When can police use lethal force? Top stories from Orange County. Is the drug war in Mexico an insurgency on par with 1980s Colombia? And, towering truths about tall people.
LAPD Westlake shooting: was deadly force necessary?
It’s the moment every cop dreads—but every cop has to be prepared to face. Police officers responded to a call last Sunday in Westlake that a man was wielding a knife and threatening passers-by. Manuel Jamines, 37, a Guatemala-born day laborer, allegedly refused the officers’ calls to drop the knife. He was then shot by Officer Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran. There were community protests over the shooting. Was Jamines really so much of a threat that deadly force was necessary? What kind of training can help assure that loss of life is minimized? And can the public understand how such a difficult decision is made?
Guests:
Shirley Jahad, KPCC reporter, she was at a community meeting last night with Charlie Beck about the shooting
David Klinger, author of Into the Kill Zone: A Cop’s Eye View of Deadly Force, and professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
Orange County Journalists Roundtable
Larry and a trio of Orange County journalists riff about the latest news from the OC. Top stories up for discussion: County DA fires his protege Todd Spitzer. OC fairgrounds could be used for other events (except raves). Huntington Beach approves plan for a desalination plant. Excessive force case costs the County $260,000. And, UC Irvine has shortened--but not lifted--its ban on a Muslim Student group. What other stories have your blood racing? Share your analysis here.
Guests:
Gustavo Arellano, Managing Editor of the OC Weekly and author of Ask A Mexican
William Lobdell, co-publisher of the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice, an online local paper
Teri Sforza, Staff Writer for the Orange County Register
Is drug violence in Mexico tantamount to insurgency?
In a speech outlining a broad vision for the U.S. role in the world, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton praised the administration’s foreign policy achievements in a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations, Wednesday. Among sweeping statements about “a new American moment,” Clinton mentioned the drug war in Mexico almost as an aside, likening drug trafficking there to the 1980s insurgency in Colombia, a comparison Mexican officials reject. What will it take to bring the narco-wars in Mexico to an end? And what resources will the American government—and people—need to commit?
Guests:
Sam Quinones, staff writer for the LA Times, and author of True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, The Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx (University of New Mexico Press).
Eric Olson, Senior Advisor to the Security Initiative at the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Towering truths about tall people
Author Arianne Cohen, 6’3”, went to the library looking for a book about tall people. When she discovered that one didn’t exist, she wrote The Tall Book – A Celebration of Life from on High. “Talls,” as she calls them, make more money, run more companies, win more elections and are smarter when compared to the rest of us. But being able to reach the top shelf has its drawbacks. British clothier, Long Tall Sally, is coming to America to help tall women find clothes that fit, but can’t do a thing to make them comfortable on airplanes and buses. Are tall people better than the rest of us? Or is that a stretch? Is being tall a blessing or a curse?
Guest:
Arianne Cohen, 6’3”: author of The Tall Book – A Celebration of Life from on High