Budget Cuts To Law Enforcement Draw Ire.... Thurs. July 7, 2011.... By Chris Levister Published in BlackVoiceNews

Budget Cuts To Law Enforcement Draw Ire

THURSDAY, 07 JULY 2011 05:11

Attorney General Kamala Harris warns of "Gang-and-Drug Armageddon"

By Chris Levister –

In the early morning hours of June 7, 2011, an elite U.S., state and local multi-jurisdictional task force staged Operation "Bright Lights Big City", a back-breaking raid on members of the notorious Varrio Latino gang Azusa 13, they say conspired to rid the Southern California city of its Black residents. "It was hell on earth," recalls a Riverside mother of three (name withheld) who in 2007 escaped Azusa and the gang law enforcement say is tied to the Mexican Mafia.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris looks over some of the guns seized in a six-week sweep conducted by agents from the Department of Justice, 1,200 firearms were seized including one from a Azusa, California gang targeting African Americans.

Azusa Police Chief Robert Garcia said Azusa 13's attacks included scrawling racial epithets on African-Americans' homes and street violence that last year targeted a Black high school student walking home from a track meet.

According to the latest U.S. Census information, about 64% of the city's 47,000 residents are Hispanic and nearly 4% are Black.

"This is not the first Southern California gang accused of racially-motivated attacks. The Avenues in Highland Park, Varrio Hawaiian Gardens and Florencia 13 in South L.A. are all Latino gangs whose members have faced state or federal civil rights charges for attacking and killing African- Americans," said state Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The Azusa 13 gang adopted a racist principle "that members of the gang will harass and use violence to drive African- Americans out of the City of Azusa and would use violence in order to prevent African-Americans from moving into the City," according to U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr.

The kind of multi-jurisdictional cooperation seen in the Azusa 13 raid is in serious jeopardy Harris warned Friday, following the passage of an $86 million budget signed by Governor Jerry Brown last week without a single GOP vote. We're looking at "Gang-and-Drug Armageddon."

Harris and members of other state and local public safety agencies came out swinging after a Democrat led Legislature passed and an on time budget that would see a $35.8 million reduction in its law enforcement budget next fiscal year and another $35.2 million in the year after that.

A $71 million cut to the Division of Law Enforcement budget will "handcuff" the state Department of Justice's ability to fight gang violence and disrupt the flow of drugs, guns and human beings across our border, Harris said in a statement.

"The cuts will likely eliminate 55 state-led task forces that coordinate the response to our growing gang problem. The Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence and Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement will also likely be eliminated, as well as the investigative capacities of the newly formed Mortgage Fraud Strike Task Force. All told, several hundred agents, investigators, and other law enforcement positions will be lost, as will the ability to prosecute cases like these," said Harris.

That $71 million cut could cost the DOJ another $40 million in matching federal funds over the next two years, said Division of Law Enforcement Director Larry Wallace.

"We could be looking at cuts in excess of $100 million," he said. "It's unprecedented, unsafe and unsustainable to the Department of Justice and it will greatly handcuff California law enforcement. We could lose up to 600 law enforcement positions if we take this hit, and possibly have to eliminate the bureau of narcotic enforcement and the bureau of investigations and intelligence."

The president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association -- who happens to work as a DOJ special agent -- Alan Barcelona accused Democrats of welcoming drug gangs to California and called the budget cut "absolutely astounding."

"At a time when our local law enforcement agencies are being stretched to the point of layoffs due to their own budget problems, they do not have the fiscal capacity or the authority to handle the responsibilities of coordinating multijurisdictional task forces to stop the flood of drugs and gangs from flowing into our state," said Barcelona.

Also unhappy: California Chief Justice Tani Cantil- Sakauye, who watched her court system lose $200 million in annual funding in March, then found out Monday that Democrats are aiming for another $150 million cut -- and are going to delay $310 million in court construction costs by putting those projects on hold for a year.

"I am completely dismayed and gravely concerned about how the proposed budget cuts will affect the judicial branch and the public we serve. The cumulative impact of the cuts to the courts in the last three years will have the effect of court closures, fewer services to court users, and the specter of more furloughs and layoffs for employees.

LOCAL IMPACT

State law enforcement officials aren't the only one's hopping mad over the budget cuts to public safety. "We're looking at impending disaster," warns San Bernardino District Attorney Mike Ramos. The district attorney's office would lose $2.1 million, leading to the loss of 33 positions. Ramos said he already has a backlog of 3,000 cases that he needs more staff to tackle.

The probation department would lose 77 positions in the budget. This also would be due to the vehicle tax cut, which will result in decreased programs for juvenile offenders and affect adult probation programs such as domestic violence, sex offender and gang units, Chief Probation Officer Michelle Scray said.

The Sheriff's Department has scrapped plans for a new crime lab and is using asset-forfeiture funds to avoid layoffs.

Riverside County is also bracing for more cuts and layoffs.

Sheriff Stan Sniff said public safety departments, including the sheriff, district attorney and fire, face cuts from 3 percent to 5 percent in his recommended budget.

Other departments will see, on average, 19 percent reductions.

Sniff has already sent out layoff notices. If he has to meet even lower budget projections, the first 100 layoffs would take place July 13 followed by another 100 on Aug. 10.

A group of city police chiefs wrote in early June that reductions in unincorporated patrols will increase the need for mutual aid at a time when cities also are struggling financially.

Speaking on behalf of law enforcement agencies and organizations across the state, AG Harris called on lawmakers to restore the money.

"Public safety is a basic right of all people and a core function of our government. For that reason I call on Governor Brown and the Legislature to immediately restore adequate funding to California law enforcement."

Corona: City gives 15 Officers Notice... (The Press-Enterprise) June 21, 2011 by Leslie Parrilla

CORONA: City gives 15 officers notice

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06:39 AM PDT on Tuesday, June 21, 2011

By LESLIE PARRILLA
The Press-Enterprise

Corona police issued layoff notices to 15 patrol officers Monday in an effort to shave roughly $4 million from the city's budget over the next three years.

Officials said the nearly 10 percent reduction in the force is the largest reduction in police manpower in over two decades.

Corona Police Chief Richard Madory said the officers' final work day is June 30.

The move came as a surprise to Madory, who was told by city officials Thursday to begin sending out notices after salary negotiations had stalled after several months.

City officials would like to continue talks but for now have decided layoffs were a difficult, but only, option.

"I was, as many are, shocked that we were going to have to do this. I'm shocked and saddened. This is very unfortunate," Madory said.

Corona Police Officers Association President Jim Auck said he was baffled by the city's decision to order layoffs.

"I'm just flabbergasted," Auck said. "We offered them $3.5 million and they turned it down. We didn't know what they wanted."

Auck said the association is essentially being forced to take salary increases they didn't want and were willing to continue deferring, but the city offered different cuts that would have cost officers more than they were willing to pay in the long run.

City officials said some of the proposal included conditions they were not certain were legal.

The cut to Corona's force represents about 10 percent of the department's 164 sworn officers and about 21 percent of the roughly 70 officers in the patrol division.

Recent hires

The officers given notice were the most recent hires to the patrol division and were hired within the last four years, Madory said.

Madory said he plans to fill Corona's vacancies with officers from other departments and on special assignments to prevent response times and calls for service from suffering.

"We'll have to see how that impacts other functions of the department," Madory said. "We'll make sure there's enough people in the patrol function to fill that void. Fifteen people is a lot of people."

In 2008 Corona Police Department took a big hit when losing 24 positions, but no active officers were laid off. Nearly half of those jobs were unfilled, including four sworn officer positions.

Corona Mayor Stan Skipworth said the city's needs to save some $4 million over the next three years.

He had expected that money to be saved through salary negotiations with the Corona Police Officers Association, but conversations between the city and the labor group took an unexpected turn.

"I thought we were making tremendous progress," Skipworth said. "We had the sudden change. It's very disappointing."

Labor negotiators made a final salary offer that would save the city about $1.1 million over the next three years, Skipworth said.

"That was something we couldn't accept at the time," he said.

The offer would have saved about one-third of the savings the city needed, $4 million, Skipworth said.

The city had agreed to a five percent salary raises to begin this fiscal year and 4 percent next year, Skipworth said. But the city wanted to defer those increases, causing negotiations to reach a sticking point.

The department will receive the raises, but that means layoffs must happen to recoup the savings.

He hopes the two groups can return to the bargaining table and avoid layoffs but for now the positions remain cut. "This was an extremely difficult decision," Skipworth said.

INLAND REACTION

Riverside Police Department spokesman Sgt. Cliff Mason said laying off that many officers from his department would certainly affect response times and calls for service. He could not remember any Riverside officers being laid off in his 23 years with the department.

"If we were given notice that we had to drop 15 officers from patrol, that would have a huge impact on our ability to effectively police the city of Riverside," Mason said.

Earlier this month, Colton Police Department let go of six police officers.

Reach Leslie Parrilla at 951-368-9644 or lparrilla@PE.com

LA Times: LAPD Limits Impounding of Unlicensed Drivers' Cars (March 12, 2011) By Joel Rubin & Ari Bloomekatz

latimes.com

LAPD limits impounding of unlicensed drivers' cars

Previous policy for sobriety checkpoints had been criticized by immigration advocacy groups.

By Joel Rubin and Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

March 12, 2011

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Under criticism that it was unfairly targeting undocumented immigrants, the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday announced changes to its rules for impounding cars of unlicensed drivers at sobriety checkpoints. Previously, LAPD officers at such checkpoints followed stringent protocols that called for them to impound a car whenever the driver was found not to have a valid license, regardless of whether the driver had been drinking. Those rules have drawn the ire of immigration advocacy groups that said they disproportionately targeted undocumented immigrants, who are not able to obtain licenses legally in nearly all U.S. states. Once a vehicle is impounded, law enforcement agencies often require it to remain locked up for at least a month and charge the owner hefty fees to release it. The new LAPD guidelines soften the department's stance somewhat. Police will be required to make an attempt to contact the registered owner of the stopped vehicle. If the owner is a licensed driver and can respond to the checkpoint in "a reasonable period of time," the officers will release the car to him or her. If the owner is unlicensed, officers will permit another person who is a licensed driver to take the car. If no one with a license is available, police will impound a vehicle. In any case, police will issue a citation to the unlicensed driver. Police Chief Charlie Beck said that since he took over the department more than a year ago, the checkpoint policy had "stuck in my craw as one of the things we weren't doing the right way." Beck said he decided to make the change after immigration rights advocates raised the issue with him anew in meetings this week. "I'm tired of casting the net so wide," he said. "This is the right thing to do. There is a fairness issue here … and we're trying to balance the needs of all segments of our community and keep the roads safe." The new rules, Beck said, were an attempt to mitigate somewhat "the current reality, which is that for a vast number of people, who are a valuable asset to our community and who have very limited resources, their ability to live and work in L.A. is severely limited by their immigration status." The change, which the department announced in a news release late Friday afternoon, is likely to anger groups that support strict enforcement of immigration laws. Efforts to contact representatives of several of those groups for comment were unsuccessful. The issue of impounds has become a controversial topic in recent years. Police in the small cities of Bell and Maywood have been accused of systematically targeting undocumented immigrants when impounding cars in an effort to boost municipal revenues. Ron Gochez, a member of the steering committee for the Southern California Immigration Coalition, expressed limited praise for the LAPD's change but questioned why the department needed to impound a car if the driver had not been drinking. "It's a step in the right direction, but it still falls short of what we're asking for," he said. "We're not against checkpoints. We want checkpoints to happen, we want drunk drivers off our streets. We just don't want people to be losing their cars who aren't drunk." joel.rubin@latimes.com ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Fallen Police Sergent Posthumously Named County Officer of The Year!! (04302009) Prince George's to hold Valor Awards Luncheon Today......by Aundrea

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Fallen police sergeant posthumously named county Officer of the Year

Prince George's to hold Valor Awards luncheon today

by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer

The Prince George's County Valor Awards are reserved for public safety officials who have faced danger or risked their lives in the line of duty. Today Sgt. Richard Findley will receive two of the highest awards given by the county police department, the Gold Medal of Valor and the Officer of the Year Award, for giving his life in the line of duty.

Findley, 39, was killed June 27, 2008 in Laurel when he was hit by a stolen truck that he was attempting to stop as part of his job with the District 6 special assignment team.

"He unfortunately was killed doing what he loved to do. He enjoyed going out there and catching bad guys," said Sgt. Jeff Schreiber, who oversees the special assignment team that Findley was a part of. "We know it can happen. If we don't do [our jobs] then society would be running amuck."

His widow, Kelly Findley, 30, will accept the award on his behalf.

"He always liked being recognized for his larger busts and getting the recognition that he deserved," she said. "Unfortunately in order to get this honor you have to die."

A supervisor or co-worker usually nominates a recipient of the valor awards. Each department selects an employee as official of the year and also awards gold, silver and bronze awards for valor, depending on the danger the official faced.

Kelly Findley said her husband enjoyed his 10 years in the police department, particularly his time spent on the street.

"His sergeant's test came in April [before he died] and he said 'Go ahead and file that in the trash,'" Kelly Findley said. "If he would have taken that [and been promoted] he would have been babysitting a larger group."

Findley was a corporal when he died and was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.

"He did great police work, he loved to go out and find drugs and guns," said Schreiber, adding one of Findley's biggest busts on the team was recovering more than 80 pounds of marijuana in March 2007. "He has definitely made his mark in the Beltsville area."

In the time since his death, Kelly Findley, of New Windsor in Carroll County, said the last few months have been a blur but the Beltsville Volunteer Department, and members of the police department have been a huge help to her and her two daughters, Lauren, 7, and Nicole, 10,

"The fire department, any time I call and need something they are there," she said. "They don't abandon their own. It is a true family and you don't realize how big and strong it is until you need them."

Richard and Kelly Findley met at the Beltsville fire department, where Richard volunteered for 20 years and Kelly regularly volunteered up until the birth of her daughters.

Benefits and charity rides have raised thousands of dollars for the Findley family and Kelly Findley said so far she and her daughters have been able to make it by.

"His pension is meager and we get that and the girls get Social Security benefits," she said.

She said her neighbors have helped with a lot of handy work around the house as well.

"Rich wasn't too handy around the house to start with," she said. "But he was able to pull some handiness together for his Christmas in April project."

Christmas in April is an annual nonprofit program in which project teams work to renovate and refurbish homes in the county. Findley was in charge of a team that renovated an elderly woman's house in 2007. He even donated $1,500 of his own money to buy the woman a new water heater.

"When it was all done it was about $15,000 worth of donated supplies," said Schreiber, who added that projects usually come in at around $4,000 to $5,000 at the most.

Kelly Findley said he was always trying to give people a hand.

"He was the type of person that if you saw something you liked, he was about finding the bargain for you so you didn't have to pay full price," she said. "[After his death] I had so many people coming up to me say they knew Rich when he was a kid and he was a great person and he is truly going to be missed."

Her daughters were especially hard hit by the loss.

"Nicole is my very sentimental and emotional child. I can hold it together until I see her cry," Kelly Findley said. "I look at my kids every day and I'm blessed to have them because I have a piece of him with me."

A lot of anonymous gifts were set to the girls. Standing out among them are matching heart pendants with Findley's picture laser cut into them. The girls wore the pendants — their favorite gifts — at the April 21 engraving ceremony of their father's name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

"They try not to wear them too often so they don't get ruined," Kelly Findley said.

Schreiber said at least the girls will be able to see the awards their father received and understand that people were grateful for the work that he did.

"His girls can look back on that, and so can Kelly, and know he was a hero," Schreiber said.

E-mail Andrea Noble anoble@gazette.net.

IF YOU GO

The Valor Awards luncheon is being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at the Camelot located at 13901 Central Avenue in Upper Marlboro. An official from the county police, fire and EMS, and corrections departments and the sheriff's office and Public Safety Communications Center will each be honored with the official of the year award. Nine officials will receive gold medal valor awards, 10 will receive silver and 40 will receive bronze. The awards are distributed based on the level of danger each employee faced.

Avoid a Dead End Career (Officer Magazine Oct, 1, 2007) Join your first agency with your eyes wide open--- and toward the future...

BS Ranch Perspective:

Here is some great Advice for Someone that is just getting started or has just gotten themselves off probation, Look to what you can do, if not look to what another Department can offer you, and that can help you with promotions and the like moving to a different department. I have seen Sargent's go on to to other departments as Lieutenants, and then later they have returned to the Department that they left only to be a Captain at that Department, When the Movement isn't available at your Department the Upward movement might be available at other Departments where you can become a Sergent, or even moving up two spaces in Rank, from Officer to Lieutenant!! Something to think about, there is nothing better when it comes to Retirement, on your CAL-PERS Retirement when you are a Chief, Lieutenant, or even a Sergent, they are considerably better then a corporal or officer. I had heard that a Medical Retirement, at the Rank of Lieutenant, brought a check of over $4,000 a month, Tax free with a 4% yearly COLA (Cost of living raise).

BS Ranch

Avoid a Dead-End Career

Join your first agency with eyes wide open—and toward the future.

October 01, 2007

I recently interviewed a prospective applicant for the job of police recruit. All he kept saying was, "I want to be a police officer." OK, great, that is the entry level position and that is what gnarly old chiefs like to hear: "I am here, I want the job and can perform in it; just give me the chance." But, if you are now preparing to apply for a job or enter the academy, here is my question to you: Where do you want to be 20 years from now? (Hint: Do not tell the gnarly old chief that you want his or her job!)

Most all of us enter this vocation with the idea that we want to be a great detective, be a commander of the unit, or be some high-speed tactical operator. Sadly, some take the first job that they are offered and get into a rut and stay there.

I have observed some of the most brilliant officers working in smaller agencies. Why are they there? They took the job, liked the town, liked the department, got comfortable with the entire situation, and 20 years later they are still there. Most are happy, but wouldn't you wonder, "What could or would have happened if…?" Well, before you get comfortable, let's talk about this.

When you apply to a department, check it out first, do your research. Check its Website, if it has one. Talk to incumbents on the department, not just their recruiters. Study the organizational charts. If the biggest part of the tree is in patrol and there are only one or two leaves in the special unit that you are interested in, this is the formula for limited potential.

Look about the department; are there young, fresh faces in special units or are they all old? This will reveal if it is a seniority-based department or if they put the performers where they need to be.

Ask about training opportunities. If all you hear is "mandatory" or "minimum state requirements," then your chances of obtaining advanced training here are minuscule at best. What is the public or the media spin on the department? If the agency a bad reputation, you could face working under a consent decree or public review; either of which could be problematic in your future working conditions.

Check the cost of living, standard of living for the area. Does the agency require that all employees reside in the jurisdiction? It might be a great job but a crappy place to live. Remember, you only work so many hours. If you or your family members hate the place, having the greatest job in the world won't be able to make up for the rest.

Don't make the rookie mistake and ask only about toys (cars, bullets, guns, and gadgets). Shop around and make the intelligent decision. It is your future here; don't let it slip out of your grasp. 

author: William Harvey | posted @ Monday, October 01, 2007 3:58 PM

Police Fatalities on the rise in 2007 (Christian Science Monitor September 17, 2007)

from the September 17, 2007 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0917/p03s03-ussc.html

Police fatalities on the rise in '07

Two shootouts last week are part of a troubling phenomenon in which officer deaths have jumped to a level not seen in 29 years.

By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

 

ATLANTA

The shooting of four police officers, one of them fatally, near Miami on Thursday became another dark day in what is already a tough year for America's 800,000 police officers.

Coming only a few days after a shootout in Odessa, Texas, that killed three officers, the Miami incident became part of a troubling phenomenon for 2007: a spike in the number of police officers who died in the line of duty to a level not seen since 1978.

Of the 132 officers to die so far this year, 54 were shot. The number of shootings represents a 59 percent increase over the same period in 2006, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington.

After years of watching these figures decline or hold steady, experts are not prepared to say whether this year's increase is a trend or an aberration.

Still, "the figures this year are nothing short of alarming," says Craig Floyd, chairman of the officers memorial fund.

Police offer several possible explanations for the high losses, including an uptick in violent crime around the country. Some experts suggest that community empathy for police, which rose after 9/11, may be waning now, especially in places where tensions exist between poor minority residents and police forces, or where transiency is relatively high, as in Miami or New Orleans.

The '07 trend line, while distressing, does not signal a danger level akin to that of the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s, or of the "crack wars" of the late 1980s, experts say.

"It is a different time today and [there is] less of a generalized adversarial relationship between the citizenry and the cops," says Laurence Miller, a psychologist who works with the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida. "The hard cases [in the 1960s and '70s] were a large group of criminals who politicized their criminality as rebellion. Some were sincere rebels with or without a cause, and some were petty criminals who said it was OK to take their anger out on cops."

Between the afterglow of 9/11 and TV shows such as "Cops," which usually depict police officers as tough-guy professionals who exude gritty determination in the face of criminality, law-enforcement officers today enjoy relatively high standing in society at large.

Police losses much higher in early '70s

Those attitudes can affect the police fatality rate. Back in 1973, when there were about 210 officers for every 100,000 Americans, 134 police were feloniously killed, according to statistics from the US Department of Justice. In 2005, the last year for which the DOJ has figures, 55 police officers were feloniously killed and there were about 250 police officers for every 100,000 residents.

(On the other side of the coin, the Justice Department counts an average of 350 "felons justifiably killed by police" in recent years, down from a peak of about 400 in 1994.)

The recent officer deaths from shootings have raised awareness and tension in station houses across the US.

In Florida, 10 police officers have been killed this year. But big metro areas and sprawling, transient suburbs are not the only places affected. Veteran cop Bruce McKay was shot and killed in rural Franconia, N.H., in May.

In the Miami incident, police caught up with the suspect, Shawn Sherwin Labeet, Thursday night at an apartment complex, where he was shot and killed. Police say he was armed and armored, and they have arrested six others for helping him flee or for giving false information. Miami-Dade officer Jose Somohano died in the shootout earlier that day, one officer is hospitalized, and two were treated and released.

"It's gut-wrenching," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez on Thursday before the suspect was found. "It's a sad day."

The suspect had used a powerful semiautomatic weapon to shoot the four officers, police say.

Dangers of police work remain high

Nationwide, six incidents this year resulted in multiple officer deaths, from Moncks Corner, S.C., to New York City.

The fact that cops are backed up by tough laws, improved armor, and better training should not lull anyone into complacency about the danger of police work, says Terry Lynn, a professor at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., and a former police officer who was wounded in action in Boston in 1993.

"When good intersects with the bad, we hope that good is always going to result, and that's not always the end result," says Mr. Lynn.

Despite tragic incidents, police work is safer than many people might think. Policing is ranked eighth – below convenience store clerks, construction workers, and Bering Sea crabbers – when it comes to dangerous jobs.

Mr. Floyd of the officers memorial fund allows, too, that recent events could be aberrations. Between 2005 and 2006, he says, North Carolina went from zero officer deaths to 10. A similar thing happened in Virginia the year before. "It's hard to explain that," he says.

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links

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BS Ranch Perspective:

It's not just in Atlanta that the Police Population is being assaulted, it is also these 50 states as well! For some reason the Respect for Police is down and the people that are have that respect for the Police, simply don't any more! It is truly a sad life that we are in and have become!!

I hope for The sake of the United States of America that the feelings turn around, before the Law Enforcement Position becomes a position that is something that People hate have had grown to hate!!

BS Ranch

When the Anti-Terrorism Cop is Muslim (LA Times June 20, 2007) An Arabic speaker of North African decent, this Officer says he is Militants' ' worst e

When the anti-terrorism cop is Muslim

An Arabic speaker of North African descent, this officer says he is militants' 'worst enemy.' Europe wants more like him.

By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer
June 20, 2007

PARIS -- Like the other detectives in his anti-terrorism unit, Mustafa wears a mask during raids.

He calls it "the Spiderman thing." The mask protects his identity and adds to the intimidating effect as he bursts through doors behind SWAT officers aiming laser-sighted weapons at suspects.

During interrogations, the mask comes off. The suspects stare at a young man much like themselves: a son of North African immigrants, an Arabic-speaker, a practicing Muslim. They react with surprise or hate — never indifference.

"I am the worst enemy for them," Mustafa says. "I speak their language. I know how they think. I have gotten a lot of threats. They say: 'You are worse than the Americans. The Americans are Christians. They are fighting their crusade. But you are a Muslim traitor.' … One guy told me: 'If I could get hold of one of your guns and it only had one bullet, it would be for you.' "

But occasionally, encounters with fellow officers leave Mustafa feeling caught in the middle.

"When I am on the street working plainclothes, police have stopped me," he says. "I take out my badge. I tell them I am working anti-terrorism. But they lock the door of their car and call headquarters to check me out. They don't have an image of someone like me as a policeman."

Mustafa — not his real name — is one of a rare breed of police officers who represent the future of European law enforcement. Despite Europe's large immigrant population, predominantly Muslim, police forces are struggling to integrate and to improve relations with minority communities.

"Diversity in the police is a factor of social justice," says French police Capt. Mohamed Douhane, 42, an official of the Synergie Officers union, which represents mid-level police commanders. "It gives greater credibility to institutions. It reduces tensions. Vis-a-vis young people, we are ambassadors."

Anti-terrorism agencies aggressively recruit investigators from Muslim backgrounds, eager to use their skills against an array of extremist networks. But the number of minorities in law enforcement, let alone elite units, remains small, especially compared with the presence of black and Latino officers in the United States. Though immigrants are central to the American identity, immigration began transforming Europe only in recent decades. Integration will take time.

And some Muslim investigators avoid the top-secret world of anti-terrorism, wary of risks and pressures that can make it a no man's land.

"They have chosen to distance themselves from their community, where there are people who now despise them, yet we do not always accept them," says Belgian federal police Supt. Alain Grignard, an anti-terrorism expert who speaks Arabic. "That doubles the pressure. I know officers who have had psychological problems because of this conflict."

On condition that his identity and the country where he works be kept secret, Mustafa agreed to give an inside view of his unique world.

He comes across as cheerful and, in a relaxed way, proud of what he does. He is 30, alert but not intense, solid but not brawny. When he is off duty, he has a stylish look. You can imagine him hanging out at a disco on a Mediterranean coast or playing pick-up soccer in a park.

--

MUSTAFA grew up in a devout, blue-collar family. He drinks an occasional glass of beer or wine, but attends mosque services and observes Ramadan. His relatives have made the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

"I was taught that being Muslim meant being nice, honest, kind — nothing about killing or hating," he says. "People are using Islam to hate other cultures. So I fight against that. That's my jihad."

As a boy, Mustafa was fascinated by "Miami Vice" and other television police dramas. Although his father wanted him to learn a trade, he applied to a national police academy, becoming one of the few Muslim cadets. Along with the allure of action, he felt a certain patriotic duty. It stirs whenever he goes on missions to North Africa and contemplates the sprawling misery of the shantytowns there.

"My father was so poor when he emigrated that the village chipped in to buy him a suit so he would look presentable," Mustafa says. "He was very well-received here. Yes, there are racists. But my parents integrated well."

Mustafa graduated near the top of his class. Religious discipline helped.

"Because I studied very hard," he says. "No girls, no drinking, no discos."

He started as a patrolman, but things moved quickly after an officer was killed by Moroccan gangsters. Detectives enlisted the rookie to analyze wiretaps in Arabic and gather intelligence.

After Al Qaeda struck the United States in September 2001, counter-terrorism forces across Europe went into overdrive. Mustafa's talents catapulted him into the unit where he works today.

His story has repeated itself elsewhere. Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have led the way, stepping up recruitment among second- and third-generation populations from former colonies in Africa and South Asia. Spain and Italy have found recruitment more difficult because their immigrant communities are newer.

France's lead counter-terrorism agency, the DST, has had an influx of women of North African descent. Many want "to escape the pressure of the family culture," a top intelligence official says. "They want to be free women."

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BUT anti-terrorism is not for everyone. Rookies spend hours of drudgery in headphones, translating wiretaps. France has the largest population of Muslims in Europe, but French society resists identity politics and American-style affirmative action. Some promising officers prefer assignments that don't pigeonhole them on the basis of ethnicity or religion.

Douhane is one of them. He comes from a practicing Muslim family, but is not devout. He was 24 when his father, a bus driver, invited a longtime passenger, a police commander, to Sunday lunch. The commander told him war stories and became his mentor.

"He totally shattered the image I had of the police, which was that they were racist, alcoholic and violent," Douhane says.

Without telling anyone in his rough housing project outside Grenoble, Douhane became one of two minority cadets in a class of 550. He recalls "not racism, but curiosity."

"They looked at me like a Martian."

At his graduation in 1992, the counter-terrorism service courted him unsuccessfully.

"They told me they would train me, teach me, take care of everything, but I don't like to work in the shadows," Douhane says. "I like things to be clear…. There are more minority patrol officers now, but the numbers in anti-terrorism are still weaker."

Like Douhane, Mustafa says he has not experienced bias, other than a bit of jealousy about his rapid ascent. Being a minority helps your career, he says.

"Here in Europe there is everything for immigrants: unemployment [benefits], school, free hospitals," he says. "You live very, very well here. But still some immigrants complain. And they hide behind that curtain of discrimination. Fundamentalists don't work, [they] grow the beard, collect unemployment, but they criticize the society anyway."

A recent case in Montpellier, in southern France, showed that vengeful militants see Muslim officers, especially women, as archenemies. The case began in 2005 when the DST arrested Achlougi Bach, a Moroccan mother of three, and her husband in a raid on a suspected network sending fighters to Iraq.

A female agent of Moroccan origin interrogated Bach, who was released without charges and promptly accused the agent of abuse. Bach, 35, claimed the agent insulted Islam and humiliated her. Her allegations surfaced on Islamist websites, complete with the name of the agent, who then received death threats. An internal investigation cleared the agent, but chiefs decided to transfer her because her identity had been exposed.

Mustafa shrugs off the dangers. He likes that he can get closer to the extremists than most other officers, soaking up nuances of accents and slang on intercepts, prowling hangouts, mosques, protest marches.

"It's easier for me to operate on the street," he says. "I am comfortable in a mosque. I am not worried about getting challenged. Even carrying my gun, I feel at ease about being in there and being able to operate."

He has explored the labyrinths of fanaticism in long conversations with militants bound for Iraq, veterans of Al Qaeda camps, a would-be suicide bomber. Though capable of small talk and jokes, he says, they have been deadened inside, reduced to human missiles.

"The suicide bomber-types are so fixated on their objective," he says. "They could cause an explosion that kills kids, they could care less. They live in a very closed world. And it has become even more closed. It's harder to infiltrate. Now the radicals do what they do in Iraq: To enter the group, you must open up completely. Show them your home, your family, make yourself totally vulnerable."

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NOT all of the extremists Mustafa arrests can bring themselves to believe he is a bona fide detective. Some think he's actually a North African spy working with European police; they cooperate because they are scared of being handed over to the tough security services in that region. But Mustafa also wins trust with small gestures, letting them take a break from all-day interrogations to pray or eat a halal meal.

"We have religious debates," he says. "I ask them: 'How did you reach this point? You grew up the same way as me, with the same Koran, the same [sayings of the prophet Muhammad], yet with a totally different mentality.' They are radicalized, but some of these guys can't even read. Or they haven't read the Koran. They just believe what they have heard from others."

There is such a thing as getting too close. Anti-terrorism officers from Muslim backgrounds undergo intense scrutiny for connections — a friend in jail, a foreign relative — that create vulnerability. In a recent case here, a young investigator recruited by an anti-terrorism squad for his fluent Arabic was admonished and transferred after a wiretap detected his friendly conversations with the wife of a suspected extremist.

Corruption can have banal roots. In immigrant communities, family and friends often expect police officers to grant favors and get them out of scrapes. At first, Mustafa tried to avoid entanglements by telling people he was a firefighter.

As he worked high-profile cases, however, people in his old neighborhood gradually learned the truth. Some admire him. Some, especially local fundamentalists, mutter that he is a traitor.

"They say: 'Why are you working in anti-terror? How can you do that?' " he says. "They talk about their sympathy for the Palestinians, the Iraqis, sometimes 'terrorism can be understandable,' all that.

"But I tell them: The day you are taking a bus with your wife and kids and it goes boom, you'll see. You won't have the same view anymore."

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rotella@latimes.com

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BS Ranch Perspective

What this Detective is doing is something special, he is wonderful, by translating and helping in a way that few that are in his shoes would, or even could! It isn't easy being on the religious side of what is considered to be the Enemy, and yet he is doing a great job, indicating that it isn't a religious war, but a war bent on a few of sick individuals that are bent on making the United States or any Country that is a Capitalist Country and not a Country that is one that is considered not to be one dwell-ed upon by Infidel's!

His job is in such demand that I bet that there are many Openings for a Police Officer that can Speak Arabic and not only that but Understand what and where the person (s) are coming from when they are contacted, I can Imagine that his call out overtime alone is really high because of the specialties that this Police Officer can Offer.

Great Job, and I hope that there are more like him and soon.

BS Ranch

Gang Homicides Plunge 32% (LA Times June 1, 2007) Chief Bratton Cites LAPD's Crackdown, while Veteren Officers say cycle of violence are unpredictable

Gang homicides plunge 32%

Chief William J. Bratton cites LAPD's crackdown, while veteran beat officers say cycles of violence are unpredictable.

By Richard Winton and Jill Leovy, Times Staff Writers
June 1, 2007

Arrested

click to enlarge

Nearly six months into the LAPD's crackdown on gang violence, the number of gang-related homicides in Los Angeles dropped 32%, mirroring an overall decline in violent crime across the city, according to statistics released Thursday.

The Los Angeles Police Department recorded 79 gang-related killings as of Saturday night, compared with 117 during the same period last year.

Chief William J. Bratton said the plunge in gang killings has helped fuel a 24% drop in overall homicides.

"That's 48 fewer murder victims, 48 fewer families victimized and 48 fewer young men going to jail for 20 to 25 years for that crime," Bratton said. "We are actually saving two lives — the victim, and hopefully, keeping another young person from committing a murder."

The crackdown was a response to a 15% increase in gang-related crimes in 2006 as general crime continued to decline citywide. In response, the LAPD shifted more police officers into neighborhoods with large concentrations of gang members to target 11 gangs that police officials considered to be the worst.

The FBI and Los Angeles city attorney's office have also targeted several gangs that have been accused of racially motivated violence.

"That is a substantial decline in gang homicides if their gang-related definition has remained the same," said Malcolm Klein, a professor emeritus of sociology at USC who has studied gangs for several decades. Klein said that generally the LAPD has been fairly good at identifying gangs tied to crime but that it remains a subjective task.

He says he is not surprised that Bratton credited LAPD officers for the decline but he and others cautioned against attributing such a change to law enforcement actions.

To officers on the streets, there is no easy answer for the decline. Some officers said that although they believe recent police efforts have made a difference, other factors, such as demographic changes, improved trauma care for assault victims and longer prison sentences, are also affecting crime statistics such as homicide.

Three-strikes laws, for example, have thinned the ranks of some gangs in the LAPD's 77th Division, Det. John Radtke said. "If I sit down and go through the gang list, it's amazing how many names are in jail or dead."

Officers working in the areas where crime has fallen most steeply said they were reluctant to even guess why violent crime has declined.

Veterans working the streets of South Los Angeles learn to never make predictions, said Det. Richard Arsiniega of the Newton Division homicide squad. "Because tomorrow," he said, snapping his fingers, "it could change."

Police in high-crime areas such as Newton Division and the neighboring 77th Street Division are accustomed to sharp, inexplicable spikes in crime. "We go 11 weeks without a homicide, and then we'll have three in three days," Arsiniega said.

Newton, which is down in homicides this year, has seen a sudden spurt of three killings over the last week.

Two of the recent victims were women, including 31-year-old Karina Michel, who was killed in front of her two children Tuesday.

Some areas of the most intense new police focus, however, have also seen the greatest decline in crime statistics this year. Southeast Division, for example, had 23 homicides at this time last year. This year, there have been 14.

Southeast Division Lt. Glenn Krejci cites an accumulation of new tactics over several years in that division, covering Watts, which is the poorest of all the precincts in the city and includes among its public housing projects three large ones: Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts.

Krejci said Southeast Division's experience shows that crime responds when police simply throw a lot at it.

For example, Southeast in recent years has added cameras in the housing projects that are monitored by officers, gang injunctions on such projects-based gangs as the Bounty Hunters and the Grape Street Crips, a prosecution program called CLEAR, and money from the Los Angeles Housing Authority granting extra overtime for patrols in the projects, he said.

So far in 2007, homicides in South Los Angeles, traditionally the most violent part of the city, are down from 70 to 58.

Gang-related killings in South Los Angeles are down 23% from 47 to 36, Bratton said.

The South Los Angeles homicide unit has cleared 42 killings or 84% of its caseload, Bratton said.

The clearance for all South Los Angeles homicides has increased from 48% to 74% this year, officials said.

"That is an incredible number. There aren't many departments in the country who have numbers like that," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said as he chatted with detectives in a squad room.

Citywide, the clearance rate has jumped from 63% to 75% so far this year. Additionally, Bratton and Villaraigosa reminded the public of rewards offered in hopes of solving three separate shooting deaths in South Los Angeles, where homicides were down by 17% in the first part of the year.

Det. Matt Mahoney of South Bureau homicide said good police work is making a difference.

"We are actually making some good arrests. We are hitting prime targets," he said. Gang units "are on top of things. Patrol is on top of things…. I honestly believe it is what we are doing," he said.

But police caution that the summer months have barely begun, and homicides typically surge in August, the result of a combination of factors, such as people being outside at night and so-called gang birthdays falling in months whose numbers correspond with streets in South Los Angeles — streets in the 70s, correspond to July, for example. And the long-term trend is hard to gauge.

"It will be interesting to see where it is going to go in 10 years. I don't think anyone can predict it," Radtke said.

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richard.winton@latimes.com

jill.leovy@latimes.com

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BS Ranch Perspective

LAPD Chief Bratton says that it is the crack down of The Gang Unit that has reduced the numbers, and cased This Reduction. It is this Writer's Experience in LA Enforcement However that the only way that you can Control Crime is through Tough Crime Enforcement. Chief Bratton has not done this. In the recent incident when the LAPD started to do an Active Enforcement Roll to clear MacArthur Park Instead of Standing behind the decisions of the Command Staff that he has worked with and knows well, he turned around and bent to the pressure of the Liberal people that saw the media tapes of the enforcement decision that was made.

I have it that there was clear warnings made in both Spanish and English, Spanish being a Second language, which until recently we have started to bend to make it some kind of a duel language in California. It is way to confusing for the person that speaks a language other then English and Spanish, as to which language that he/she should learn because we, in California cannot seem to make up our minds which language we are going to speak. I digress!!

Back to the park issue, the Police made the announcement to disperse Twice in Both English and Spanish, it was heard by the line Officers Loud and clear. The Media gathered their camera's and didn't disperse, when ordered by the POLICE, as if the PRESS has some GOLDED TICKET TO NOT HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE POLICE WHEN ORDERED!!!

The Media shows the POLICE in such bad light like that of Rodney King, The Police Officers involved in the Rodney King Case was found NOT GUILTY in a California Court!!! However in a Federal Court, they were found Guilty on Three of the over 150 Blows to Rodney King when he was on the ground. Three of the blows were found to be unjustified, in the over 140 to 171 blows that he took. When you take a police officer in a imperfect world and hold them to perfection you are going to have a system that fails and the Spirit of the law is lost. Especially when you have a case like Rodney King, where the Officers were doing their jobs, They got the "FELON" into custody, Within LAPD Policy at that time! Riot or not, they were not guilty, I don't care what anyone says.

This MacArthur Park incident also was handled to the protocol by most all agencies regarding a Riot or Unruly Crowd. They made notice of an Unlawful Assembly Notice in English then in Spanish. They repeated the Notice in both Languages using their Unlawful Assembly Notification Card!!
Then the order for a slow motion to clear the park was made. Tear Gas was pushed out and then they moved more then likely with the Wedge Formation moving the people out of the Park and onto the streets out of the Park.

The incident was done Again Lawfully. I was not there, I have it from Blogs and Electronic Mail that has been Mailed to me regarding this to allow me the perspective on this. The supervisors better go back via their Union and Attempt to get their jobs back. It is a huge cut in pay when you are moved back down from a Captain down to a Lieutenant. it really sucks and they have a case to get their jobs back. Bratton was and is wrong.

BS Ranch

California Court Rules Police Can Search Homes on Anonymous Tips (SF Chronicle 061507)

California Court Rules Police Can Search Homes on Anonymous Tips

Posted: June 15th, 2007 02:02 PM EDT

BOB EGELKO
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (California)

Police who get an anonymous tip about a crime suspect don't have to check it out before going to the suspect's home and asking to be let in, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a unanimous decision, the court said police can enter a home with a resident's permission, after a "knock-and-talk" conversation at the door, without the evidence of wrongdoing they need for an involuntary detention or search.

"The sanctity of the home is not threatened when police approach a residence, converse with the homeowner and properly obtain consent to search," Justice Carol Corrigan wrote for the court.

She dismissed defense arguments that allowing police to seek entry into a home based on an unverified tip would invite harassing visits instigated by anonymous calls from a resident's enemies.

The case came from Oceanside (San Diego County), where police got an anonymous report in January 2004 that Juan Rivera was wanted on an arrest warrant and was living at a particular home.

Police went to the home and asked the owner if she knew Rivera. An officer later testified that he could not recall her answer, but that she had invited him in and had later consented to a search of her home.

Police said they had found Rivera in a shed and found a large knife in a sheath under his shirt.

Rivera, who was wanted for traffic and parole violations, pleaded guilty to a concealed-weapons charge after unsuccessfully challenging his detention and search. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

A state appeals court in San Diego overturned Rivera's conviction, saying police can't rely on an anonymous and uncorroborated report to detain and search someone. The court cited a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that overturned a gun conviction after a "stop-and-frisk" search based on an anonymous tip.

But California's high court said Rivera's case was different because police had entered the home with the owner's consent. The reliability of the original tip was irrelevant, Corrigan said, because officers need no evidence of wrongdoing before approaching someone and asking to talk or to be allowed into a home.

Rather than reinstating Rivera's conviction, however, the court returned the case to the appellate panel to decide whether police acted legally in holding him. Deputy Attorney General Felicity Senoski, the state's lawyer, said she was confident the lower court would uphold the detention.

"The court recognized that police may lawfully approach a private home and seek consent from the homeowner without infringing on anybody's Fourth Amendment rights," she said, referring to the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

Rivera's lawyer was unavailable for comment. .

The case is People vs. Rivera, S138898.

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BS Ranch Perspective

This is wonderful News, especially if the Officer knows the history of the house based upon other officers testimony to him from other cases that he has heard about he can use that and by the Tips that he gets regarding a call of a Domestic Violence for example, if the victim of the Case was pulled violently in to the home, he can search for all parties of the fight/argument to make sure no one was hurt or otherwise injured. Or if it was a call of sales, and he contacts the people that called and they say that they saw the salesmen go into that house with stuff in his hand, along with a wad of cash, and the other neighbor that he talks to says the same thing then he might be able to get away with using this Court Approved Tip Search of a Home!! Great News. I guess the best thing for me to have done was to look up the case before I started to get excited about it, then reading it might have made a change of heart. you know, but right now I am excited for law Enforcement.

BS Ranch