Law Enforcement

Vanguard Gets Data on Calls for Service

Last night Davis Police Chief Landy Black followed up on a council request for a criminal statistics report.  The report comes on the heels of the much publicized arrest of a suspect involved in at least some of a string of burglaries in Davis.

The Vanguard, following up on a story last month, also requested data on calls for service by address.  As Chief Black told the Vanguard, it is difficult, without a very time-consuming examination, call-by-call, to make a whole lot out of that data, but we will present that as well as his comments to the Vanguard.

On these pages, we have not talked much about the rash of burglaries in Davis in the early part of the year.  As of early March, there had been 31 break-ins, along with eight attempted burglaries in Davis this year.  That number may now be approaching 50.

I was reading a letter to the Davis Enterprise discussing citizen patrols and whether citizens should be patrolling neighborhoods.

Police Chief Landy Black was back before the Davis City Council to push for passage of the Minor Alcohol Preclusion Act, that would make it an infraction, payable with what would ultimately be a 240 dollar fine for an individual under 21, to be caught having consumed enough alcohol to register a .01% blood alcohol content, in the City of Davis.

On Tuesday we will find out the long-awaited results of the pepper-spray report.  Many are bracing themselves for a whitewashing, but I don’t think that is going to happen.  The reason that is not going to happen is that Cruz Reynoso is not going to allow it to happen.

I know that he would have preferred to have been able to speak with, or at least have the Kroll investigators speak with, Lt. John Pike and the police chief, but apparently they have enough to know who did what and who ordered whom to do what.

On January 10, 2012, Davis Police Chief Landy Black and city staff caught the Davis City Council off-guard by presenting an ordinance to preclude minors from drinking.

Chief Black told the Council, “We’re trying to do this in our efforts for 2012’s Picnic Day.”  He added, “Regardless of when it’s adopted it’s a good ordinance, it’s not going to be just a Picnic Day ordinance.”

In an effort to prevent a repeat of Picnic Day 2010’s problems, the City of Davis created a Safety Enhancement Zone which basically doubled the fines and penalties for a variety of acts of public nuisance on Picnic Day 2011.  In addition, the city brought in a huge amount of out-of-town police to beef up patrols.

Despite a notable tragic event, the number of major incidents during Picnic Day last year was lower.  However, the heavy enforcement and safety enhancement concept have been a source of concern by residents in Old North Davis, who live just north of 5^th Street and just above the safety enhancement zone.

The final version of that motion did incorporate language that left issues open and encouraged future discussions.

Like the alcohol issue that we covered last week, this issue of the noise ordinance appears be dividing the city’s residents from the student population.

Ordinance Addresses the Wrong Problem and May Be Unenforceable With Unintended Consequences

It was billed as a routine measure by Police Chief Landy Black, giving the city the ability to charge minors who had consumed alcohol.  At the same time it was acknowledged only one other jurisdiction has a similar law on its books, and students expressed concerns about profiling and due process concerns.

Back in late October, the County Board of Supervisors held off on raising the speed limit, on the stretch of Russell from Pedrick Road to Lake Blvd, to 45 mph from the current 35 mph.

Occupy This: Will We Ever Learn?

One of the most riveting moments of the civil rights movement was when Bull Connor turned the firehoses and attack dogs on protesters.  It galvanized public sympathy and support for the civil rights movement.

Just as Stephen Souza was pushing off from his announcement at the steps of the Bicycle Hall of Fame, fire engines and emergency vehicles were rolling in.  First, UC Davis’ fire engine and hook and ladder truck, then Station 32 from Davis rolled in.

According to a report from the Davis Police Department, on Saturday, Davis Police officers were dispatched to 945 J Street, an apartment in the College Square Apartments on J Street, to a report of a dead body.

The Vanguard is receiving conflicting reports about the extent to which Davis’ Police Ombudsman, Robert Aaronson, is investigating an incident that occurred on May 12, 2011. At that time, a Davis High student, Alana de Hinojosa, was, according to attorneys at the ACLU, “pulled out of her class at Davis High in front of her teacher and all her classmates, and escorted by a school staff member to the office of the head campus supervisor.”

Last week, the ACLU sent a letter to Superintendent Winfred Roberson alleging that on the morning of May 12, 2011, a Davis High Student, Alana de Hinojosa “was pulled out of her class at Davis High in front of her teacher and all her classmates, and escorted by a school staff member to the office of the head campus supervisor. There, Ms. de Hinojosa was questioned by a sworn officer of the Davis Police Department, Officer Ellsworth, the High School’s vice-principal, and another school staff member about her newspaper article.”