The City of Richmond Truth Tazer

Truth so plain and simple that it's SHOCKING! Yes, it hurts some more than others, so proceed with caution!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

WARNING! ALERTA!

A sunny Saturday in Tazerville, but in today's Times, a report of a very disturbing crime trend...

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NORTH RICHMOND MUGGERS TARGET LATINOS, SHERIFFS SAY

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Latino men walking alone were the victims in nearly every mugging reported in North Richmond this year, records show.

The trend has so alarmed the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office that deputies now leaflet the unincorporated community with warning fliers in Spanish, even as residents complain that law enforcement does too little to deter robberies.

"There has been a big spike in robberies, and most of them have had a distinctive style," said Lt. Donny Gordon, supervisor of the sheriff's Bay substation. "We are extremely concerned about what we are seeing."

Two robbers, known only by physical descriptions given by victims, account for 29 of the community's 33 armed and strong-arm robberies since November, the sheriff's crime analysis unit found. Another robbery in a nearby neighborhood also matches the pattern.

Both are described as black men in their 20s. One often wears a puffy jacket, the other often approaches on a bicycle. In all but one case, robbers targeted Latinos, crime prevention specialist Mark Dobbs said. Victims often saw a silver handgun, but nobody has been seriously hurt.

Usually, one mugger approaches, though there are occasionally two. In one case, the mugger punched a victim.

Latino men, particularly those dressed in work clothes, make attractive targets for muggers because of ethnic stereotypes, Gordon said. Muggers believe Latinos are more likely to carry cash than use banks, and are unlikely to call police because of language barriers or mistrust.

This is not news to Spanish-speaking residents, said Cecilia Ornelas of Verde Involved Parents, a neighborhood group associated with a local school.

"Our main concern, the main concern expressed by parents, was that they would call the police, (after a mugging) and they basically would not have pursued the case," Ornelas said. "They come out, and they give case numbers, but when our parents would call to ask how the case was going, they would say they did not have that case number."

Ornelas' group wrote letters and met with officials from Supervisor John Gioia's office, the sheriff's office and the Richmond Police Department in February. The community still experiences regular robberies, she said.

Deputies do investigate every case, Gordon said. And although they have not identified suspects, they do know much more than they did six months ago.

Many robberies happen near the corner of 5th Street and Market Avenue. The county has worked with the corner store to improve lighting and signs, Gordon said, and painted curbs to discourage cars from stopping.

Deputies who work in North Richmond are starting to hear new slang that makes them worry that muggings are becoming trendy with some young people.

"Parents out there need to watch their kids ... and if they are getting involved in the subculture that is creating this environment," Gordon said.

North Richmond, a community of about 4,000, is one of Contra Costa's poorest and most crime-plagued areas. During the past decade, immigrants and Spanish-speakers gentrified patches of the predominantly black community.

In the City of Richmond, police have documented similar patterns -- young blacks robbing Latino pedestrians -- in neighborhoods with similar demographic shifts, such as the Iron Triangle.

While detectives continue to work on identifying the robbers, Gordon urges any North Richmond mugging victim who has not reported the crime to call. "You never know who will have the bit of information that could lead to an arrest," he said.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

TO REPORT A MUGGING:

If you were recently mugged in North Richmond but have not reported the crime, the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office asks you to call 877-308-5248.


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The Tazer, telling it like it is: these are hate crimes. That's how law enforcement should profile the MO in trying to sting the perps. That's how the prosecutors should go about sticking them in court. That's how the judge should treat them in sentencing. Period, end of story.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Prescient?

An interesting comment from Michael Ali, responding to yesterday's entry on the shooting death at South 17th...

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It is now time to DECLARE A REAL WAR ON THE VIOLENCE AND KILLING!
The City Government must have the Richmond Police Department reactivate the NITRO UNIT, the finest para-military street-level crime supression unit in the nation!

If we are going to fight this WAR ON VIOLENCE, we need to have troops, boots on the ground! The NITRO UNIT must have the money and technology with the long guns for firepower to WIN this war! The NITRO UNIT has a long history of being the shock-troops in the War On Violence. When they are brought into play, they actually win the WAR! The street gangsters and thugs tremble at their name! We must now take back and reclaim our streets! GOD BLESS OUR ELITE WARRIORS IN THE WAR ON VIOLENCE..THE WARRIORS IN THE NITRO UNIT!


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The Tazer wonders if we might see the return of the Narcotic Intervention Team Restoring Order, which harkens back to the tenure of RPD Chief Joseph Samuels' effort to control violent drug crimes in the summer of 2003.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A Grim Wednesday

MAN SLAIN OUTSIDE OWN HOUSE IN RICHMOND

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Richmond police are investigating the death of a 39-year-old man who was chased down and shot to death early today.

At 1:36 a.m., people in the 100 block of South 17th Street started calling police about gunfire they were hearing, Richmond Lt. Shawn Pickett said.

An officer drove down the block and found the man lying face down in the street with wounds in his upper torso.

The man's car was parked in front of the house where he lived.

"It appears that he had just returned from home," Pickett said.

"He had parked his car and was in the process of setting out his recycling when he was approached."

Preliminary investigation suggests that a gunman approached the man and chased him about half a block on foot before he collapsed in the street, Pickett said.

No identification was available, pending family members' notification.

It was the city's 19th homicide of the year and its second this week. The first victim, Glenn Taylor Jr., died at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center soon after an 11:05 p.m. Sunday report of gunfire on the 300 block of West Macdonald Avenue.

Officers found Taylor's car double-parked near where he fell, on the sidewalk near the gates leading into the St. John's apartment parking lots.

Anyone with information is asked to call Richmond Det. Nicole Abetkov at 510-412-2081.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

A Tuesday of Intrigue

Tazer Faithful, keep your wigs screwed on tight! Tonight's the night for yet another edition of "As the City Council Meets." The agenda can be found HERE.

In closed session, Item #1 reads as "Conference with Legal Counsel -- Existing Litigation" and cites Subdivision [a] of "Government Code Section 54956.9" as well as "East Bay Regional Park District vs. Upstream Point Molate, LLC".

Some quick law: "GCS 94956.9" is about holding a closed session meeting with legal counsel when open session might prejudice a "local agency" in the midst of litigation; "Subdivision [a]" is concerned with definitions of what construes "pending litigation," specifically that "litigation...has been initiated formally."

For the interested, "EBRPD (and Citizens for East Shore Parks) vs. UPM LLC" is a lawsuit that sought an enivronmental review of a possible Vegas-style resort casino at Pt. Molate.

And some quick history: In 2003, the US Navy transferred Pt. Molate to the City of Richmond. In 2004, the Richmond city council voted to sell Pt. Molate to UPM. UPM is based in Emeryville and headed by James D. Levine, a Berkeley developer. UPM was working with Harrah's and the Guidiville Pomos.

The Tazer wonders: Is there money in it?

Item #2 reads as "Conference with Labor Negotiators" and cites "Government Code Section 54957.6". Cited unions: IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters), SEIU (Service Employees International Union), RFMA (Restaurant Facility Management Association), and RPOA (Richmond Police Officers' Association). By the way, "GCS 54957.6" finds itself concerning closed sessions for the negotiation of salaries, compensation, benefits, etc.

The Tazer wonders: Is there money in it?

And finally, the Tazer notes that the following words fail to appear in the agenda: "crematorium," "pollution," "violence," "prevention".

The Tazer wonders: Is there money in it?

On the "plus" side of the ledger is Item K-2: "Status Report on start-up of Automatic Aid with Contra Costa County for fire services". Today's Times offers up this apparent answer...

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FIRE DEPARTMENTS AGREE ON SYSTEM

RICHMOND: Emergencies will now be handled by closest station, regardless of city or county boundaries

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Richmond and county fire departments have reached a temporary agreement that will allow thousands of West Contra Costa County residents to rest a bit easier.

The Richmond Fire Department announced Monday the reinstatement of an automatic aid agreement with the Contra Costa Fire District starting at 7:30 a.m. today.

That means residents on either side of Richmond's boundary with San Pablo, El Sobrante and North Richmond are now assured that the fire station closest to their homes will automatically respond to medical emergencies and fires, regardless of city and county boundaries.

"This is the best thing for everybody concerned," Richmond Fire Chief Michael Banks said Monday. "We met with the county to work out some final details, and now we're ready to roll."

Depending on the jurisdiction of the emergency, firefighters and equipment will be dispatched from the Contra Costa County Fire District dispatch center or the Richmond police dispatch center, according to the agreement.

While the two fire agencies are still working out radio communication issues, the agreement is the beginning of a reconciliation between the departments, which have been at odds for years, said Contra Costa County Fire Chief Keith Richter.

"I'm encouraged that we're at least starting a system that will get us back into a cooperative mode," he said. "We both left the room with an agreement to provide the best service we possibly can."

The temporary agreement is a stopgap measure pending a permanent pact.

In 2002, the Richmond City Council broke off a previous automatic aid agreement with the intention of restarting it as soon as the two departments worked out disagreements over money, communications systems and turf.

But the issue lingered for four years until June 2, when three children died in a Richmond house fire. While the Richmond Fire Department responded quickly to the scene, critical backup firefighters and equipment would have arrived two to three minutes sooner had an automatic aid agreement been in place.

Richmond officials and fire department administrators have said that a faster response by backup firefighters would not have saved the children's lives.

But those reassurances were little comfort to residents along Richmond's boundary with San Pablo, El Sobrante and North Richmond, who were not automatically protected by the fire stations that were within blocks of their homes, and in once case, right across the street.

Barbara Pendergrass, chairwoman of the El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Committee, said the agreement was good news.

"This is fantastic," she said. "We've been so concerned about the fact that the station closest was not automatically responding to fires. I think it was putting a lot of people at risk."

City and county elected officials expressed a mixture of relief that the agreement is finally in place and frustration that it took so long.

The lack of an agreement was beginning to hurt Richmond's image, said Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson. "I commend both our county and city chiefs for working so diligently on this," she said. "I knew the agreement was imminent, but there was this unfair perception that Richmond wasn't serious about reinstating it."

Reach John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com

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A TAZER SIDENOTE: Damn hurting Richmond's "image," Irma! What about hurting Richmond's PEOPLE!? Effective public safety ought to be a paramount concern! Keep enough people alive and we can work on the rest!

Here's to hoping that a permanent agreement is reached soon, by the way.


And as is usual, the possibility of comic tragedy/tragic comedy lies once again at the bottom of Page 2 of the agenda: "The City Council’s adopted Rules of Procedure recognize that debate on policy is healthy; debate on personalities is not. The Chairperson has the right and obligation to cut off discussion that is too personal, too loud, or too crude. (emphasis, the Tazer's)"

Monday, July 10, 2006

Monday, Unfortunately

Good afternoon from the Tazer. Sad to say there's more bad news to report...

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Richmond man dies after multiple shots
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, July 10, 2006

(07-10) 09:20 PDT RICHMOND -- A 31-year-old Richmond man was shot and killed Sunday night in the Iron Triangle area of the city, according to Richmond police.

Glenn Taylor Jr. was shot multiple times in front of 311 West Macdonald Avenue just after 11 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police are looking for two men who left the area in a black or green sport utility vehicle with large chrome rims.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detective Mike Rood at (510) 620-6625 or the anonymous tip line at (510) 232-8477.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.