Tag Archives: Budget Cuts

Victims don’t buy “It’s only a misdemeanor” LA City Attorneys Speak Out

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In my experience, people normally only care or learn about the vast work we do when they are the direct recipients of it, when someone is breaking in your house, you call our 911 Operators (PSR’s), who Dispatch our Police Officers, who arrest the suspects our Detention Officers maintain custody of, Evidence is collected & processed by our Criminalist, booked by our Property Officers, and finally prosecuted by the fine men and women of the LA City Attorney’s Office.

Van Nuys Courthouse

Putting any of them on Furloughs still sound like a good idea Eric Garcetti Or Mayor Pension Reform?  I wonder if the LA Daily News will have the courage to Publish this.

 

Below is a letter from a very intelligent City Attorney, that was widely circulated, her message is clear. LA City Workers.com Supports our hard working LA City Attorney’s

Dear Mr. Orlov,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to discuss with you the misconception voiced by a City  “aide” that the City Attorney would not be using evidence available from sexual assault kits because “they prosecute misdemeanor crimes.” Over the course of my thirty five year career with the Office of the City Attorney I have often heard, “It’s only a misdemeanor.”  There appears to be no clear understanding of, or appreciation for, what constitutes a misdemeanor in Los Angeles, a city which has suffered from an incredible devaluation of crime over the years.

When you mention misdemeanor crimes, you may conjure visions of barking dogs and spitting on the sidewalk.  Rarely do you think of gang crimes, sexual assault, or abuse of children.  Too often in Los Angeles, residential burglaries become trespassing, rapes become sexual batteries and attempted murders are charged as assaults with deadly weapons.  The vast majority of domestic violence cases are charged as misdemeanors.  In fact, each year thousands of felony arrests are referred to the City Attorney’s Office for prosecution as misdemeanors. Clearly, these should not be the crimes that become casualties of the uninformed.

You asked for statistics indicating the serious nature of the crimes prosecuted by the City Attorney.  I have compiled the following numbers for the year 2010 from our Criminal Case Management System and Family Violence Operations Database:

  • Penal Code Section 243 et. seq. (Sexual Battery) 83
  • Penal Code Section 261 et. seq. (Child Sexual Abuse) 146
  • Penal Code 286.5 (Sexual Assault of Animals) 3
  • Penal Code Section 273.5 (Spousal Abuse) 2456, All Domestic Violence cases 3522
  • Penal Code Sections 12020 et. seq.,  417 et. seq.) (Weapons cases, including gang member enhancements)  576
  • Penal Code Section 171.5 (b) (Weapons at an Airport) 9
  • Penal Code Section 192 (Manslaughter, including Vehicular) 18
  • Penal Code Section 242, et. seq., (Battery) 1912 , including 48 with serious bodily injury and 654 committed on a live-in or significant other.  Please note that some sexual assaults may be filed as simple battery.
  • Penal Code Section 245 (Assault with a Deadly Weapon) 429
  • Penal Code Section 422 et. seq. (Criminal Threats, including gang member enhancements) 411
  • Penal Code Section 459 (Burglary) 454
  • Penal Code section 487 et. seq. (Grand Theft) 572
  • Penal Code Section 529-530 (Identity Theft) 109
  • Penal Code Section 597 et. seq. (Cruelty to Animals) 121
  • Vehicle Code Section 10851(a) et. seq. (Driving a Stolen Vehicle, Vehicle Tampering, gang enhancements) 303
  • Vehicle Code Section 23152a et. seq. (DUI) 13,228 , including 68 with injury

I have not included the thousands of offenses which are straightforward misdemeanors such as petty theft, prostitution, vehicular crimes, violations of  restraining orders and gang injunctions and the entire Los Angeles Municipal Code.  Nor have I noted the significant Business and Professions Code Section 17200 cases handled by our Criminal Division, most recently the multi-million dollar case against Deutsche Bank.  I do not want the exclusion of these cases to diminish in any way the impact that their prosecution has on the quality of life for the citizens of our neighborhoods.

As to the assertion that the City Attorney’s Office was not included in a press conference regarding the elimination of the sexual assault kit backlog because we are not  involved in the issue, nothing could be further from the truth. Years ago when then Deputy Chief Charlie Beck formed an advisory group to study the Sexual Assault/DNA backlog issue, Assistant City Attorney Sue Frauens was included.  In large part this was due to the fact that she had previously represented this office on the County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee’s Subcommittee on DNA where she took an active role in drafting DNA Expungement Procedures.  Obviously, our participation has been long term and significant.

In closing, I appreciate the opportunity to provide you with statistics which clearly show the major public safety responsibilities of the Office of the City Attorney.  It has long been my belief that government, among its many important obligations to the people it serves, has one obligation that stands above all others – that is the obligation to keep citizens safe in their homes, their schools and in their work environments.  The failure to recognize the critical contributions of  Los Angeles City Attorneys in this effort, whether by the imposition of devastating budget cuts or crippling furloughs, threatens this most crucial of obligations.  I hope that, as you indicated in our prior conversation, you will pass this information to those who, unlike yourself, do not fully comprehend the good work of the Office of the City Attorney which continues year after year, administration after administration.

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LA City Councilman Greig Smith Closes Fire Stations in Valley Puts LAFD in Harms Way!

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Councilman Greig Smith won’t admit his decision  will lead to loss of life.

So officially it’s called a brownout, What exactly does that mean?

Here is the translation the LA City Council deny.

A Brownout amounts to the temporary closing of a Fire Station, It directly translates into an increase in response time, in an emergency be it a Fire or a Medical Emergency seconds are critical.

In Los Angeles we have tactically located fire stations around the city in order to have firemen and paramedics on duty 24/7 to respond to calls for service.

The LA City Council has slashed the budget, plain and simple, it told the Fire Department they needed to cut millions from the budget this after voter approved bonds to build new stations in order to ensure public safety and reduce response time that directly amounts to saving lives.

When a child drowned in Bel Air, the fire Department wouldn’t directly blame brownouts on the loss of life, now after two teens perished and the LAFD still attempts to keep political dialogue with our leaders they  can’t point the blame on the Council or the Mayor, But It Is Obvious!

Drowning victims increase the chances of survival every second is vital, stroke and heart attack victims could suffer severe brain damage, drowning victims could die and children could perish in fires, and fire fighters are put into harms way, this is a reality we can not let our City Council pass off as a PR stunt the Threat is Real.

Grieg Smith claims to represent the Valley, but when all the cards are on the table the fact remains he voted for the budget that closed fire stations, laid off workers, and furloughed 911 operators, this is something he proudly demanded that had to be done, yet when people die and his constituents demand answers he is in full denial, Public Safety advocate ? Please.

I ask, if you were the one trapped in a burning building would you want your fire department nearby to save you or would you not mind the extended response time? Here are some facts!

  • FACT: Irreversible brain damage can occur within four to six minutes of submersion. (1)
  • FACT: Reducing response times from 15 to five minutes or less could almost double the survival rate for cardiac arrest not witnessed by the responding crew. (2)
  • FACT: Early bystander rescue breathing or CPR intervention and fast emergency medical services response are therefore essential in improving survival rates (3)
  • FACT: Rochester, Minn knows, for example, that the people who are saved are shocked on average within 5 minutes 30 seconds. It also knows that those victims who were not saved were not shocked until, on average, 6 minutes 42 seconds after the 911 call was received. (4)

LA City Firefighters will respond to calls for service, they won’t back down in harms way, and this is where the problems arise, short staffed firefighters risking their own lives could find themselves overwhelmed quickly at the scene of a Fire, they put lives on the line and they should have all of the support they require when they are doing so.

It is undeniable that our Fire Department has no problem putting out any fire, rescuing people from burning buildings, or answering calls for help when the bell rings, if you have any doubt follow them on Twitter @lafd See for yourself the response just because it doesn’t make the 6 o’clock news doesn’t mean that on a Daily basis they aren’t fighting fires and effecting rescues don’t let our city council hamper the bravest public servants of this city.

Pat McOsker, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, has warned for months that the budget cuts are needlessly putting the public at risk and other then a few words of concern or sending items to committee the LA City Council has directly reduced the funding that  the Fire Chief has to work with.

Reducing the number of firefighters to respond by almost a hundred is the only option left to them.

Although I have been somewhat critical in the past of the LAFD not having a small force of reserve firefighters to assist in emergencies the simple fact remains we need our brave Firemen on duty to save lives and fight fires we deserve nothing less then a fully staffed department.

Although a budget dollar may be saved, it could be your life or that of a loved one that is the true cost.

  1. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER Child Death Review Unit BC
  2. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER Child Death Review Unit BC
  3. RAND Corporation.
  4. USAToday