LAistory: The Cocoanut Grove
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MIXist: 4th of July
While you were minding your own business, Mel Gibson, the LA Sheriff's Department were making sport of their power - arresting people and messing with gang members - simply to rack up points during in-house games and contests.
One recent competition, described in an internal Sheriff's Department e-mail obtained by The Times, was called "Operation Any Booking." The object was to arrest as many people as possible within a specific 24-hour period.Far be it from us to criticize men and women who put themselves on the lines to protect us. But many, if not, most Los Angelenos work in situations that are full of pressure, understaffed, where the employees are overworked. None of those reasons would be accepted for any of us to DO THINGS TO fellow Los Angelenos so as to blow off steam.Other one-day competitions have included "Operation Vehicle Impound," a contest aimed at seizing as many cars as possible. And another challenged deputies to see how many gang members and other suspected criminals could be stopped and questioned.
The prize for winning was nothing more than "bragging rights," said Lt. James Tatreau, who helped organize the events that involved teams of deputies patrolling the southeast Los Angeles cities of Lakewood, Bellflower, Paramount, Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens. The station is one of 23 that make up the nation's largest sheriff's department.
"It's just a friendly competition to have a little fun out here," Tatreau said. It was Tatreau who sent the e-mail about the booking contest Aug. 15. Tatreau said he viewed the games, which began in July, as a morale booster for overworked deputies who, because of staffing shortages, are required to work four overtime shifts a month. - LA Times
For example, what sort of nefarious bragging rights do you want the overworked, underpaid employees of McDonald's to compete over?
photo by Stephanie Asher via flickr
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Ooor to hit closer to their homes. How about overworked and under-paid donut shop employees. Maybe that'll teach them a lesson.
Very interesting, but I think that with any job/position that there is some type of competitiveness in regards to "bragging". Your example of McDonalds is nice, but there you can strive for some satisfaction in being the fastest at anything. Such as assisting Drive-thru the fastest or burger prep. How do you think that promotions are given/earned in any type of company? It did not sound like the Sheriff's Dept was doing anything illegal, but doing the job that was assigned to them and once again being criticized for doing it well. I for one and up for a cleaner and safer LA.
great #2 then you wont mind if you get thrown in jail during one of these juvenile games when you are caught for going a few miles over the speed limit.
it would be a cleaner and safer LA to put all lawbreaking speeders in jail instead of just citing them, but since you approve of the sport of sending people to jail simply for alleged bragging rights then you wont mind when your freedoms are forfeited for a game.
"The Sherrifs Department May Have Arrested You or Towed Your Car Because They Were Playing A Game"
No, the sheriffs department arrested you because you broke the law, they towed your car because it was parked illegally. It's really pretty simple.
simple
could be used to describe
a lot of things, anonymous
I so agree with #4. Yeah it sucks that you got caught, but they would have to cite you for something. If there's an incentive for them to look harder for citable offenses so be it.
We all treat law enforcement like they are the enemy. Of course there are tons of corrupt jerks out there, it's always the bad ones that make news headlines, but I'd much rather support the people out there trying to make it safer and enforcing the laws then hassle them about getting my car towed because it was parked in a red zone.
They played games like this on Reno 911; I thought that show was supposed to be a parody...
If there's evidence the police are arresting and interrogating people on trumped-up charges just to compete in the contest, that's not cool. But if they're just arresting people who doing something they should be arrested for, or impounding vehicles they should be impounding, it sounds like they're just doing their job and going for an employee-of-the-month type thing. I agree it could be troublesome and probably isn't a good idea, but I think the intention of the sheriff's office was to build morale and get their deputies to work harder, not to round up innocent civilians and encourage the deputies to abuse their power.
And another challenged deputies to see how many gang members and other suspected criminals could be stopped and questioned.
Notice how "suspected criminals" is NOT the same thing as people who have been accused of committing a specific crime. This clearly means question anyone who you think is a gang member or who looks like a criminal to you. The fact that "stopped and questioned" doesn't necessarily mean arrested on real charges or arrest at all. It go out there and be a cowboy like a good LA Sheriff's Deputy should and we'll all have a laugh over it later at the bar. This is why I call bullshit. If this had been only about rounding up more lawbreakers on a given day that the norm there wouldn't be instructions as vague as "see how many gang bangers you can run up on today." Sounds more like a scavenger hunt than police work to me.
Wow, sorry for the typos.
shuold read:
The fact is that "stopped and questioned" doesn't necessarily mean arrested on real charges or arrested at all. It says go out there and be a cowboy like a good LA Sheriff's Deputy should and we'll all have a laugh over it later at the bar.
I guess I'll stop throwing up my gang signs when I'm rolling home to the Burb'.
Actually, in all honesty, it is true that if one is actually breaking the law, then one gets what he deserves. BUT: these "morale incentives" could result in arresting the easy targets, as in Tony's example (post # 3), not the dangerous criminals, like rapists and murderers and drug dealers, etc.
Also, if a cop is busy arresting a guy for speeding, one could easily see that he would not be as quick to respond to a call of a severely dangerous crime that is time-critical. Right?
I posted the 2nd post. In response to Tony. I do not mind that I sacrifice my Freedom if I have done something wrong. I think that is what Laws are for.
These officers do not make more money individually when they are making more arrests, or towing in more vehicles. So they must be doing a better job for something and if that is only for some bragging rights then so be it. I am sure that you do not go into work just for the satisfaction of it without some type of compensation. Sure it is a profession that they chose and should find some satisfaction in that, but everyone always will need something to make the day to day more exciting, especially if you are working an enormous amount of overtime.
Some of the other posts stating that the officers should be hunting down more heinous criminals should understand that through traffic enforcement that criminals are caught. If you are breaking big laws then you are more than likely going to break some little ones that get you caught. Look at Al Capone, he got caught for Tax evasion. Al Capone was not convicted for all of the other crimes that he allegedly committed.
Thanks and BTW my name is Tyler
It would be great if people paid through tax money actually did a service for society rather than treat the society who pays their salaries as mere annoyances or, worse, simple forms of entertainment.
There is a rumor out here in Austin that cops hired to the beat actually have a limited IQ (as in less than 100) rather than a minimum IQ (as in at least 85). The point being, it's easier to take orders when you don't think about them.
I think the troubling part of this whole thing is that the areas that were being used as a playground (southeast Los Angeles cities of Lakewood, Bellflower, Paramount, Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens) by these Sheriff's officers are predominantly poor black and hispanic communities.
That is why I do no trust the police.
Lush
an officer's arrest of a suspect needs only to be objectively reasonable. we don't examine the officer's subjective intent in evaluating the reasonableness of an arrest. soooo that means these "games" are totally kosher.
youre missing the point, we doubt that objectivity when games like these are exposed.
no, you're missing my point. the test is whether an officer acting reasonably would have made the same stop (objective analysis). for fourth amendment considerations, it doesn't matter WHAT the officer was thinking. officers are not required to think objectively. the follow-up to this article notes, "Officers can have all the wrong motives, but they're still legal stops as long as there were objective facts to support reasonable suspicion or probable cause."
clearly your perspective is different than mine.
law enforcement is undermanned, overworked and undergunned in LA.
if the LAPD hasn't done enough to ruin their credibility, now we have the LASD playing games.
you want good people getting shot at, disrespected, and rioted upon, then continue to support this behavior.
there are plenty of situations where someone could either be let off with a warning or a citation when dealing with a professional. if those same people are going to be locked up in jail BECAUSE OF SOME FUCKING GAME, and if you don't think that will cause repercussions, they're you're either naive or foolish.
law enforcement needs to be working with the citizens, not against them - and vice versa. in these days where Nicole Richie goes to jail for 19 minutes, if regular people are going to end up in there for days because some deputies in south central want another mark next to their name - then the sheriffs department will follow in the sorry footsteps of the LAPD.
there used to be a time when it was an honor to wear a badge and people respected that duty. but now with overweight and out of shape deputies being hired to fill quotas and news (and support) of contests to see how many gang members you can hassle or cars you can tow because theyre 1 inch into a red zone - the respect for the badge is fading on both sides of that badge.
don't shoot the messenger, man. i'm just telling you what the supreme court has to say about it. also, even if these arrests are valid under the 4th amendment, people can possibly seek relief under the equal protection clause if discriminatory intent can be proven.
I have to say that my respect for TP is fading.
Nice rant... not something I'd expect from a usually level headed editor. Agree to disagree. Don't tirade, that's not far from mean & bitter comments from anonymous posters. At least with this one I know who to avoid....
how about a game to see how many times you can meow without anyone calling you on it? ;)