LAPPL Blog: The official blog of the Los Angeles Policy Protective League
The looming public safety crisis: If the cops aren’t safe, no one is
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/08/2009 @ 04:19 PM
Officers move into position to stand watch at the caskets of four slain Lakewood police officers before the December 8th memorial service at the Tacoma Dome. (Photo: Seattle Times)
Nothing reminds us more starkly that releasing felons early from prison sentences will result in tragedy than the murder of those responsible for upholding the law. In March of this year, a parolee murdered four Oakland police officers. Less than two weeks ago, a parolee from Arkansas who relocated to Washington brutally killed four officers there. And, now scarcely a week after those murders, a parolee still wearing his monitoring bracelet gunned down a Penn Hill, Pennsylvania officer.
There is a looming public safety crisis in California – the release of tens of thousands of inmates from California prisons. On Monday, lawyers for California’s prison inmates filed court papers supporting a plan to reduce the prison population by nearly 40,000 over the next two years. Republican legislators continue to oppose much of the plan. In separate court filings, they have challenged the intervention of a three-judge federal panel, saying the court is overstepping its authority.
No one knows what will happen next. The judges calling for lowering the prison population to reduce alleged overcrowding in the state’s 33 prisons could accept or reject the governor’s plan or schedule a hearing on it. However, what is abundantly clear from the judges’ past comments is that they could care less about the danger to the average citizen from their plan. It is the convicted felon who has the sweet spot in their hearts.
Thankfully, Governor Schwarzenegger and Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate have made it clear that they will appeal the panel’s final order, no matter what it says, to the Supreme Court. They insist – and we agree – that the Prison Litigation Reform Act does not empower the panel to dictate the state’s prison policies.
The safety of the public should be paramount and the will of the people, as evidenced in this state through legislation such as “Three Strikes,” should be upheld by the courts.
The governor, the legislature and courts all need to get on the same page on this issue. Early release of prisoners is dangerous and represents an unacceptable risk to society. It shouldn’t take the continual murder of police officers to drive this point home.
The shocking surge in police killings
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/30/2009 @ 01:05 PM
The four slain officers, from left: Greg Richards, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Mark Renninger. (From the Associated Press)
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend ended tragically for the nation and the law enforcement community when four officers from the Lakewood (Wash.) Police Department were executed by a lone gunman as they worked on their laptops in a coffee shop prior to reporting for duty Sunday morning.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and colleagues of the slain Lakewood officers and the Washington law enforcement community.
This horrific and targeted ambush comes less than a month after Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot to death and another officer wounded as they sat in a parked patrol car. The suspect in that case also allegedly firebombed four police vehicles in a maintenance yard nine days earlier.
Everyone, law enforcement and community members alike, should be alarmed when those whose job it is to fight crime on a daily basis are being targeted and slain. After falling to their lowest level in nearly five decades in 2008, line-of-duty deaths among U.S. law enforcement officers are suddenly on the rise. The latest data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows 66 officers died in the line of duty between January 1 and June 30, 2009, compared with 55 deaths during the first six months of 2008.
We are outraged that the suspect in these killings is a parolee who nine years ago had a 95-year sentence commuted by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and was subsequently released by the Arkansas Parole Board. This is the second time in less than a year that four police officers have been murdered by a convicted felon freed on parole.
With California poised to embark on a mass release of convicted felons from state prison, we implore our state political leaders to seek alternative ways of cutting the state budget. Surely, the murders of four Lakewood police officers, four Oakland police officers and other murders by parolees – such as the recent tragedy of Lily Burk – should cause the idea of a mass release of parolees in California to be abandoned.
On behalf of the more than 9,900 officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Protective League extends its deepest condolences to the families and colleagues of the Lakewood Police Department officers killed Sunday. For information on making donations to assist the officers’ families, visit the Lakewood Police Independent Guild’s website at www.lpig.us.
To our officers in the field, there has never been a more urgent time for police officers everywhere to remain vigilant – please be careful, even while performing the most routine duties.
The LAPD Purple Heart: A great tradition is born
By Brian Johnson on 11/25/2009 @ 10:23 AM
Chief Beck recently presented the first LAPD Purple Heart, launching an important new tradition for the Department.
The Purple Heart was presented to Margie Gillen, the widow of Commander Paul Gillen, who was killed in a 1974 Department helicopter crash during a SWAT training exercise. The presentation was made during a ceremony marking the unveiling of a portrait of Commander Gillen at the new Police Administration Building.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Police Commissioner Alan Skobin for making the LAPD Purple Heart a reality.
Commissioner Skobin was having dinner with five LAPD officers to thank them for their service, and asked for their thoughts on how he could make a difference as a police commissioner. He learned that two of the officers had been shot in the line of duty. The officers explained that not only did they suffer severe physical injuries, but they were traumatized emotionally long after the physical wounds healed. They then told Commissioner Skobin how after literally taking bullets while protecting the people of Los Angeles, they received no form of recognition for their sacrifice when they returned to work. They also told Commissioner Skobin about the lack of lasting recognition for the families of many officers killed in the line of duty. Commissioner Skobin was deeply touched by the conversation and vowed to spearhead efforts to implement the LAPD Purple Heart.
Margie Gillen is a most deserving person to receive the first LAPD Purple Heart on behalf of her late husband. We thank Chief Beck for presenting it and Commissioner Skobin for his focused efforts to establish this long-overdue symbol of recognition for the men and women of the LAPD, who risk their lives daily to protect and serve.
Prisoner release plan still dangerous and unacceptable
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/20/2009 @ 10:57 PM
The state has submitted a new plan to reduce the prison population in an effort to satisfy a judicial panel even as it attempts to block the panel’s decision by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. The latest plan will require the three federal judges to issue orders that the state considers illegal and that the League sees as dangerous and unacceptable.
As an example, the judicial panel would have to order the State Department of Corrections to not accept individuals who fit a specified profile, such as those with no strikes under the "three-strike" law who are convicted of simple drug possession or any one of a number of theft-related crimes. Another example would be an order to not accept any person convicted of felony theft that did not meet a $950 threshold.
The judicial panel, formed under provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, ruled in August that substandard health care received by inmates in California's 33 adult prisons violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and that overcrowding is the primary reason. The judges ordered the Schwarzenegger administration to come up with a plan "that will in no more than two years reduce the population of adult institutions to 137.5% of their combined design capacity."
This is a classic case of a solution in search of a problem. The design capacity of California prisons is one inmate per cell, yet most cells are built to house two inmates! In our opinion, the judge’s panel is dramatizing the overcrowding figures which, according to the excellent article, “The False Promise and Lethal Consequences of Releasing Inmates,” are nothing new. “California prisons have been overcrowded for more than 15 years,” Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation writes. “…As of June 30, 2009, California had roughly the same number of inmates in state prisons as it did 1998.”
Besides the fact that we don’t feel the overcrowding is a new and urgent problem, there are other measures that can be taken to reduce the prison population density – such as maximizing the use of out-of-state facilities to house prisoners and deporting imprisoned non-citizens – that do not involve releasing criminals onto our streets.
The panel’s assertion that inmates are being denied adequate healthcare is also questionable. According to Rushford’s article, per inmate spending on healthcare, levels of medical staffing and mortality rates (California’s inmate mortality rate is 38th lowest among the 50 states), do not support the judges’ conclusion. The state currently spends an estimated $14,000 a year per inmate on medical care for its prisoners, while the federal government only spends about $4,000 per prisoner!
Rushford concludes, as we argued in previous posts and articles, that the release of prisoners is unlikely to save the state money; that costs to re-arrest and prosecute re-offenders will be pushed to local governments; and that Californians will pay the highest price in terms of property and lives lost.
At this point, our best chance to stop the federal government from overstepping its authority and interjecting itself in the operation of the state prison system is intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. We think that the panel’s justification for the massive release is simply not supported by the facts, and are hopeful that the Supreme Court will clearly see that.
When it comes to breaking news in L.A., getting it right is more important than getting it first
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/13/2009 @ 05:21 PM
One of the pitfalls of breaking news on the Internet and 24/7 news channels is that media organizations feel pressured to post or broadcast stories very quickly – sometimes before thorough fact checking and reflective editing. In the highly competitive Los Angeles market, the major news organizations and blogs want to claim credit for being first with the story, even if it turns out the stories were inaccurate or the headlines inappropriately sensationalist.
A case in point was Thursday’s rush to report the tragic news of Flor Medrano, the mid-City woman who was stabbed to death as police officers rushed to her aid. The officers shot and killed her assailant in their attempt to save her.
The horribly tragic event was made even worse by an initial web story headlined “LAPD probes how woman under police protection was slain with officers nearby.” Readers may have inferred from the headline that LAPD had been remiss in protecting the woman. Nothing could be further from the truth, now that the facts are in.
At a press conference yesterday, Wilshire Captain Eric Davis spoke with unconditional support for his officers. He and all who helped in the investigation should be commended for helping the LAPD media relations staff release a comprehensive and factual recounting of the tragic circumstances leading to Flor’s death – and, as importantly, the back story on how the LAPD officers came to be involved in the case and the diligent steps taken to try to place the woman out of harm’s way. Her assailant was hell-bent on taking her life and no one is more shocked, saddened and outraged than the responding officers. We extend condolences to the family and friends of the victim – and to the LAPD officers who could not have done more to save her.
As you read the following LAPD official media advisory on this tragedy, we hope you agree that when it comes to breaking news in LA, the motto of every professional news organization should be: “Get it first, but first get it right.” And the second part of that motto is much more important than the first.
Time to speak up!
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/13/2009 @ 10:20 AM
We are pleased to see Chief Beck’s confirmation process going smoothly at City Hall. We expect a unanimous confirmation vote by the Council on November 17 when it returns from the National League of Cities’ annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.
We are also pleased to read Chief Beck’s comments regarding the relationship he envisions with the LAPPL. This is what he told the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board shortly after being nominated by Mayor Villaraigosa: "I think the union is a huge ally. I think that a manager that ignores the authority and power of a union, such as some of ours have done in the past, ignores a huge opportunity to mold his workforce. So the union is very important. Do I think we're going to agree on all issues? No."
In the near future, the LAPPL Board of Directors will sit down with Chief Beck for what we expect will be the first in a series of regular partnership meetings. We are committed to doing our part to keep the lines of communication open by listening carefully and being very clear about our goals in representing our members.
We want to hear from the membership on topics you feel should be addressed in our initial meeting with Chief Beck. You can post your ideas as comments to this blog; tweet your ideas to @LAPPL; email us at Leaguemail@lappl.org; or speak with one of your delegates.
The important thing is to let us know your hot button issues for our first sit-down with the new Chief of Police. With so many ways to be heard, we urge you to speak up. We look forward to your participation in our long and mutually productive relationship with Chief Beck.
A cop's chief!
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/06/2009 @ 03:55 PM
We are pleased that Chief-selectee Charlie Beck has not wasted any time in articulating that he is his own person – and not a clone of recently departed Chief Bratton. While pledging to build on the significant progress of the last six years in reshaping the LAPD, Beck seized the opportunity presented by his appearance before The LA Times editorial board to contrast himself in style and strategy from Bratton.
In comments sure to warm the hearts of LAPD rank and file, Beck told The Times: “The only way that real change is made is from the bottom up. You can mandate change from the top … but the only way an organization really changes is from the roots up; that’s much more powerful. So what you’ll see is different with me is I’m going to concentrate on the roots of the organization." Later in the interview, he said, “I think I have a little more of a common touch, much more of a common touch. I think that maybe at the end of the day you’ll think of me more of a cop’s chief rather than a leader-manager.” [Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com]
A cop’s chief. The characterization rings true for those of us who know Chief Beck well and for those who are getting to know him better each day. We await his confirmation at City Council by unanimous vote and look forward to working with him on issues important to the membership and the future of public safety in our city.
There’s a new Chief in town
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 11/03/2009 @ 03:48 PM
This is a significant day in the history of our city and our department.
On behalf of the 9,900 dedicated men and women police officers of this great city, the Los Angeles Police Protective League extends our heartfelt congratulations to Charlie Beck on his nomination for Chief of Police.
We commend Mayor Villaraigosa for a making an outstanding selection and look forward to Chief Beck’s swift confirmation by the Los Angeles City Council. His leadership will serve the city well at a most challenging time in its history.
Chief Beck began his highly impressive career as an LAPD Reserve Officer in 1975 before going full time two years later and working his way up to Deputy Chief. Currently the Chief of Detectives, Chief Beck commands all specialized detective divisions including Robbery Homicide, Gang and Narcotics, Vice, Commercial Crimes and Juvenile Division. He has spent much of his career working to reduce gang violence, beginning with early stints in LAPD’s CRASH Unit.
Chief Beck’s deep ties to law enforcement and the LAPD start with his father, George Beck, who retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a Deputy Chief in 1980. His wife of 25 years is a retired deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. His daughter is currently assigned to the Hollywood Area as a patrol officer and, after his likely confirmation by the city council, he will preside over a Los Angeles Police Academy graduation ceremony in December of 2009 – a class of new officers that will include his son. Who better to understand the concerns of the rank and file than a Chief with two children on the job?
We know Chief Beck well. We know we can work with him in a spirit of cooperation and trust, and look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work to take the LAPD to new heights of greatness in the years ahead.
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