Bleeding Blue - April 2017

Garcetti’s Bizarro World – Los Angeles 2017
Bizarro World, the planet in DC Comics where the opposite of all that is held as true is the new normal. In the City of Los Angeles, our politicians are embracing this concept at an alarming rate. And what does one do when he is up for Mayoral re-election in Bizarro Los Angeles? Why, continue to flout the law in order to curry favor with the liberal voting bloc in the City of Los Angeles. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s latest maneuver is to use taxpayer funds to set up a $10 million legal defense fund for illegal immigrants. That’s correct. Law-abiding taxpayers are going to be paying for the defense of those here illegally and thereby, subject to deportation. And City Attorney Mike Feuer weighed in, stating the funds will ensure that there is “more fairness and more effectiveness in the immigration system.” He went on to cite statistics showing that immigrants who have representation have a better chance at succeeding (translation: continuing to break the law) in court. I’m sorry, did I miss something here? How effective does Mike think the immigration system is? And since when do we in law enforcement, which includes the Office of the City Attorney, work to defend those against whom criminal charges have been brought?
The City attorney serves as the City government’s lawyer and as a criminal prosecutor for misdemeanor violations. That’s prosecutor, except in Bizarro Los Angeles.

According to a recent Times article, the L.A. Justice Fund will receive $5 million from City and County government, and “philanthropic” groups would donate the rest. Only days after Garcetti’s big announcement, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to set aside $3 million to contribute to the fund, with only one “no” vote from Supervisor Kathryn Barger. However, she expressed an interest in pursuing federal funding to help pay for the county’s $3 million contribution.

And let’s look at our federal funding. Should I continue to ignore federal law until the threats of withholding federal funding become a reality, and if so, what do I stand to lose? About 2 percent of the city’s budget, or roughly $507 million. In addition, Los Angeles expects to receive about $125 million in federal law enforcement grants, which would now be put at risk.

And spare me the “people aren’t illegal” rhetoric. I am well aware of what people are and what they are capable of. However, when someone chooses to take the action of illegally entering a country, they are defined as an illegal immigrant. And I’ve written about Special Order 40 (1979) in previous articles. I don’t go up to folks asking to see their papers. As it has been for decades, I am not interested in the status of those who have committed no crime. I take an interest in those who are here illegally and have engaged in additional criminal activity. And I should be able to cooperate with ICE when a person lawfully arrested for any crime is determined to be here illegally. Isn’t it our mandate to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies, or have I missed something?

As a police officer, I am required to work within the law to ensure the safety of all members of our communities. With the passage of Prop 47, AB 109 and now Prop 57, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide a safe environment to those I am sworn to protect. Those freed by Prop 47 can continue to steal to support their drug habit, with no consequence. Heck, we are even getting criminals from other states who know that even if caught, they will receive next to nothing in the way of a penalty. Wasn’t the idea to get these folks out of prison and into a drug treatment program? And you can forget about drug courts, which were decimated by Prop 47. We cannot require anyone to get into a drug treatment program as a part of sentencing when there is no meaningful sentence. Those released are given the option of drug treatment… any guess which option they pick?

In the meantime, thousands of Los Angeles taxpayers have become victims of crime, while those who prey upon them go unpunished. This trend will continue as long as there is a Mayor who cares more about thieves, drug abusers and the criminal element than the rest of the law abiding citizens.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that crime will continue to rise. They can design Strategic Plans and conduct never-ending CompStat inspections, but until there is any type of support for our efforts without the bean counting and analysis of the analysis, the wheels will just keep on spinning. I am asked to remove criminals from the street, yet the lawmakers and civic leaders I should be able to rely on are doing everything they can to let the criminals back out. And now, taxpayers (victims) are paying for the defense of those lawfully arrested, to make sure they can stay here illegally.

And now there’s Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a democrat from Van Nuys, introducing the “California Money Bail Reform Act of 2017,” which aims to “eliminate the economic disparity and injustice in the pretrial process.” In short, he believes that poor people are unfairly discriminated against because they can’t pay the bail. He believes there are “inherent injustices” in the cash bail system, and it discriminates against those who don’t have much money. He touts a Washington, D.C., program that detains defendants awaiting trial who are considered too dangerous to release into the community, while others are sent home, monitored and given reminders on when to return for court hearings. Considering how many warrants are in the system now, it doesn’t seem that sending reminders will have the desired effect. And we’ve just redefined “violent felony” thanks to the passage of Prop 57, which omits crimes like rape of an unconscious person, sex trafficking involving minors and drive-by shootings, to name a few. These are now nonviolent, so I guess they get out of jail free.

I continue to call on our leadership to support our efforts in making this a safe city. Crime rates are increasing, homelessness and transient encampments are multiplying daily, and the undermining by the pandering Mayor’s appointees to the Police Commission are making things worse. At this rate, Bizarro Los Angeles is going to be our new reality.

Watch your back and be safe.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me at (805) 208-3103.