the current

Month: December 2023

  • Gascon Supporters Waning per Recent LA DA Poll – Numbers Support a Law and Order Candidate Could Prevail in 2024 Primary

    Gascon Supporters Waning per Recent LA DA Poll – Numbers Support a Law and Order Candidate Could Prevail in 2024 Primary

    After three years and a continuous catastrophic rise in most every category of crime, a recent poll in the LA DA race reveals staggering numbers for District Attorney George Gascon.

    The poll of 1942 likely voters, paid for by LA DA candidate Nathan Hochman, revealed two important facts regarding the high-profile race to become District Attorney for the largest county in the U.S.:

    • Gascon is historically unpopular, and that his numbers are worse than Soros-backed Chesa Boudin who was successfully recalled by San Francisco voters in June 2022.
    • At this stage of the race, there are at least 4 candidates with a credible chance of making it to the runoff.

    Out of 1942 voters asked who they would vote for in the March 2024 primary election, the likely voters responded: Gascon 18%, Hochman 12%, Hatami 8%, Ramirez 6%, Chemerinsky 6%, McKinney 3%, Archuletta 1%, Mitchell 1%, Milton 0% and Siddall 0%.

    A whopping 55% were undecided.

    The embattled DA announced his bid for re-election October 14th and included in the newsletter launch to his supporters, he highlighted a primary focus of his campaign would be to “hold law enforcement accountable”. Nowhere in his campaign literature was his plan to hold criminals accountable.

    A few weeks after making his announcement, Gascon failed to secure the San Pedro Democratic Club endorsement with only 36% of the vote. What is important to note is not only did the club realize the mistake they made by endorsing Gascon in 2020 and chose not to repeat it, Hatami, who came in at 28%, is a pro law and order candidate indicating a change in priority for many voting members.

    FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT?

    To date, Gascon has only attended one out of three debates. The two he skipped, not surprisingly, were pro law enforcement.

    At the Santa Monica Democratic Club forum, where Gascon made his first appearance, right out of the gate, veteran Deputy DA Hatami challenged Gascon with the current statistics, all memorized, on the meteoric rise in crime since he took office.

    Gascon barked backed in response “It almost seems like were at a Republican debate”. The irony of which since Gascon himself was a Republican for 40 years switching parties in 2010.

    It was clear Gascon was not willing to take responsibility for the  complete collapse of public safety under his watch, calling it “fake news” attempting to gaslight his opponents who highlighted his failures.

    Nearly all of the LA DA candidates who participated in the debate pointed out that Gascon’s pro-criminal directives and zero-cash bail have amounted to an extremely unsafe conditions for the citizens of LA County.

    Gascon stood strong maintaining that violent crime is slightly down in the last year, 2%, to which candidate Debra Archuleta argued there are “over 13000 cases sitting on his desk that have not yet been filed” which could clearly impact that one statistic Gascon was grasping tightly in his favor.

    Observation of the audience’s reaction to the candidates interactions which each other and Gascon showed the majority of support for Hatami and Siddall who appeared to be the front-runners of the Santa Monica Democratic Club’s debate.

    A noticeably different crowd from those who supported Gascon in 2020.

    Since taking office, Gascon has faced two voter-lead recalls and an unprecedented 35 cities have voted “No Confidence” in the DA. In April, a poll taken by UCLA found that just 27% of LA County residents viewed Gascon favorably, and 40% viewed him unfavorably.

    On December 14th, the California Secretary of State announced the Randomized Alphabet Drawing for the March 5th, 2024 Ballot.

    In an extraordinary stroke of luck (or not), the letter G was randomly picked for the #1 spot.

    According to the results, the March 2024  ballot will read as follows:

    Gascón

    Hatami

    Hochman

    Archuleta

    Chemerinsky

    Siddall

    Ramirez

    Kapelovitz

    Masson

    McKinney

    Mitchell

    Milton

    Gascón

    Hatami

    Hochman

    Archuleta

    Chemerinsky

    Siddall

    Ramirez

    Kapelovitz

    Masson

    McKinney

    Mitchell

    Milton

    Shortly before the Secretary of State’s announcement, on December 12th, the LA Democrat Party doubled down despite dismal polling numbers, endorsing George Gascon for re-election.

    However, outspoken democratic strategist Michael Trujillo came out with his own prediction regarding the high-profile race – and surprisingly, it was not in favor of his party’s choice:

    “Not sure who our next DA will be, but it will NOT be Gascon.” Trujillo posted on X December 15th. “Like (former Sheriff) Alex Villanueva he may make the run-off, but whoever makes it against him will be our next District Attorney. I mean, during the 2022 cycle, we had to hide anyone he endorsed. LA is reverting back to normal and boring.”

    An interesting observation – and revelation.

    After three years of LA County spiraling into the depths of public safety hell at the hands of George Gascon, thankfully, the polls are predicting law and order will be the new “normal and boring”.

     

     

     

     

  • From Custody to Re-Entry: LASD is Missing the Opportunity

    From Custody to Re-Entry: LASD is Missing the Opportunity

    We’ve all heard the stories about how when people wind up in jail, they somehow “find Jesus” while behind bars, but when they finally get released, they manage to leave their savior behind without even a second thought.

    While this may hold some truth when it comes to the concept of religion, one of the many things I learned as a captain in the LA County jail system was how desperate incarcerated people were for legitimate employment training and opportunities. They were desperate while on the streets, desperate while awaiting trial, and even more so once they were convicted of crimes that sent them to the county jail for up to one year.

    To his credit, former LA Sheriff Leroy Baca, for all his issues, had the foresight to create a unit within LASD Custody Division known as Education Based Incarceration, or EBI.  Having been the sheriff’s choice to head up this newly created unit, I have an insider’s view of the unit’s successes and failures.

    I have to admit that I had been less than thrilled to have been selected for this position, as I had always considered myself to be a hard-charging street cop.  With my promotion to captain, I had hoped to be assigned to a patrol division within the department, where I could take the reins of a patrol station.  Serving at the pleasure of the department, however, I steeled myself for the new adventure and set out to create an inmate educational bureau that we could all be proud of.

    For the next two years, my staff and I worked tirelessly to create programming for inmates who would have otherwise been languishing in the jail system with no opportunities to better themselves once they were released back onto the streets. We came up with some innovative educational/instructional and life skills programs that were making an impact on those lucky enough to qualify for the opportunity to participate.

    As part of the curriculum, we had high school, along with some college level classes.  Over and above the traditional school courses, we also had dog groomer training, data input, some woodworking and other classes that helped round out an individual’s experiences.  After the two years, I still considered the unit to be in its infancy, with even greater opportunities to follow.

    And then on January 7, 2014, the bottom fell out.  That was the day that Lee Baca resigned from his position as Sheriff of LA County.  While I had hoped and believed that the EBI Program would continue to grow, I soon found out that with Baca no longer at the helm, interest in expanding educational programs and certification opportunities for inmates waned.  The unit was downgraded and placed under the auspices of others who simply did not care to move the program forward.

    That was 2014.  We are now in 2023.  Sure, the department continues to have some semblance of programming in place, but nothing that I believe is necessary to actually have a positive, long-lasting effect on the lives of others.  Since nothing substantive appears to be on the horizon as far as all of this goes, I have decided to go ahead and present my ideas in a public forum.  Maybe someone will see this, and more importantly, maybe someone will see the value in an investment in the lives of people who wind up in our custody.

    What I had planned for the future of the Education Based Incarceration Program was a sweeping, all encompassing education and certification facility, created with the sole purpose of providing real life training and skills to help people succeed once released from custody.

    Mira Loma Detention Center is located in northern LA County, in the Lancaster Station jurisdiction.  It has been closed and mothballed for a number of years now, and no meaningful plans have been made to use the facility. In my estimation, this is a perfect location for a secure location where inmates can be housed while they participate in programming that would include careers in electrical, plumbing, AC/HVAC, landscaping, auto body and paint, cable installation, pet grooming, sheet metal, and a myriad of other careers that can lead to a sustainable and legal lifestyle.

    This would require the incarcerated person to sign an agreement to participate in the program and to serve their sentence as prescribed by the presiding judge.  This would require additional buy-in from the District Attorney, Public Defender, and others to ensure that those chosen for the programming stay long enough to complete the certification/licensing process.  As an example, someone sentenced to a six-month sentence will need to agree to serving their sentence in custody and not being released on percentage time or another mechanism that would release them before their training has been completed.

    Any inmate who decided they want to drop the program or who misbehaves while in the program will be removed from the facility, but will be required to serve their full, previously agreed upon sentence (incentive to be successful).

    I am aware that there are trade schools within LA County who would be interested in contracting with the Department to make this a reality.  Many of these schools also attempt to find job placement opportunities for their graduates.  This is an absolute win-win, for the county, for the trade school, and most importantly, for the graduating inmates.

    Will it cost some money? Sure it will.  Millions.  But how much money is now being dumped into the simple warehousing of incarcerated individuals on an annual basis in LA County?  This is where the Board of Supervisors would need to evaluate their own priorities and come up with the requisite funding to make this a reality.

    As it is configured now, Mira Loma can house approximately 1200 individuals.  Imagine how many lives can be improved by this facility annually.  Families reunited. Kids getting to see their parents. Individual self-worth increased. A reduction in recidivism.

    Like I said in the beginning, I have always seen myself as being a hard-charging street cop.  While I’m no longer patrolling the streets of LA County, I am still a hard charger.  I believe in second chances, and I also believe that we, as a society, should help those who are receptive to that help.

    The time has long since passed where we can just sit around and let people rot away in jail.  Simply put, it’s the right thing to do, and the LASD is missing a tremendous opportunity by not implementing this meaningful programming.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Gascon Releases New Promotion List – Vocal Cop Hater is now Chief of Staff Along with Multiple Anti-Law Enforcement Aides Promoted at LA DA Office

    Gascon Releases New Promotion List – Vocal Cop Hater is now Chief of Staff Along with Multiple Anti-Law Enforcement Aides Promoted at LA DA Office

    A proud anti-law enforcement staff member of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office was promoted to Chief of Staff according to a promotion list released Friday, December 15th.

    Tiffany Blacknell, who has served in the District Attorney’s office as a grade 4 prosecutor, special advisor, and chief of communications, is set to begin her new position on January 16th, 2024.

    Blacknell gained notoriety for her anti-law enforcement social media posts during the 2020 riots in Los Angeles where she referred to LAPD officers as “barbarians” and an “occupying army” pushing the Defund the Police movement on X (formerly known as Twitter).

    In another social media, post Blacknell wore a t-shirt with “The Police are trained to kill us”, emblazoned across her chest. Blacknell made public statements supporting the movement to abolish prisons: “Prison is obsolete. We need to reimagine America without it” she said.

    In September, despite her well-known hatred for law enforcement, Blacknell attended the press conference representing the DA’s office where her boss George Gascon announced he would not be pursuing the death penalty for the murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.

    Shortly after the Clinkunbroomer murder, The Current Report exposed the mentorship between DA Gascon and Sheriff Robert Luna going back more than two decades, therefore illuminating the fact that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, unbeknownst to them, has been influenced by Gascon’s mentorship since the Sheriff took office.

    “… Luna stood right next to the DA in solidarity. Unreal his line deputies even acknowledge him any longer” a member of law enforcement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) watching the Clinkunbroomer press conference.

    It is clear, based on Sheriff Luna’s actions over the last year, the former cop-turned-cop-hater George Gascon, is having a profound and damaging effect on the future of the department and public safety in LA County.

    IDLE THREATS?

    Joseph Iniguez, George Gascon’s current Chief of Staff who was arrested in 2021 for public intoxication has now been promoted to Chief Deputy District Attorney.

    Iniguez sued the arresting agency alleging his rights had been violated during or by the arrest, that he said, was made, “with evil motive and intent, in disregard of the rights of the Plaintiff.”

    As part of his duties Iniguez oversees the DA’s Justice System Integrity Division, which is responsible for prosecuting police officers and maintaining the index of officers with histories of serious misconduct, according to the DA Office’s most recent official organization chart.

    Published reports state Iniguez threatened to retaliate against the arresting officer using the authority of the District Attorney’s Office, by allegedly saying he would put the arresting officer’s name on the County’s so-called “Brady List” of dishonest cops.

    In October, George Gascon announced his re-election stressing his commitment to “holding officers accountable” as a part of his campaign platform. However, there was no mention of Gascon’s plans to acknowledge and address, the astronomical crime that has devastated lives and businesses, forcing many to flee LA County.

     

     

     

  • Second Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against LASD Citing Forced Overtime Contributed to Deputy’s Suicide

    Second Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against LASD Citing Forced Overtime Contributed to Deputy’s Suicide

     A second wrongful lawsuit was filed against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department this week connected to mandated overtime requirements at LASD patrol stations and custody divisions.

    The family of Deputy Arturo Atilano-Valdez, the fourth member of the LASD to die by suicide in a 24 hour period on November 7th, announced they will be filing a government claim, the first step in litigation, holding the department accountable for their actions that the family believes led to the deputy’s suicide.

    The family is seeking $20 million in damages.

    “This is literally a life and death situation,” attorney Brad Gage, who is representing the family, said at a news conference Friday. “Deputies are being forced to work overtime in an amount that is unsafe – unsafe to them and unsafe to others.”

    According to Gage, Deputy Atilano-Valdez was working regular double shifts, arriving at home at 11:00 p.m. and getting up at 4:00 a.m. to repeat the grueling process. This and other factors, including being passed over for promotion multiple times, led to depression and despair and ultimately, taking his own life.

    The morning of November 7th, Deputy Atilano-Valdez’s wife and daughter found him at the family home injured as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He died hours later at the hospital.

    Deputy Atilano-Valdez’s wife allegedly confronted Sheriff Luna and Chief of Custody Division, Sergio Aloma, at the hospital blaming the demands of an under supported and understaffed department for her husband’s death.

    To date, the total reported suicides at LASD this year is at nine, with four occurring in a 24 hour period, an unprecedented number in the department’s over 150 year history.

    On November 27th, The Current Report broke the story of the Clinkunbroomer family’s wrongful death suit filed against the Department. Attorney Brad Gage is also representing the family who is seeking $20 million dollars in damages similar to the Atilano-Valdez claim.

    Luna and his executive staff’s alleged mismanagement of the largest sheriff’s department in the country is being used as a basis for both wrongful death claims. Sheriff Luna was named in the Clinkunbroomer government claim as a “Public employee causing the injury, damage or loss…”.

    “Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors knew of the dangers to their employees as a result of intentionally forcing overtime, but intentionally pursued such actions in conscious disregard of the rights and safety of deputies. The result is that the Sheriff’s Department knew or should have known that deputies would be targeted for execution and needed sufficient rest in order to avoid foreseeable tragedies of death. Disregarding the safety of his troops, Sheriff Luna continues to force his deputies work mind-numbing overtime resulting in Ryan’s death and the likely death of other deputies. This Government Claim and subsequent lawsuit seeks justice for the family and to save lives of other deputies.”

    Retired LASD Sergeant Danny Coons, author of the book “Bro;ken: Understanding the Effects of Post Traumatic Stress”, quoted data on sleep disorders from The Sleep Foundation on retired LASD Chief Pat Jordan’s show, “Briefing with the Chief” this week, discussing the debilitating work conditions, specifically sleep deprivation due to mandated overtime, and how it is potentially directly connected to the suicides:

    “After approximately 18 hours of being awake, multi-tasking, and hand-eye coordination are comparable to having a blood alcohol content of 0.05% . After 20 hours awake, drowsy drivers are impaired on a level equatable to a 0.08% blood alcohol content, which is the current legal limit in most states. After 24 hours awake, impairment is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.1%.”

    Similarly, Dave Grossman, a retired Army Ranger Lt. Col., psychologist, sleep expert says “sleep deprivation is the #1 reason officers commit suicide, make ethical mistakes and use excessive force”.

    Ultimately, the responsibility rests on Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors, whose concerted efforts to defund the Sheriff’s Department due to their contentious relationship with former Sheriff Alex Villanueva resulting in deplorable work conditions which has turned the rank and file into ticking time bombs.