. So how does he end up dead? Had to use both pepper spray and taser and handcuffs? Why would two or more Taser guns be needed? Why ask for another taser? Too bad it was dark and no video was taken. We highly recommend videoing any LASD "unusual events" or arrests. Rest assured we will get no useful details from LASD on this. We will start the countdown for when the deceased's heirs file a wrongful death lawsuit against the county (taxpayers). They will have to get in line however as there are quite a few ahead of them. This seems to us to be standard operating procedure over at LASD. When in doubt do as much harm as you like to innocent people if there is a chance that the officer could end up in a non lethal scuffle. At LASD when you kill a guy for no reason the officers usually get put on "administrative leave" which means a paid vacation for three-6 months for those of you that cont speak "LASD speak". Oh by the way what ever happened to that February 27, 2008 taser incident (involving victim Blake Dupree)in LASD custody? Hmm never heard another thing about it. I guess the LASD needs to read where the Orange County Grand Jury recommended in June 2008 that deputies no longer use the weapon if other means to control inmates are available. Its all in its annual report, "The State of the Orange County Jails". So do we assume there was a quiet settlement of million with no wrongdoing admitted by LASD? Comments LASD?



Nude man in Lakewood dies after LA Sheriff's Deputies use Taser
Posted: 02/15/2009 01:13:44 PM PST
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_11711712
By Kelly Puente

Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD - A man running naked on a quiet Lakewood street died after sheriff's deputies shocked him with a Taser gun, authorities said Sunday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Art Spencer said Lakewood deputies responded to a disturbance call in the 5700 block of Silva Street at 10:15 p.m. Saturday.

Spencer said deputies found a "very large" man running naked in the street and acting irrationally.

Deputies tied to calm the man but he remained belligerent, Spencer said. When he advanced at them in a threatening manner, Spencer said deputies used pepper spray and at least one Taser stun gun to subdue him.

Shortly after the man was handcuffed, deputies realized he was not breathing and began to administer CPR, Spencer said. The man, whose identify has not been released, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

No deputies were injured, Spencer said, adding that the incident is under investigation. Deputies have not said how many Taser guns were used. No further information was available Sunday.

Residents in the suburban neighborhood said the silence was suddenly broken Saturday night when a nude man began wandering down the street, banging on doors and cars.

Neighbors Norma Ramirez and Nancy Wright were both in their homes when they heard police sirens and a helicopter.

Wright said she opened her door to a flood of more than two dozen sheriff's deputies on her
street. Neighbors gathered outside while authorities set up yellow crime scene tape in front of three houses, Wright said.

"(Deputies) told us to go back inside our homes, but we just kind of stepped back a little," Wright said.

The women said they heard from other neighbors that a man had been wandering down the street and darted through a gate into someone's backyard after police arrived.

Ramirez said she heard a deputy shout, "Get me another Taser!" followed by another deputy shouting, "We need CPR!"

Paramedics arrived shortly after, she said.

Wright and Ramirez said they did not know if the man was a neighbor, or someone who had wandered into the area.

"It's scary," Wright said. "You don't see things like this in our neighborhood."


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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January 28, 2009

LASD just collects eveidence, they dont solve crimes

How anybody could have any faith in the Sheriff's department is beyond me. What is even sadder is Lakewood taxpayers shell out 9 million a year for all this incompetence. They even have the gall to tell us that part of the 9 million is for the "benefit" of their crime lab and accompanying expertise. As was pointed out in an earlier story "CSI" is PURE fantasy. The actors in those shows actually care about solving crimes and solve 100% of them. If I didn't know better I would think CSI was paid for by the Sheriff's department as a PR campaign. but then again they are not smart enough to do that and don't need to bother anyway as they have most Lakwoodians believing they are "effective and efficient" crime fighters/deterrents. Here is an example of a case that will NOT be solved with DNA. Quite frankly if I know of anyone who has suffered from a serious crime I tell them to hire private labs and investigators. Forget relying on the Sheriff's department. All the train wrecks at LASD make metro rail trains look good. If you are a criminal what message is this sending? That you will likely get away with your crime (well unless you hurt a cop) then they spare no expense.

Update 4-24-09: PBS "Now" show did a really good expose on this issue called "Justice Delayed". Mostly dealt with LAPD but they also mentioned the problem with LASD. It really makes you realize the scope of the problem on a human scale. Basically billions has been spent on the problem with very little to show for it. I guess we need more criminalists than cops on the street as the cops on the street are not the ones that solve crimes. Just ask the CSI TV folks.

From the Los Angeles Times
Wider scope of backlog in L.A. County sheriff's DNA testing is revealed
815 sexual assault cases with untested DNA and no suspects have been tallied so far; statute has expired on 51 of them.
By Joel Rubin

January 28, 2009

DNA evidence has gone untested in more than 800 rape and sexual assault cases even though detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other smaller agencies have no suspects in those crimes, authorities acknowledged Tuesday.

The number is far larger than officials had anticipated and revealed a breakdown in the way the Sheriff's Department went about testing genetic evidence until recent reforms were enacted. For months, sheriff's officials sought to downplay concerns over a massive backlog of untested DNA evidence by suggesting that the crimes had been resolved by other means.

Compounding the problem was the revelation that in 51 of the 815 cases tallied so far, the genetic evidence has sat untested in county storage freezers for more than a decade -- so long that state laws now prohibit officials from arresting anyone even if belated genetic testing were to definitively identify a suspect.

"You've got a bunch of evidence sitting there that is potentially a smoking gun," said L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to a contrite Cmdr. Earl M. Shields, who oversees the department's Technical Services division. "It could be the silver bullet to getting a suspect in a sexual assault case, and it's just sitting there."

Shields reported the troubling figures as part of a presentation to county supervisors on the sheriff's ongoing attempt to work through a backlog of untested samples of semen, saliva, blood and other genetic evidence collected from victims after an alleged sexual attack. Currently 4,738 of the so-called sexual assault kits in county storage facilities remain untested -- about 20% of them from other police agencies in the county that rely on the sheriff's crime laboratory for DNA analysis.

Sheriff's officials have managed to gather information on only about two-thirds of the backlogged cases so far, meaning that the number of investigations without any suspects or those that have fallen out of statute is likely to rise.

Until late last year, the Sheriff's Department had followed a policy of testing DNA evidence only when investigators in the case requested it. After coming under pressure from advocacy groups and the Board of Supervisors about the growing backlog, Sheriff Lee Baca announced in November that the department's lab would test DNA evidence in all cases regardless of whether the analysis was requested.

At the time, the Sheriff's Department -- as well as the Los Angeles Police Department, which came under similar scrutiny -- tried to minimize the significance of the size of the backlog. Both agencies indicated that the vast majority of untested kits were from cases in which investigators had determined the genetic evidence was not needed.

In November, Shields told supervisors that he expected an inventory of the sheriff's backlog would uncover very few, if any, examples in which investigators had no leads on suspects and had not asked for DNA testing. "There should not be any [such] cases," he said. "We're hoping that that number will be zero."

On Tuesday he conceded under questioning from Yaroslavsky that "we were hoping the number would be much smaller." Without detailed information on each investigation, Shields was at a loss to explain why so many investigators had not asked for the evidence to be tested. He speculated they might have decided they "didn't have a valid, prosecutable case" because the accuser recanted or other fundamental problems arose.

"It was a judgment call on the part of the investigator," he said.

Sarah Tofte, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who has been pressing local law enforcement agencies around the country to address backlogs, questioned that logic. "Investigators may think that a victim's account lacks some veracity," she said, "but when someone reports to police that she's been raped, the default should always be, 'Let's test this kit and see what we find.' "

Unexamined evidence kits hold potentially crucial information. Through a complex scientific process, DNA analysts can extract a person's genetic code from the collected samples and compare it to those of known felons that are kept in federal and state databases. When the DNA sample collected at a crime scene or from a victim's body matches a DNA profile of someone in the database, it can offer prosecutors nearly irrefutable proof of the person's guilt. The evidence can also be used to confirm that someone has not falsely confessed to a crime or link someone to other unsolved cases.

LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck declined to reveal how many cases for which LAPD detectives have no suspects and have not pursued DNA testing. A recent inventory of the LAPD's untested kits has been completed, but the results are not yet final, he said.

Like the LAPD, the Sheriff's Department has struggled to devise a financially feasible plan to eliminate its DNA backlog. Both agencies are currently increasing the number of in-house lab analysts to handle the constant influx of new cases, while also plotting out ways to outsource the backlogged cases to private labs. Each kit costs about $1,000 to process.

Shields told L.A. County supervisors that he would soon present Baca with a proposed plan and said it would take "years" to clear the backlog. In an interview, he declined to provide specifics.

Time is a major factor: More than 100 sheriff's cases are within six months of reaching the state's 10-year statute of limitations, Shields reported.

joel.rubin@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-dna-missed28-2009jan28,0,6848082.story

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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