Say it ain't so Janice, say your posture as an anti-gang crusader who wants yet another tax on the law-abiding people of L.A. isn't the delusion of someone who doesn't have a clue about what she's doing?
Fox News last night tattooed the San Pedro councilwoman with the political pedigree with a devastating report, months in the works, about how Hahn screwed over two tough good cops and made a hero of Betty Day, the mother of a notorious family of members of the Grape Street Crips.
The cops, Ryan Moreno and Chuck Garcia, are suing the city, claiming Hahn in collusion with LAPD brass forced them off the gang beat in Watts because of their aggressive attack on hoodlums and drug dealers.
Fox reporter Chris Blatchford suggested the information that led to pulling Moreno and Garcia off the street came from the gangs in an orchestrated effort to undermine their crackdown on the criminals.
The devastating report adds political pressure for City Hall to stop coddling criminal illegal immigrant gang members.
Passions already are running high over the murder of Jamiel Shaw II and mayoral candidate Walter Moore's campaign for a tough law forcing the cops to turn over all illegal immigrants identified in state law enforcement records as gang members to federal immigration authorities for deportation
The debate has locked up over Special Order 40, under which police have a longstanding don't ask, don't tell policy on immigration status, but there's a lot that can be done immediately that I don't see how anyone can question.
I've talked to a lot of cops over the years and most of them question just how effective the city's 30 or so injunctions are against gangs. But they do believe the quickest and surest way to weaken the gangs is to go after the thousands of gang members named in the injunctions who are in this country illegally.
These are not just your everyday gang members. They are specifically identified as criminals by name in the injunctions issued by the courts so it doesn't take a federal task force or any changes in Special Order 40 to get them out of the country.
And it certainly doesn't take the gang tax proposed by the naive Ms. Hahn.
It just takes the political will at City Hall to protect the law-abiding, instead of the criminals.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Given the competition, it's hard to anoint Janice Hahn as the dumbest member of the city council, although she'd be in the top three on anybody's list. After watching the Fox 11 report, though, she's clearly the most dangerous. And the video of Antonio hugging Mama Day made me sick. This report goes a long way in explaining why babies continue to get gunned down on our streets.
I haven't really been following Walter Moore's campaign, but he really has an embarrassingly bad website. Almost creepy. Who is he, anyway?
Previous Anonymous must have viewed Walter Moore's Web site with alien eyes, or he's/she's an Antonio/Council troll.
Ka-reeppy? The mayor's and council members' sites are creepy, and written by the best PR people our tax money can buy, to extoll their non-existent virtues that only our best interests are in their hearts and minds when the exact opposite is true.
Not to elevate the discourse, but I wanted to mention that I worry about the effects of this truly eye-opening report. To me, the strongest image was when the ex-cops talk about these gang-members bragging about screwing the city over. Horrifying.
But a lot of people who do serious work trying to get kids out of gangs are former gang-members and ex-cons themselves. It's simply the nature of the work - they are more interested, they speak the language (as Hahn says). What happens when the witch hunt begins and those people are now banned from participating in these programs? Are we going to send people who don't get the culture of the local community and the gangs themselves in to talk to these kids? They'll be laughed out of town.
Steven U: We shouldn't be "talking" to them in "their language." God forbid. We should be arresting them and throwing away the key. And Janice Hahn, a former housewife and utility flack from San Pedro who just happens to be the daughter and sister of famous men with a well-known name, should leave this to the brave cops who put their lives on the line every day to protect us. Instead, she works with the gangsters to get them transferred. How freaking dumb can you get?? She makes Rosendahl and Zine look smart.
Jamiel Shaw, Sr. was on KFI's John & Ken tonight, alleging that Deputy D A Michelle Hennessey told him that if he didn't drop his pressure to put forth Jamiel's law, there was enough pressure from the powers that be, that she'd label Jamiel, Jr. as a red-blooded Blood (I gather 18th St. is a version of the Bloods) to undercut him claims of legitimacy.
Cooley was denying it, doing spin, but I have no doubt it's true -- unbelievable the slander the Shaws have been through just trying to get illegal gangbangers off the streets, starting with their appearance in City Hall, when both Richard Alarcon and Bill Rosendahl jumped up before they even had a chance to speak, to denounce them as pawns of divisive "talk show hosts."
All you have to do is see how arrogant Chief Bratton is whenever he talks about the subject, and how he framed an argument in the Times as "immigration haters" vs. his own lofty self, to know he'll go after anyone, civilian or cop, who dares disagree with him. I'm surprised that the Police Protective League had the guts to openly support Zine's watered-down version -- going against Bratton and the Police Commission, with its P C head Mack, is "career suicide," in the words of "Jack Dunphy," the cop who has a blog under an alias but is well-respected by cops, and often speaks for them.
The Deputy Chief in the West Valley has managed to ID and cooperate with ICE to deport about 100 illegal gangbangers, DESPITE strong messages from Bratton and the Mayor and Mexican politicians, NOT to touch the issue. Word is, his career is on thin ice. Meanwhile, Dep. Chief Sergio Diaz, who's in charge of East L A where most of the illegal gangbangers are, hasn't deported ONE and staunchly refuses to let his cops even ask.
Dep. Chief Diaz' area includes Glassell Park, the notorious area that finally even the P C Times couldn't ignore, and ran a series on about how the Chief Gangbanger Mama there, Maria "Chata" Leon, an illegal who came to the U. S. in the 80's from a notoriously violent town in Mexico, like many in Glassell Park, became expert in uniting with her neighbors to brand the cops as thugs and terrorists, to keep them out of her hood. Meanwhile, she had 13 anchor babies with 5 gangbanger men, all of them turning into same, dealing drugs, arms, human trafficking, etc. -- as did she, but never did time, nor was deported.
As Ron says here, there IS a database of known gangbangers, BUT LAPD won't let even other cops have access to it -- when they stop a suspect, the dept. won't even run a check of names for them. That's how they can claim that Pedro Espinoza, Shaw's killer, "couldn't have been caught" even if SP40 had been modified -- but since Bratton prides himself on being such a computer expert, with ComCom databases, he's going out of his way NOT to share info with the Sheriff's Dept. (in charge of Culver City and the jails) or ICE. So Espinoza was just ASKED if he's illegal before release, denied it, and was set free. If ONLY we could count on such idiocy when we're stopped for traffic violations -- nah, we don't got no papers, and we live in Europe.
This ties back to Janice Hahn's incompetence, as a culture of hostility toward cops who enforce the law and want to start by going after illegals. (The other half of the war the 18th St. gang is fighting.) They make up 95% of outstanding warrants for homicide -- since they're under the radar, no address or papers -- and 80% of Hispanic gangs, 1/3 the jail inmates, etc. Maria Chata Leon and Pedro Espinoza are only two of the thousands of shining stars.
The way Janice Hahn turned a Leon-type woman into a heroine is typical of her kind of bleeding heart liberal who insists, without an open mind, that ALL crime is the fault of the cops, white people and "the system," not failure of personal responsibility or proclivity to crime. She's been written about as a future savior by that other middle-aged, dangerously bleeding heart liberal gang activist, Celeste Fremon in Witness LA -- these people flock together in alliances, and manage to convince the Mexican and some black politicians -- who agree with their point of view anyway -- to back them.
As for gang injunctions, they're pretty crude and may cast too wide a net, but when there's this sort of mindset in the LAPD that refuses to help the cops find and remove from the streets, illegal gangbangers, it's the fault of the LAPD top brass. This has been done now in the Valley with the San Fer's: who were going around with assault rifles, laughing in the face of the cops, just like the two allege in the Fox story. It's COMMON, just shocking that it IS so common. Then, after having refused to let the cops access the illegal gangbanger data bank or work witt ICE, pro-illegal Councilman Richard Alarcon got in his photo ops talking "tough on gangs." Really disgusting, par for the course.
Janice Hahn IS just as dangerous as Alarcon/ Reyes/ Huizar/ Gil Cedillo and the other pro-illegals, maybe even worse because she seems to knowingly throw good cops under the bus for her P C political pandering. (The way she promotes herself by endless time-wasting City Hall presentations, even today when the Council didn't have time to listen to a slew of public in Van Nuys, and the way she throws around fee waiver money to buy influence, and attacks other Councilmembers who aren't left-wing or gasbags, all fits in with this persona.)
Mr. Kaye,
Please excuse my blather to you. It's late (or early) - depending on how you look at it - and I'm up waiting for my daughter to return home from a night out with friends.
I couldn't help but thinking, the state of our city right now reminds me of those creepy 1970's TV movies of the week I used to love so much. You know, "The Stepford Wives," for instance - where the entire town was in on a creepy, horrific secret, leaving one lone sole to be the only sane person standing, unprotected.
OK, so the men of our city aren't trying to robot-ize their wives into compliant Bundt cake bakers and sex slaves, but what's going on seems about as creepy to me.
Just at the tip of the proverbial iceberg (I can't even imagine the corruption I am not aware of), we have Janice Hahn paying gang members and apparently even telling cops to leave her thugs alone. Is that not insanity? If what I've heard is correct, murderous thugs are running around on the taxpayers' dime and laughing all the way.
We have Mayor Rico Sauve flashing his phony smile again and again for photo ops and running around the nation for Hillary, while gang members continue to kill innocent people. Meanwhile, he keeps raising trash fees to hire more cops when the first fees, apparently, didn't even go toward cops in the first place (Gasp. What a surprise!).
We have Bratton constantly patting himself on the back, making excuses and making ridiculous statements that don't ring true, as the gang problem continues to worsen.
We have city council members who drive around in taxpayer-paid cars and eat lunch on our dime, yet they can barely stop yawning when we citizens voice concerns at city council meetings. The only things that get them excited are planning how to dupe the public on propositions and their next trip to Cuba to research health care.
Now, the Daily News (once a voice for the people) has quickly taken a nosedive into a poltically correct rag - just another tool of manipulation, hardly worth walking out to my driveway for. It's as passionate and relevant as a slab of cold tofu sitting in the back of my fridge. Where's the ire? Where's the scoop on Janice Hahn? How is DWP duping us lately? Instead we're getting PC headlines, Nativo Lopez Op-Eds and limp stuff on LAUSD. Yawn.
Basically, everyone and anyone who is supposed to be looking out for the hard-working, tax-paying citizens of this city are not. Worse than just not looking out for us, they are not people I can trust.
They're too busy protecting their images, their gang members, their ability to suck off the tax-payers and try to dupe us... Like Vampires, they live on citizens' apathy; it's their blood.
So it's all feeling a little Stepford Wives-esque to me right now. The city "leaders" (Leading us where?) are the creepy Stepford husbands who want perfect cupcakes, great sex and all the power. And we (the taxpayers) are the all-knowing Katherine Rosses, too aware of what's wrong but without anyone in power to care.
Creepy.
I woke up around 3 this morning and flipped on KABC radio. Amazingly, two representatives of Unity One, the Hahn supported gang intervention program highlighted on the Fox 11 report, were on the show touting the program!! I guess everybody does PR.
From Rick Orlov's story in the Daily News about Villaraigosa's May Day rally:
Isn't it a contradiction for him to defend Special Order 40 and say that ICE should be notified when someone's arrested in the next breath? Is he being cynical, or is Antonio really on the same side as the people here on this blog? Also, if this controversy is really about gang-banging and not about anti-immigrant hysteria, then I assume that everyone agrees with Antonio's point that ICE should be cracking down on criminals instead of on LA businesses that employ illegals?
It is ironic that with the left side of they mayor's forked tongue he says illegal aliens are the responsibility of the Feds, and with the right side of his forked tongue he condemns I.C.E. for raiding illegal employers who hire illegal alien workers. These employers have got to know these people are getting their job with stolen I.D.s, which in of itself is a felony.
Janice Hahn is probably using the Grape St. gangs as her personal security, for all we know.
The corruption in local and State government is so thick..I have my doubts as to whether or not it can ever be returned to a state of "normalcy". First of all, we need to identify the reasons why these gangs are being protected: is it to allow the drug cartels free passage; is it fear; or are the elected officials receiving healthy kick-backs and favors for protecting the criminals? Or is it all of the above?
Special Order 40 is just an antiquated piece of paper that could be rendered worthless with the stroke of Bratton or Villar's pen. I really think that our august body of legislators are devout cowards who are afraid of the thugs. My suggestions is that we "retire" all of them and put them in the witness protection program and give them new identies. They will be safe from the vengeance of the gangs, and we can then bring in the military to sweep the streets and deport ALL of them! Once the streets are cleaned, we can then elect AMERICANS to restore law and order and end the corruption of Mexico in our country.
I think the last anon may be right, that if Villar were to suddenly actually follow our immigration laws and clamp down on illegals, he'd fear for his personal security, and certainly political security, with the whole Latino establishment here and in Mexico rallying against him. And let's keep in mind that in eyeing a run for Governor, he's likely facing Gavin Newsom of S. F., who's made his city an open sanctuary city, complete with literal written invitations. (Like Obama getting the endorsement of La Opinion by promising drivers' licenses for illegals as one of his top priorities, undercutting HIllary's longtime Latino support -- the pandering downwards knows no bounds.)
The other local politicians like Ed Reyes, who as head of PLUM (Council Planning Committee) openly wants to misuse AB1818 to put subsidized, low- income high-density projects into the heart of the Westside and West Valley -- claiming that any bus stop within 150 ft. makes it "a transit corridor" -- is far more dangerous and unchecked, driven by messianic pro-Mexican, pro-illegal passion. Insofar as Villar is trying to play both sides of the fence, get along with westside Jews and other downtown money as well, he's not going totally into that MeCha camp -- anymore.
Janice Hahn's motivation may be the same sort of pandering to get the ethnic vote as any liberal leftie, but she's also an egomaniac -- look at all those self-serving, time-wasting Council presentations.
(Michele, I'd agree with you about the Council's ignoring the public in public comment except that, if you notice, every single session, 3X/ week, there are 3 same women from Van Nuys yammering on about the same things, fee waivers and rudely attacking the Councilmembers, then there are that zuma dogg and his two accmplices who are suing the city -- you and me. Together they can easily add up to 1/2 day, and that is time taken away from responding to legit constituents like you and me, so they have to "multi-task" during that time. Unfortunately there are times like this past Friday, when there were a lot of legit constituents showing up with pressing needs, who had to sit through longwinded presentations about Cinco de Mayo, Janice Hahn's (of course) and some others that were ill-timed. As a close observer with sometime business there, I'd strongly suggest seeing them as Individuals, not tarring them ALL with the same brush -- although it IS hard for any one of them to break out of the consensus they demand, slanted very to the left and pro-ethnic.
Unfortunately Zine, the one most willing to go up against Bratton on Jamiel's Law, has marginalized himself with the paparazzi bill and by going after some other members in public, as does Janice Hahn, so they're not the most popular. And Bernie Parks is the one who was most intent on stealing the trash tax into the General Fund, and his gripe against the Chief seems personal.)
You know, I don't believe the cops or anyone else should be going door-to-door asking people about their immigration status. I do not support illegal behavior, but I also know it's INSANE to throw a man or woman into jail because he or she is hungry and is willing to work for bread.
However, if a suspect is in jail, awaiting a hearing, and is charged with reasonable suspicion and identifying marks and clothing of being involved in a gang, then it's insanity NOT to ask to see their I.D. and green card.
There are good and bad people in every country. There are people who want peace and people who love war in every country. It is part of California's insanity and dysfunction to cover certain groups of people with a big, warm, fuzzy blanket of acceptance just because it may be politically expedient to do so.
But try telling the politicians that. Will they ever get it? These gangs have families, some of whom are voters.
They don't want to piss off the voting members of the gang's family, so they cover their eyes while innocent people die.
I wonder what it will take? Maybe the child of an "important, influential person" will have to be killed, God forbid, before anyone on the city council gives a darn?
Well, well the political machine is finally cracking because everyone is on crack.
Maybe the Unions and Special Interest Groups from the West Side will finally take notice and not blindly endorse all these carpet bagging politicians who claim to be working for the best interest of Los Angeles.
It’s interesting to see both Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Janice Hahn standing side by side with known criminal element ties in the Fox News Story.
For all the talk about caring about the police officers in the trenches, the police brass from the East Coast has finally imported their famous well known special relationships with crime families.
Way to go! Thanks to this, Los Angeles is on the way to becoming the new Boston, New York and New Jersey. Under Police Chief Braton we can proudly say we have arrived into the world of Big City Policing with Corrupt Underworld Figures in control of City Government.
Hollywood standby! No need to make up mob stories, wait a few days and you can film a new reality show here in LA involving the destruction of the reputation of Good Officers that care about our community.
Next time we vote we should make sure we vote for independent candidates who have no ties to any of our current corrupt politicians.
Ron, I am DELIGHTED to see you have a blog! I was concered we lost you for good when you left the Daily News.
How could Janice Hahn NOT KNOW who anti gang money is going to???? When our hard earned dollars are going to members or Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Orgainzations I say it's time to ask the District Attorney for a Grand Jury investigation into Janice Hahn and the so called gang "interventionists".
Is anyone with me on this?
It kind of makes you wonder which political consultant told Janice Hahn that getting tough on gangs and supporting the police who do just that was a bad tactic, and that she should try a "get soft on gangs" approach instead.
I heard you on Radio AM790 this morning.
Unfortunately, there's a lot more going on with the situation involving the two LAPD officers. As this story continues to unfold, misconduct and unethical (if not illegal) actions on the part of the Police Department Internal Affairs and the City Attorney's Office will become evident.
The officers sit there in front of everyone speaking out because their backs are against the wall, their careers have been ruined and they have still done nothing wrong. Oh, and by the way, they have proof and documentation to substantiate their positions.
A hint of what's in store .... "Bratton appointee" Deputy Chief Berkow, now the Police Chief of Savannah, Georgia, is going to show up as a key individual in this smelly situation. Hahn went to Bratton to get the officers removed and that task was given to Berkow and "his people".
His people botched it when the officers discovered a confidential police department computer printout in a major gang leader/drug dealers car. When questioned by Moreno and Garcia as to why he had the printout in his possession, the gangster's reply was, "Don't worry ... my people at Internal Affairs are going to take care of your asses." The officers reported the apparent corruption and rest is history. Internal Affairs was going to use the gang leader/drug dealer to "set up" Moreno and Garcia for misconduct ... to make them bad cops.
The reason why this all occurred wasn't because the officers were racists, bad, overly aggressive or insensitive to the community. It wasn't even because they arrested more than their share of gang members.
The reason that Betty Day and her crony gang members screamed "bloody murder" to Janice Hahn about Moreno and Garcia was this .... the officers had used the gang injunction to put a driving halt to the quite lucrative drug sales in the Jordan Downs Housing Projects.
Moreno and Garcia put a crimp in the Grape Street Crip money flow. When you are taking away someone's money, you have to go ....
The Grape Street Crips were deemed one the top ten most notorious gangs in LA by the Police Department, yet someone on the Department is protecting them and their interests and making major concessions for them. The City Attorney isn't much better although he sees the handwriting on the wall and is trying to get his yard cleaned before everything becomes public.
Now this all begins to make sense ...
Hey Ron -
The name of the "gang leader/drug dealer" who had the confidential LAPD computer printout in his private vehicle ... Alphonso Foster. (And he was released from the police station that night)
Turns out that he was recently indicted and arrested in connection with one of the largest liquid PCP seizures in US history (40 gallons) which occurred in Missouri in 2006. He is in federal custody now. He was working with and for Internal Affairs to set up Moreno and Garcia and get them removed from the Jordan Downs Housing Projects.
Deputy Chief Berkow tried to get the City Attorney's Office to remove Alphonso Foster from the Grape Street Crip injunction list by going through DCA Marty Vranicar. The C/A's Office did not remove Foster from the list and retained the injunction violation case that Foster had pending in court.
C/A Delgadillo was then seeing how the Moreno/Garcia lawsuit was evolving into a real bad situation for the city of LA (his office led by DCA Beth Orellana is defending the City in federal court against Moreno and Garcia). Delgadillo then made a self-serving move. He knew that Foster was indicted and to be arrested so he made a large public spectacle of closing down Foster's mom's house at 10330 Lou Dillon in Watts, deeming it a gang house and drug producing location for the Grape Street Crips. It was a major press conference in February 2008.
The problem is that prior to this move, Delgadillo's office "dumped" or
threw out at least 40 pending injunction violation cases against Grape Street Crip gang members. There was no viable reason for the dismissal of these cases other than they were Grape Street Crip gang members.
Oh, and one last thing. On Chris Blatchford's video report, he showed an arrest report for an "interventionist" named Marlo Jones. Jones was arrested in Southeast Division in February 2008 for violation of the Grape Street Crip gang injunction.
Jones was ordered to be released from jail on his own recognizance ("OR") without posting bail. On gang cases and especially injunction cases, "OR" releases are not granted because the gang member could leave custody and go right back to the targeted area.
The LAPD official giving the order for Jones' release was LT Davenport, Southeast Division. Somebody might want to check with that guy as what possessed him to do that.
So, a drug dealer working with certain cops to remove some good cops who are screwing up his drug business ... cases getting dismissed for no viable reason ... special people" getting "special privileges" because of who they are connected to ... all of this in the best interests of a particular street gang and their criminal enterprise.
Good thing that the Department is still under the consent decree.
Ahh Corruption ...... don't you just love it ?
By Anonymous on May 2, 2008 9:29 PM
"Jamiel Shaw, Sr. was on KFI's John & Ken tonight, alleging that Deputy D A Michelle Hennessey told him that if he didn't drop his pressure to put forth Jamiel's law, there was enough pressure from the powers that be, that she'd label Jamiel, Jr. as a red-blooded Blood (I gather 18th St. is a version of the Bloods) to undercut him claims of legitimacy.
Cooley was denying it, doing spin, but I have no doubt it's true"
Of course, you have no doubt it's true. You also have no doubt that the 18th Street is "a version of the Bloods" The 18th Street is the Hispanic gang that the suspect Pedro Espinoza belonged to. The Bloods is a Black gang that the prosecutor might think Jamiel Shaw belonged to and Bloods is rivals with the 18th Street. These are not "versions" of each other. They hate each other!
You say Hahn is dangerous? Look in the mirror, clown.
And Bratton is licking his chops at being the next director of Homeland Security ... ?
Why don't we just all go and jump off a bridge now ...
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