A SKID ROW COP’S OPINION

THE BIG TO DO ABOUT JAYWALKING TICKETS

Hello everyone.  Senior Lead Officer Joseph here.  One of my many responsibilities is to educate the public about the realities of Skid Row, and the reasons for our focused enforcement in the area.  After meeting with many people from near and far, many of them come away with a new, informed view of skid row as opposed to the many misconceptions they read about or hear from certain groups.  Yet there are a few people with whom I have spoken with, who witness all of the positive changes happening in skid row before their very eyes, but cannot grasp the concept of enforcing laws for  so called “innocuous” offenses in the Skid Row area.

When any law enforcement agency focuses its enforcement in a specific location, it is mainly due to the level of blatant lawlessness associated with particular area that has gone far beyond the norm.  In Skid Row, many people were under the assumption that it was their “right” to break minor laws such as jaywalking, or standing in the middle of the street and so on because they were poor or homeless.  They along with many of our detractors truly believe that we should just look the other way.

The scarcity of police resources prior to the Safer Cities Initiative helped further this perception, as these minor violations went unchallenged for the most part, resulting in more heinous forms of lawlessness over the years.

When we focus our efforts in a particular location, we are not doing so to harass someone based on their social status, race, or gender but to break the cycle of lawless behavioral patterns and practices of that particular community for their safety and the safety of those around them.

Also, we are not writing jaywalking tickets, as an answer to ending or reducing homelessness, but to reduce the high volume of jaywalking violations in a targeted area where the specific violation or violations have become chronic.

As it relates to people with severe cases of mental illness, I personally believe in the “spirit of the law” style of enforcement rather than “letter of the law” enforcement, whereupon I encounter someone who may not have the wherewithal to understand these basic laws.

Yet in skid row, I find that most people whom I personally know (and that’s a lot of people) with various forms, and degrees of mental illness clearly understand the law. As I drive my patrol vehicle down the block, violators are beginning to step back onto the sidewalk, instead of blatantly crossing the street illegally.  Just four years ago I would have driven through a gauntlet of humanity standing in the street just to respond to an emergency call in Skid Row.

Hypathetically, If 19,000  tickets were written for jaywalking in skid row (referencing several articles printed about the Safer Cities Initiative, the latest from the Associated Press), then I can assure you that there were about 80,000 warnings given; unfortunately for us we do not document warnings.

One’s social status in life, does not give anyone a free pass to violate the law.  Routine law breakers in Skid Row had a 30 year run of doing pretty much what they wanted, which is in part what made it so dangerous in the first place.  The message we are trying to make clear to Skid Row and anywhere in Los Angeles where the overall level of lawlessness begins to erode the safety and civility of an area is that if you do not want a ticket, you must obey all laws like everyone else. 

As a result of our efforts, improvement is beginning to happen in Skid Row as fewer tickets are being written.  The basic concept of concentrated enforcement is to stay focused on a problem area until the problems stabilize, or stops, and we must continue our work until it becomes a true place of rehabilitation, safety and order for all who choose to live, work or visit there.  As it stands now, for me at least, all it takes is a stern warning and high visibility to deter most illegal activity on Skid Row.   

Though I am in full support of enforcing the laws of our state for the purpose of educating the public and increasing safety, I am equally in support of providing alternatives for people in Skid Row who may not have the means to pay the fines associated with receiving tickets.

Over the past few months the City Attorney’s office has been engaged in an effort which I am in favor of called the Homeless Alternative to Life on the Street also known as the “HALO” program.  This program is mainly for low-income and homeless members of the skid row community, who receive tickets for minor violations.  The program gives them a chance to work a few hours of community service, or check into a drug or alcohol program that suits their specific need, instead of paying the ticket, or missing court and having the ticket turn into a warrant. In the end, the benefactors of our enforcement and outreach is the Skid Row community, as we have fewer incidents of skid row residents being struck or nearly struck by vehicles, as well as a new sense of order that continues to improve daily.

I will keep you all posted on when the next HALO program will be in the Skid Row Area.

From Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph
32511@lapd.lacity.org

Comments

[Downtown Resident, James Moriarty]

Well, I think that we're lucky to have officers like officer Joseph and O'Shea actually out there working for us. Officer Joseph is doing a great job. As for Mr. O'Shea, I don't see his passionate view as "wild tangents". He makes sense, which is more than I can say for the "normal" bloggers on here. Perhaps if you other officers reading this, who don't agree with O'Shea and Joseph, would step out of your patrol cars, or from behind your desks and step up, instead of toss stones, we might actually be as good as the fudged numbers say we are. Just a thought, from a tax paying citizen.

Also we need to vote out these political hacks that are destroying California and Los Angeles. And we do not need to have our police officers taking furlough days, that is plain rediculous.

[lucky]

Hey Gambino:Red means stop green means go. what is not clear? Its amazing how many times I have heard the old "I didnt know it was against the law, you should have a sign" comment. Maybe all we need to stop gang violence are some signs "Murder is against the law"... ohhh ok I wont do it then, how bout "65 mph speed limit signs" those dont seem to work either. Thanks for the suggestion, now go flip a burger.

[CITIZEN]

Having a bad day Lucky?? Now you go flip a burger!

[B&WOp;]

Mr. Gambino.

Deflecting blame to "ambiguous laws" won't do. Red and green lights have nothing to do with pedestrians, so don't pay attention to them. The walking man symbol in white light is the only time you are authorized to walk across a street in an intersection. The flashing or steady RED HAND means no crossing. That is the norm in all 50 states. Whether your local police enforces it or not is not the point. The point is you chose to ignore the signal. It's not "jaywalking", which is crossing a street between (controlled) intersections. It's failure to obey a traffic signal.

Put it behind you and enjoy our great weather.

[CITIZEN]

Mr. Gambino I am sorry for the way you were treated by the street cop and by B&Wop and Lucky. I doubt if they are real cops. Just a couple of jerks. I know I will get an earful about this. But I expect it...

[D Angelo]

I'm not surprised to see that the lazy, disgruntled cop blogging as Ed OShea is spreading lies and inaccuracies. He's good at hiding (more when it comes to handling high risk radio calls) behind his alias. You can check out his lunatic rantings at ratemycop. OShea has the old Gates mentality but has somehow found a crack to hide in at LAPD. He makes all the good hardworking LA cops look bad.

[CITIZEN]

Everyone Eddie O'Shea is a real life cop. I once heard him crying to Larry Elder who seemed not to want to hear his stupidy.

[Swami Squad]

Citizen,

So you heard someone say they were a cop on the radio and that validates it for you?

I'd love to sell you a bridge.

Are you a citizen of the US or a citizen of Mars?

[Ed O'Shea]

Angelo, I take your disdain for me as compliment. And yes, Chief Gates is a great man, which I have had the outright honor to have been in the company of. You couldn't hold Chief Gates clipboard little guy, and will never be even one-tenth the leader he is. You, little guy and your platform shoes, have played hide and seek for 3 grand a week your entire career, a truly amazing feat even at today's standards. All on the backs of us hard working cops. Everyone who knows who you are knows your a zero. I would be shocked to learn that you have put any criminals in jail in the past 15 years. You wouldn't know a "high risk radio call" if you heard one. So please, spare us with your obtuse and callow ramblings. Have a great night buddy.

[Andrea, the proud Wife of a hard working LAPD Police Officer]

Citizen you're always on here throwing stones, and stirring the pot. B&Wop and Ed O'Shea are passionate about public safety and the treatment of the rank and file of the LAPD. So take a couple deep breaths and control yourself. Funny I used to listen to Larry Elder too and when Officers called in he always appreciated their first hand knowledge of public safety. You must have been one of the naysayers who called in and got worked over by Larry.

As for you Mr. D. Angelo, I have heard all about your upward trajectory, and all the ducking and weaving you've been involved in. It seems though at this point, you've been discovered for what you are, a non-contributor. You should be ashamed to even attempt to engage in a debate about laziness and work ethics. Ethics are something that you have clearly cast aside in your quest for higher rank. You're like a chiwawa with no teeth, all bark and no bite. And when the big dogs show up, you run inside and hide. But please stay inside, because people like you are a liability to our husbands and wives on the LAPD and also to my fellow Los Angelenos.

Officer Joseph, I want to thank you for showing the city what kind of outstanding Officers and human beings the city of Los Angeles has working for our police department. Your endurance to do the wonderful things you do, over and over is refreshing. I know the department has quite a few Officers like you, but it's still nice to read about you guys on this blog. I think that every division should have a SLO talk about the things in their area that the department is doing to help the citizens of Los Angeles. I took my children down to the area of pershing square a couple weekends ago and was impressed with the cleanliness. I saw a few homeless, but I felt safe, due to the Police and Security present on bicycles. A couple central division bike Police Officers were engaging in conversation with several children and their parents. I and my children overheard two of the Officers explaining to some kids about the importance of wearing a helmet while riding their bikes. My own children heard it and commented about how the Police Officers had told those other kids the same things that we (my husband and I) tell them. I told my husband about the central bike unit and what I observed, he was happy that they were out there. and no i'm not O'Shea's wife, but I wish I knew her, and I bet she's proud of him too.

All of you LAPD Patrol Officers, that do the bulk of the work in on the LAPD, keep up the great job your doing. We citizens know that you do it with the least amount of help, but we are lucky to have men and women that do what you do, with the small amount of resources you do it with. This city would be lost without you all. I am not thrilled about my husband working for a department that is not smart enough at the top to recognize the Angelo's of the world. But then Officers like SLO Joseph and the central bike Officers over ride those concerns with their professionalism, and motivation to keep us safe.

[Keith]

I agree that police officers should not be immune from having to park like regular people. If it's an emeergency thats another story. But I do not want to see a cop parked infront of a fire hydrent because there's no more space in the McDonalds parking lot.