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"disqusTitle": "Feds Warn Casinos to Turn Away Gamblers With Medical Marijuana Ties",
"title": "Feds Warn Casinos to Turn Away Gamblers With Medical Marijuana Ties",
"headTitle": "News Fix | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Nathan Halverson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59484\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2012/03/15/interview-w-us-attorney-haag-on-pot-operations-if-its-close-to-children-thats-a-line-were-going-to-draw/an-initiative-to-legalize-marijuana-in-california-to-appear-on-nov-ballot-3/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-59484\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59484\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2012/03/MedicalMarijuanaJustinSullivanGetty1-e1392680232523.jpg\" alt=\"Melinda Haag medical marijuana interview\" width=\"640\" height=\"436\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>U.S. casinos, including those in the Bay Area and throughout California, cannot accept bets from people working in the medical marijuana industry — unless these gamblers pass an extensive background check and have their bets regularly monitored by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was the word out of Las Vegas on Thursday, where federal regulators addressed the gaming industry at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.unlv.edu/event/2014-bank-secrecy-act-conference?delta=0\">2014 Bank Secrecy Act Conference\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marijuana guidelines impact all casinos, from Northern California to riverboat casinos in Mississippi to mega-resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Gaming operators are now being required to either turn away gamblers they know work in state-sanctioned marijuana businesses or implement highly invasive and expensive procedures to monitor these gamblers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These same costly procedures have resulted in the banking industry closing thousands of financial accounts in the last few years. Banks have essentially blacklisted anyone in the marijuana business from opening a checking or savings account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, \u003ca href=\"http://www.resort-advantage.com/regform/JimDowling.aspx\">Jim Dowling\u003c/a>, a former White House advisor on money laundering issues and now a regulatory consultant to casinos, told gaming executives they are obligated to follow the same marijuana guidelines as banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Casinos can’t accept any money from them, or they have to comply with the new government guidance,” Dowling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order for a casino to knowingly accept a bet from someone in the marijuana industry, it would need to perform what Dowling described as a “criminal background check” and then file reports every 90 days to federal regulators on the gambler’s activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even then, the casinos cannot be certain the federal government will not pursue criminal or civil charges against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154272213&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this will likely not prevent a marijuana dispensary owner from going to the blackjack table and plunking down $20, problems arise if a card dealer or pit boss recognizes the dispensary owner or if a large enough sum is wagered that would require the casino to research the gambler's source of income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that case, the casino would have to cut gamblers off or run a background check and monitor their gambling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>'It's Coming to a Head'\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a federal problem that has been brewing for a while, and now it’s coming to a head,” Dowling said. “State laws and federal laws don’t match up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday was the first time the topic of state-authorized marijuana proceeds and casinos had been publicly broached, Dowling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The head of \u003ca href=\"http://www.fincen.gov/\">FinCEN\u003c/a>, a bureau of the Treasury Department that regulates casinos and banks to ensure they follow these rules, also spoke at Thursday’s industry conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director \u003ca href=\"http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/speech/html/20140612.html\">Jennifer Shasky Calvery\u003c/a> referred questions regarding marijuana and casino compliance to her media spokesman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“FinCEN’s guidance applies to all financial institutions covered under FinCEN regulations, including casinos,” Stephan Hudak wrote in an email, in apparent confirmation of Dowling’s assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Camacho, who manages these issues for Station Casinos, which operates the newly opened Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, declined comment, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media. A call to the Station Casinos media representative was not returned by the time of publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Graton Casino operates in a region the federal government deems a “High Intensity Financial Crime Area” because of the large amount of marijuana grown on California’s North Coast. As a result, the Rohnert Park casino is required to implement additional monitoring to identify people who might be gambling with illicit funds, which according to the federal government includes money from medical marijuana businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ongoing Conflict Between the Feds and States\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casinos are the latest institutions to get caught up in the ongoing conflict between federal and state laws on marijuana. Thursday's disclosure on federal policy comes only months after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appeared to publicly support the right of state-authorized marijuana businesses to have access to the U.S. financial system and deposit their money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You don’t want just huge amounts of cash in these places. They want to be able to use the banking system,\" Holder said during an appearance at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. \"There’s a public safety component to this. Huge amounts of cash — substantial amounts of cash just kind of lying around with no place for it to be appropriately deposited — is something that would worry me, just from a law enforcement perspective.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The North Coast has notoriously high amounts of cash transactions, with one Mendocino County banker saying more than half the deposits there are in cash, making it one of the highest ratios in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following Holder’s statement in February, the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Treasury Department both issued updated guidelines on how U.S. financial institutions need to handle customers with ties to the marijuana industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">One dispensary owner in San Francisco said he has gone through nine banks in 10 years.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But banking executives said the new guidelines did nothing to assuage their fears, leaving them open to both criminal and civil prosecution if they worked with businesses in the marijuana trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bankers are all just saying, 'We don’t want those problems,' ” said Dowling, who also consults on these issues for major U.S. banks. “One banker called them toxic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowling expects casinos will react the same way, turning away from people who work in the state-sanctioned marijuana industries that now operate in 22 states and D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government is again saying people involved in the marijuana business don’t have rights,” said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a marijuana advocacy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A dispensary owner in San Francisco, who asked not to be named because of previous regulatory problems with the federal government, said he has gone through nine banks in 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the core, it’s just the hypocrisy of the federal government and its financial regulations,” he said. “They say one thing but they are really acting a whole other way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another dispensary owner in Mendocino County, who likewise asked not to be named because of previous problems with federal regulators, said the U.S. government is ignoring the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government doesn’t care about our state laws,” the owner said. “It’s dead wrong. It’s one more right they are taking away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowling said he decided to raise the issue at Thursday’s conference because the federal government could prosecute casinos that are not complying with the new guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very controversial. I’ll probably get a lot of hate mail for bringing it up,” Dowling said. “But if you put yourself in a banker's situation, would you want to have to do all that and put yourself at criminal risk?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, this all comes less than two weeks after a \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/30/house-votes-to-block-medical-pot-prosecution\" target=\"_blank\">surprising bipartisan vote\u003c/a> in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which passed a measure that seeks to end Department of Justice interference with state marijuana laws. Medical marijuana advocates praised the vote as a game-changer and one that reflected a huge shift in public opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nathan Halverson is a freelance reporter working at The Center for Investigative Reporting and Investigative Reporting Program and can be reached at \u003ca href=\"mailto:Halverson@sonic.net\">Halverson@sonic.net\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Nathan Halverson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59484\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2012/03/15/interview-w-us-attorney-haag-on-pot-operations-if-its-close-to-children-thats-a-line-were-going-to-draw/an-initiative-to-legalize-marijuana-in-california-to-appear-on-nov-ballot-3/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-59484\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59484\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2012/03/MedicalMarijuanaJustinSullivanGetty1-e1392680232523.jpg\" alt=\"Melinda Haag medical marijuana interview\" width=\"640\" height=\"436\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>U.S. casinos, including those in the Bay Area and throughout California, cannot accept bets from people working in the medical marijuana industry — unless these gamblers pass an extensive background check and have their bets regularly monitored by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was the word out of Las Vegas on Thursday, where federal regulators addressed the gaming industry at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.unlv.edu/event/2014-bank-secrecy-act-conference?delta=0\">2014 Bank Secrecy Act Conference\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marijuana guidelines impact all casinos, from Northern California to riverboat casinos in Mississippi to mega-resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Gaming operators are now being required to either turn away gamblers they know work in state-sanctioned marijuana businesses or implement highly invasive and expensive procedures to monitor these gamblers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These same costly procedures have resulted in the banking industry closing thousands of financial accounts in the last few years. Banks have essentially blacklisted anyone in the marijuana business from opening a checking or savings account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, \u003ca href=\"http://www.resort-advantage.com/regform/JimDowling.aspx\">Jim Dowling\u003c/a>, a former White House advisor on money laundering issues and now a regulatory consultant to casinos, told gaming executives they are obligated to follow the same marijuana guidelines as banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Casinos can’t accept any money from them, or they have to comply with the new government guidance,” Dowling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order for a casino to knowingly accept a bet from someone in the marijuana industry, it would need to perform what Dowling described as a “criminal background check” and then file reports every 90 days to federal regulators on the gambler’s activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even then, the casinos cannot be certain the federal government will not pursue criminal or civil charges against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154272213&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this will likely not prevent a marijuana dispensary owner from going to the blackjack table and plunking down $20, problems arise if a card dealer or pit boss recognizes the dispensary owner or if a large enough sum is wagered that would require the casino to research the gambler's source of income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that case, the casino would have to cut gamblers off or run a background check and monitor their gambling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>'It's Coming to a Head'\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a federal problem that has been brewing for a while, and now it’s coming to a head,” Dowling said. “State laws and federal laws don’t match up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday was the first time the topic of state-authorized marijuana proceeds and casinos had been publicly broached, Dowling said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The head of \u003ca href=\"http://www.fincen.gov/\">FinCEN\u003c/a>, a bureau of the Treasury Department that regulates casinos and banks to ensure they follow these rules, also spoke at Thursday’s industry conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director \u003ca href=\"http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/speech/html/20140612.html\">Jennifer Shasky Calvery\u003c/a> referred questions regarding marijuana and casino compliance to her media spokesman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“FinCEN’s guidance applies to all financial institutions covered under FinCEN regulations, including casinos,” Stephan Hudak wrote in an email, in apparent confirmation of Dowling’s assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Camacho, who manages these issues for Station Casinos, which operates the newly opened Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, declined comment, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media. A call to the Station Casinos media representative was not returned by the time of publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Graton Casino operates in a region the federal government deems a “High Intensity Financial Crime Area” because of the large amount of marijuana grown on California’s North Coast. As a result, the Rohnert Park casino is required to implement additional monitoring to identify people who might be gambling with illicit funds, which according to the federal government includes money from medical marijuana businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ongoing Conflict Between the Feds and States\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casinos are the latest institutions to get caught up in the ongoing conflict between federal and state laws on marijuana. Thursday's disclosure on federal policy comes only months after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appeared to publicly support the right of state-authorized marijuana businesses to have access to the U.S. financial system and deposit their money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You don’t want just huge amounts of cash in these places. They want to be able to use the banking system,\" Holder said during an appearance at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. \"There’s a public safety component to this. Huge amounts of cash — substantial amounts of cash just kind of lying around with no place for it to be appropriately deposited — is something that would worry me, just from a law enforcement perspective.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The North Coast has notoriously high amounts of cash transactions, with one Mendocino County banker saying more than half the deposits there are in cash, making it one of the highest ratios in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following Holder’s statement in February, the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Treasury Department both issued updated guidelines on how U.S. financial institutions need to handle customers with ties to the marijuana industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">One dispensary owner in San Francisco said he has gone through nine banks in 10 years.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But banking executives said the new guidelines did nothing to assuage their fears, leaving them open to both criminal and civil prosecution if they worked with businesses in the marijuana trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bankers are all just saying, 'We don’t want those problems,' ” said Dowling, who also consults on these issues for major U.S. banks. “One banker called them toxic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowling expects casinos will react the same way, turning away from people who work in the state-sanctioned marijuana industries that now operate in 22 states and D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government is again saying people involved in the marijuana business don’t have rights,” said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a marijuana advocacy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A dispensary owner in San Francisco, who asked not to be named because of previous regulatory problems with the federal government, said he has gone through nine banks in 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the core, it’s just the hypocrisy of the federal government and its financial regulations,” he said. “They say one thing but they are really acting a whole other way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another dispensary owner in Mendocino County, who likewise asked not to be named because of previous problems with federal regulators, said the U.S. government is ignoring the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government doesn’t care about our state laws,” the owner said. “It’s dead wrong. It’s one more right they are taking away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowling said he decided to raise the issue at Thursday’s conference because the federal government could prosecute casinos that are not complying with the new guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very controversial. I’ll probably get a lot of hate mail for bringing it up,” Dowling said. “But if you put yourself in a banker's situation, would you want to have to do all that and put yourself at criminal risk?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, this all comes less than two weeks after a \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/30/house-votes-to-block-medical-pot-prosecution\" target=\"_blank\">surprising bipartisan vote\u003c/a> in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which passed a measure that seeks to end Department of Justice interference with state marijuana laws. Medical marijuana advocates praised the vote as a game-changer and one that reflected a huge shift in public opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nathan Halverson is a freelance reporter working at The Center for Investigative Reporting and Investigative Reporting Program and can be reached at \u003ca href=\"mailto:Halverson@sonic.net\">Halverson@sonic.net\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "House Votes to End Medical Marijuana Prosecutions",
"title": "House Votes to End Medical Marijuana Prosecutions",
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"content": "\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/4903_transform-1.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/4903_transform-1.jpg\" alt=\"A bud tender pours pot from a jar in the Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles in 2012. (David McNew/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bud tender pours pot from a jar in the Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles in 2012. (David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Medical marijuana advocates are celebrating what is a surprising bipartisan result in the highly polarized House of Representatives: Early Friday morning, 49 Republicans and 170 Democrats joined forces to pass a measure that would stop federal interference with state medical marijuana laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 219-189 vote came as the House completed work on \u003ca href=\"http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d113:H.R.4660:\" target=\"_blank\">an appropriations bill\u003c/a> for the Justice and Commerce departments and several other agencies. Among more than two dozen amendments was one introduced by \u003ca href=\"http://rohrabacher.house.gov/\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Dana Rohrabacher\u003c/a>, an Orange County Republican:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Rohrabacher and 11 co-sponsors, including Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Rep. Sam Farr (D-Monterey), argued that \u003ca href=\"http://www.people-press.org/2010/04/01/public-support-for-legalizing-medical-marijuana/\" target=\"_blank\">public opinion has shifted strongly to support for medical marijuana\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/04/majority-now-supports-legalizing-marijuana/\" target=\"_blank\">against the federal government's prohibition of pot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee, who's been critical of Justice Department prosecutions of medical cannabis providers in Oakland and Berkeley, said before the vote that it's time to stop \"unwarranted persecution\" of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'We should allow for the implementation of the will of the voters to comply with state law rather than undermining our democracy,\" Lee said before the vote.'\u003ccite>— Rep. Barbara Lee\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\"We should allow for the implementation of the will of the voters to comply with state law rather than undermining our democracy,\" Lee said before the vote. \"In states with medical marijuana laws, patients face uncertainty regarding their treatment, as small business owners who have invested millions, creating jobs and revenue, have no assurances for the future.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents countered that medical cannabis advocates are merely trying to open the way for full legalization of marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During debate on the amendment, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) read from a Drug Enforcement Administration report that called medical cannabis a mere \"means to an end, which is the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. They did not deal with the problem of ensuring that the product meets the standards of modern medicine — quality, safety and efficacy.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohrabacher's amendment must pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama before it becomes law. Still, Friday's 219-189 House vote marks a sharp reversal on the issue. Six times before, the House had rejected virtually identical versions of the amendment, originally introduced in 2003 by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-New York. The last time the proposal came to a vote, in May 2012, \u003ca href=\"http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/may/09/house_representatives_votes_down\" target=\"_blank\">it was defeated by a vote of 262-163\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical pot advocates celebrated the amendment's passage Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This vote is a huge victory for patients,\" said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, in a statement. \"This is a game-changer that paves the way for much more policy change to come.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379018/let-states-decide-pot-dana-rohrabacher\" target=\"_blank\">a National Review op-ed published Thursday\u003c/a>, Rohrabacher strikes a tone that suggests he'd like to go further than the amendment on medical marijuana. He argues that the price of continuing the war on marijuana has become too high and is especially wrongheaded in states, like California, where voters have chosen to legalize cannabis. And like other supporters of Friday's amendment, he says support for the amendment is a matter of staying true to conservative values. Summing up the cost of the war on marijuana, he writes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The explosion of gun violence across our urban landscape, now spreading to suburbs and the countryside; our unconscionable incarceration rates; the out-of-control and unconstitutional seizure of private property on drug enforcers’ whims; the corruption and militarization of our police; the chronic despair forced on minority Americans; a monumentally dysfunctional and alienating policy toward our Latin American neighbors; and even, yes, the subtle, psychological robbery of the self-worth and self-responsibility necessary to addressing drug-related problems realistically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not a proper vision of government’s role, as the late William F. Buckley Jr. and Milton Friedman, among many others, taught my generation. We constitutionalists respected the Tenth Amendment’s preference for state laws, and we trusted the moral autonomy of the individual.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The Senate is scheduled to take up the appropriations bill during the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Michael Montgomery addressed some of the issues the legislation might raise in California, particularly in light of enforcement actions here three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It raises question about groups like Harborside in Oakland that are under a civil enforcement action,” Montgomery said. “Will they be able to target them in this way if they’re not grossly out of line with state laws? It also raises the issue – California can avoid some of these enforcement actions if it gets its act together in terms of regulations like Colorado. I think this amendment in Washington should probably compel lawmakers in Sacramento to passing some kind of a law that would set up a statewide regulatory system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to Montgomery’s discussion with KQED’s Rachel Dornhelm:\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152080993&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Here's the Associated Press report on the House vote:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Andrew Taylor\u003cbr>\nAssociated Press\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WASHINGTON — The GOP-controlled House voted early Friday in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House debated a bill funding the Justice Department's budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendment by conservative GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California — the first state to legalize medical marijuana — came as almost half the states have legalized marijuana for medical uses, such as improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Public opinion is shifting,\" Rohrabacher said, noting a recent Pew Research Center that found 61 percent of Republicans support medical marijuana. The numbers are higher for independents and Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Despite this overwhelming shift of public opinion, the federal government continues its hard line of oppression against medical marijuana,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer told opponents that \"this train has already left the station.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents said that marijuana is regulated too loosely by the states and harms the brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., cited a recent Drug Enforcement Administration study that said that many in the medical marijuana movement are using it as \"a means to an end,\" meaning legalization for recreational use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Congress is officially pulling out of the war on medical marijuana patients and providers,\" said Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure now heads to the Democratic Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/radio/programs/forum/\">Forum\u003c/a> discusses the vote:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152057701&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"headline": "House Votes to End Medical Marijuana Prosecutions",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/4903_transform-1.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/08/4903_transform-1.jpg\" alt=\"A bud tender pours pot from a jar in the Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles in 2012. (David McNew/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bud tender pours pot from a jar in the Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles in 2012. (David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Medical marijuana advocates are celebrating what is a surprising bipartisan result in the highly polarized House of Representatives: Early Friday morning, 49 Republicans and 170 Democrats joined forces to pass a measure that would stop federal interference with state medical marijuana laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 219-189 vote came as the House completed work on \u003ca href=\"http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d113:H.R.4660:\" target=\"_blank\">an appropriations bill\u003c/a> for the Justice and Commerce departments and several other agencies. Among more than two dozen amendments was one introduced by \u003ca href=\"http://rohrabacher.house.gov/\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Dana Rohrabacher\u003c/a>, an Orange County Republican:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Rohrabacher and 11 co-sponsors, including Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Rep. Sam Farr (D-Monterey), argued that \u003ca href=\"http://www.people-press.org/2010/04/01/public-support-for-legalizing-medical-marijuana/\" target=\"_blank\">public opinion has shifted strongly to support for medical marijuana\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/04/majority-now-supports-legalizing-marijuana/\" target=\"_blank\">against the federal government's prohibition of pot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee, who's been critical of Justice Department prosecutions of medical cannabis providers in Oakland and Berkeley, said before the vote that it's time to stop \"unwarranted persecution\" of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'We should allow for the implementation of the will of the voters to comply with state law rather than undermining our democracy,\" Lee said before the vote.'\u003ccite>— Rep. Barbara Lee\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\"We should allow for the implementation of the will of the voters to comply with state law rather than undermining our democracy,\" Lee said before the vote. \"In states with medical marijuana laws, patients face uncertainty regarding their treatment, as small business owners who have invested millions, creating jobs and revenue, have no assurances for the future.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents countered that medical cannabis advocates are merely trying to open the way for full legalization of marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During debate on the amendment, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) read from a Drug Enforcement Administration report that called medical cannabis a mere \"means to an end, which is the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. They did not deal with the problem of ensuring that the product meets the standards of modern medicine — quality, safety and efficacy.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohrabacher's amendment must pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama before it becomes law. Still, Friday's 219-189 House vote marks a sharp reversal on the issue. Six times before, the House had rejected virtually identical versions of the amendment, originally introduced in 2003 by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-New York. The last time the proposal came to a vote, in May 2012, \u003ca href=\"http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/may/09/house_representatives_votes_down\" target=\"_blank\">it was defeated by a vote of 262-163\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical pot advocates celebrated the amendment's passage Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This vote is a huge victory for patients,\" said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, in a statement. \"This is a game-changer that paves the way for much more policy change to come.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379018/let-states-decide-pot-dana-rohrabacher\" target=\"_blank\">a National Review op-ed published Thursday\u003c/a>, Rohrabacher strikes a tone that suggests he'd like to go further than the amendment on medical marijuana. He argues that the price of continuing the war on marijuana has become too high and is especially wrongheaded in states, like California, where voters have chosen to legalize cannabis. And like other supporters of Friday's amendment, he says support for the amendment is a matter of staying true to conservative values. Summing up the cost of the war on marijuana, he writes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The explosion of gun violence across our urban landscape, now spreading to suburbs and the countryside; our unconscionable incarceration rates; the out-of-control and unconstitutional seizure of private property on drug enforcers’ whims; the corruption and militarization of our police; the chronic despair forced on minority Americans; a monumentally dysfunctional and alienating policy toward our Latin American neighbors; and even, yes, the subtle, psychological robbery of the self-worth and self-responsibility necessary to addressing drug-related problems realistically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not a proper vision of government’s role, as the late William F. Buckley Jr. and Milton Friedman, among many others, taught my generation. We constitutionalists respected the Tenth Amendment’s preference for state laws, and we trusted the moral autonomy of the individual.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The Senate is scheduled to take up the appropriations bill during the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Michael Montgomery addressed some of the issues the legislation might raise in California, particularly in light of enforcement actions here three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It raises question about groups like Harborside in Oakland that are under a civil enforcement action,” Montgomery said. “Will they be able to target them in this way if they’re not grossly out of line with state laws? It also raises the issue – California can avoid some of these enforcement actions if it gets its act together in terms of regulations like Colorado. I think this amendment in Washington should probably compel lawmakers in Sacramento to passing some kind of a law that would set up a statewide regulatory system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to Montgomery’s discussion with KQED’s Rachel Dornhelm:\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152080993&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Here's the Associated Press report on the House vote:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Andrew Taylor\u003cbr>\nAssociated Press\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WASHINGTON — The GOP-controlled House voted early Friday in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House debated a bill funding the Justice Department's budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendment by conservative GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California — the first state to legalize medical marijuana — came as almost half the states have legalized marijuana for medical uses, such as improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Public opinion is shifting,\" Rohrabacher said, noting a recent Pew Research Center that found 61 percent of Republicans support medical marijuana. The numbers are higher for independents and Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Despite this overwhelming shift of public opinion, the federal government continues its hard line of oppression against medical marijuana,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer told opponents that \"this train has already left the station.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents said that marijuana is regulated too loosely by the states and harms the brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., cited a recent Drug Enforcement Administration study that said that many in the medical marijuana movement are using it as \"a means to an end,\" meaning legalization for recreational use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Congress is officially pulling out of the war on medical marijuana patients and providers,\" said Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure now heads to the Democratic Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/radio/programs/forum/\">Forum\u003c/a> discusses the vote:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152057701&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "State Supreme Court Rules for More Transparency in Police Shootings",
"title": "State Supreme Court Rules for More Transparency in Police Shootings",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_132034\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/RS8293_IMG_8675-lpr.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-132034\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/RS8293_IMG_8675-lpr-640x426.jpg\" alt=\"Three of the top five U.S. cities in police shootings per capita are in the Golden State. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three of the top five U.S. cities in police shootings per capita are in the Golden State. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state Supreme Court ruled today that the public's interest in knowing the names of police officers involved in shootings should generally outweigh privacy concerns for the officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case, Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach (Los Angeles Times Communications), appears to have narrowed exceptions to California public records laws. It stems from a dispute between the Los Angeles Times and Long Beach Police Department over access to the names of officers involved in the 2010 fatal shooting of Douglas Zerby, who police believed pointed a gun at the officers. The object Zerby was holding turned out to be a garden hose spray nozzle. The Times filed a California Public Records Act request for the names of the officers involved in the Zerby shooting and the names of all Long Beach officers involved in shootings for the prior six-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identities of officers involved in the Zerby shooting were eventually released by prosecutors, \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-officer-names-20140529-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">according to the Times\u003c/a>, but the issue of access to the information wasn't settled until today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=06001-07000&file=6250-6270\" target=\"_blank\">California Public Records Act\u003c/a> contains what the court calls a \"catchall exemption\" that allows a public agency \"to justify withholding any record by demonstrating that ... on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court solidified today, however, that \"this provision contemplates a case-by-case balancing process, with the clear burden of proof on the proponent of nondisclosure to demonstrate a clear overbalance on the side of confidentiality.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government agencies may also withhold records relating to personnel files of an officer under a separate exception in California's public records law and the 2006 state Supreme Court ruling in \u003ca href=\"http://gov.uchastings.edu/docs/CaseCopley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Copley Press, Inc. v. Superior Court\u003c/a>, which expanded the personnel file protections for police officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think it’s an opinion that really narrows the exceptions to the public records act, including exceptions built into the public records act and Copley Press,\" said David Greene, a member of the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists' Freedom of Information Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said today's ruling goes farther than just compelling police departments to release the names of officers involved in shootings — it severs incident reports and other records generated by police departments that have been widely claimed to be protected by personnel or evidence exceptions to the public records act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the ruling:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>[m]any records routinely maintained by law enforcement agencies are not personnel records. For example, the information contained in the initial incident reports of an on-duty shooting are typically not personnel records as that term is defined in Penal Code section 832.8. It may be true that such shootings are routinely investigated by the employing agency, resulting eventually in some sort of officer appraisal or discipline. But only the records \u003cem>generated\u003c/em> in connection with that appraisal or discipline would come within the statutory definition of personnel records ... We do not read the phrase \"records relating to . . . [¶] . . . [¶] . . . [e]mployee . . . appraisal[] or discipline\" (ibid.) so broadly as to include every record that might be considered for purposes of an officer‘s appraisal or discipline, for such a broad reading of the statute would sweep virtually all law enforcement records into the protected category of \"personnel records.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The ruling maintains officers' names may still sometimes be withheld, “if it is essential to protect an officer’s anonymity for safety reasons or for reason peculiar to the officer’s duties – as, for example, in the case of an undercover officer – then the public interest in disclosure of the officer’s name may need to give way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Long Beach Police Officers Association argued that police officers sometimes receive threats after these shootings, but that wasn't specific enough, according to the ruling. “That determination, however, would need to be based on a particularized showing, which was not made here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Rains is an attorney who specializes in defending police officers in disciplinary, criminal and civil cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Make no mistake about it, I think this decision does leave open this argument that where there is some credible threat to the officer's safety, the name would not or should not be disclosed,\" he said. \"We take that very seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rains didn't see anything in the ruling that would compel police departments to release officers' names, incident reports or any other information about a shooting within a certain time frame, and he described how his law firm may advise police departments on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I’ve asked them at times to not disclose the officer’s name if we are representing the officer, because we really wanted to get a sense as to where the publicity was going,\" Rains said. \"If the public response is the officer did something horrible and needs to pay the price, we would like to see how that evolves over the next day or two, and if there is not a public outcry, there may be less of a concern about the officer's safety.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gary Delagnes, retired San Francisco Police Department officer and former president of the San Francisco police officers union, said there is sometimes a public interest in knowing the name of a police officer who has shot someone, but he thinks the court got the burden of proof wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think they got it backwards,\" he said, adding that news organizations or whoever is interested in the information should have to prove why it's in the public interest to disclose it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a guilty until proven innocent situation,\" Delagnes said. \"That’s just not fair to the cop. But on the other hand, for equal and fair play, when you’re given a gun and you’re given the ability to arrest people and take people’s civil rights away from them, and if you have a long history of continued problems within the department, I think the public has a right to know the history of the officer, if in fact it is a bad history.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He didn't know how the press would know what information to request because complaints of excessive force and other information about officers' records remain sealed, but he cautioned against releasing an officer's name without good reason. Police departments will usually be unable to meet the particularized showing requirement, he said, but there remains a real threat to officer safety and the possibility of harming the officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The myth about cops, because people see it on TV, is that cops get in shootings all the time and it’s no big deal,\" Delagnes said. \"I’ve never met a cop that wanted to shoot somebody.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read the full ruling below:\u003cbr>\n \u003cbr>\n[scribd id=227096918 key=key-zqcND1JQJCNAk6x9jD1m mode=scroll]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 12px auto 6px auto;font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: normal\">\u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach et al. (Los Angeles Times Communications) Ruling on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/227096918/Long-Beach-Police-Officers-Association-v-City-of-Long-Beach-et-al-Los-Angeles-Times-Communications-Ruling\">Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach et al. (Los Angeles Times Communications) Rul...\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_132034\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/RS8293_IMG_8675-lpr.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-132034\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/RS8293_IMG_8675-lpr-640x426.jpg\" alt=\"Three of the top five U.S. cities in police shootings per capita are in the Golden State. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three of the top five U.S. cities in police shootings per capita are in the Golden State. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state Supreme Court ruled today that the public's interest in knowing the names of police officers involved in shootings should generally outweigh privacy concerns for the officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case, Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach (Los Angeles Times Communications), appears to have narrowed exceptions to California public records laws. It stems from a dispute between the Los Angeles Times and Long Beach Police Department over access to the names of officers involved in the 2010 fatal shooting of Douglas Zerby, who police believed pointed a gun at the officers. The object Zerby was holding turned out to be a garden hose spray nozzle. The Times filed a California Public Records Act request for the names of the officers involved in the Zerby shooting and the names of all Long Beach officers involved in shootings for the prior six-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identities of officers involved in the Zerby shooting were eventually released by prosecutors, \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-officer-names-20140529-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">according to the Times\u003c/a>, but the issue of access to the information wasn't settled until today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=06001-07000&file=6250-6270\" target=\"_blank\">California Public Records Act\u003c/a> contains what the court calls a \"catchall exemption\" that allows a public agency \"to justify withholding any record by demonstrating that ... on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court solidified today, however, that \"this provision contemplates a case-by-case balancing process, with the clear burden of proof on the proponent of nondisclosure to demonstrate a clear overbalance on the side of confidentiality.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government agencies may also withhold records relating to personnel files of an officer under a separate exception in California's public records law and the 2006 state Supreme Court ruling in \u003ca href=\"http://gov.uchastings.edu/docs/CaseCopley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Copley Press, Inc. v. Superior Court\u003c/a>, which expanded the personnel file protections for police officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think it’s an opinion that really narrows the exceptions to the public records act, including exceptions built into the public records act and Copley Press,\" said David Greene, a member of the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists' Freedom of Information Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said today's ruling goes farther than just compelling police departments to release the names of officers involved in shootings — it severs incident reports and other records generated by police departments that have been widely claimed to be protected by personnel or evidence exceptions to the public records act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the ruling:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>[m]any records routinely maintained by law enforcement agencies are not personnel records. For example, the information contained in the initial incident reports of an on-duty shooting are typically not personnel records as that term is defined in Penal Code section 832.8. It may be true that such shootings are routinely investigated by the employing agency, resulting eventually in some sort of officer appraisal or discipline. But only the records \u003cem>generated\u003c/em> in connection with that appraisal or discipline would come within the statutory definition of personnel records ... We do not read the phrase \"records relating to . . . [¶] . . . [¶] . . . [e]mployee . . . appraisal[] or discipline\" (ibid.) so broadly as to include every record that might be considered for purposes of an officer‘s appraisal or discipline, for such a broad reading of the statute would sweep virtually all law enforcement records into the protected category of \"personnel records.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The ruling maintains officers' names may still sometimes be withheld, “if it is essential to protect an officer’s anonymity for safety reasons or for reason peculiar to the officer’s duties – as, for example, in the case of an undercover officer – then the public interest in disclosure of the officer’s name may need to give way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Long Beach Police Officers Association argued that police officers sometimes receive threats after these shootings, but that wasn't specific enough, according to the ruling. “That determination, however, would need to be based on a particularized showing, which was not made here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Rains is an attorney who specializes in defending police officers in disciplinary, criminal and civil cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Make no mistake about it, I think this decision does leave open this argument that where there is some credible threat to the officer's safety, the name would not or should not be disclosed,\" he said. \"We take that very seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rains didn't see anything in the ruling that would compel police departments to release officers' names, incident reports or any other information about a shooting within a certain time frame, and he described how his law firm may advise police departments on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I’ve asked them at times to not disclose the officer’s name if we are representing the officer, because we really wanted to get a sense as to where the publicity was going,\" Rains said. \"If the public response is the officer did something horrible and needs to pay the price, we would like to see how that evolves over the next day or two, and if there is not a public outcry, there may be less of a concern about the officer's safety.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gary Delagnes, retired San Francisco Police Department officer and former president of the San Francisco police officers union, said there is sometimes a public interest in knowing the name of a police officer who has shot someone, but he thinks the court got the burden of proof wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think they got it backwards,\" he said, adding that news organizations or whoever is interested in the information should have to prove why it's in the public interest to disclose it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a guilty until proven innocent situation,\" Delagnes said. \"That’s just not fair to the cop. But on the other hand, for equal and fair play, when you’re given a gun and you’re given the ability to arrest people and take people’s civil rights away from them, and if you have a long history of continued problems within the department, I think the public has a right to know the history of the officer, if in fact it is a bad history.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He didn't know how the press would know what information to request because complaints of excessive force and other information about officers' records remain sealed, but he cautioned against releasing an officer's name without good reason. Police departments will usually be unable to meet the particularized showing requirement, he said, but there remains a real threat to officer safety and the possibility of harming the officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The myth about cops, because people see it on TV, is that cops get in shootings all the time and it’s no big deal,\" Delagnes said. \"I’ve never met a cop that wanted to shoot somebody.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read the full ruling below:\u003cbr>\n \u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ciframe\n class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\"\n src=\"//www.scribd.com/embeds/227096918/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-zqcND1JQJCNAk6x9jD1m\"\n title=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/227096918\"\n data-auto-height=\"true\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"scribd_227096918\"\n width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\n \u003ca class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__scribdShortcode__scribd_footer\"\n href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/227096918\"\n target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">View this document on Scribd\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 12px auto 6px auto;font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: normal\">\u003ca style=\"text-decoration: underline\" title=\"View Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach et al. (Los Angeles Times Communications) Ruling on Scribd\" href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/227096918/Long-Beach-Police-Officers-Association-v-City-of-Long-Beach-et-al-Los-Angeles-Times-Communications-Ruling\">Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach et al. (Los Angeles Times Communications) Rul...\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Isla Vista Aftermath: Can Legislation Prevent Mass Shootings?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Lisa Pickoff-White, Mina Kim and Rachel Dornhelm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_137311\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/493651175.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-137311\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/493651175-640x421.jpg\" alt=\"Bullet holes in the IV Deli Mart, one of several crime scenes Saturday, May 24, 2014. (Spencer Weiner/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bullet holes in the IV Deli Mart, one of several crime scenes Saturday, May 24, 2014. (Spencer Weiner/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The UC Santa Barbara community is mourning the victims of a violent rampage Friday night that left seven dead, including the alleged killer. Three of the dead were \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/26/stabbing-victims-in-isla-vista-killings-were-from-san-jose-fremont/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">from the Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authorities say 22-year-old Elliot Rodger stabbed to death three men in his apartment, and then shot three people and injured 13 others before shooting himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodger’s parents reportedly \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/26/amid-multiple-warning-signs-alleged-isla-vista-killer-slipped-through-system/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alerted police last month\u003c/a> about concerns they had about their son. But police did not search his room, where he was stowing weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without probable cause to believe a crime was being committed, the police wouldn’t have had authority to go search his apartment. Also, while Rodger legally possessed three firearms, possession of a firearm is not in and of itself evidence of a criminal act or criminal intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) suggested that authorities should be required, as part of such welfare visits, to go beyond just talking and to check whether a person has purchased weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘All we can do is take a public health approach to this and try to lower the number of gun victims every single day.’\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Additional steps could include searching the individual’s surroundings and talking to roommates, neighbors and relatives, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There need to be the protocols in place, training, and culture, which says when you see these kinds of warning signs you’re going to take consistent steps to double-check and make sure this person isn’t someone who might be prone to violence,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, therapists can tell authorities when they fear a client is at risk of committing a violent act. However, there is no prohibition on firearms ownership unless someone has been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police could also use social media to help determine someone’s mental state, recommends \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/adam-winkler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Winkler\u003c/a>, a law professor at UCLA and a gun law expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sending seven deputies to someone’s home is not the best way to find out if someone is mentally ill or not,” Winkler said. “Perhaps we have to start taking seriously online threats and people’s social media presence as well. I don’t know if that digital footprint would have been enough to give police probably cause to search that home, but maybe something could have been found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deputies found Rodger to be shy but polite and left without walking through the apartment or talking to anyone else. Rodger later wrote in his manifesto that deputies would have found his weapons and foiled his plot if only they had done a bit more checking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Assembly members Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) announced legislation that would create a gun violence restraining order: Concerned family members, intimate partners or friends could notify law enforcement of someone who is demonstrating a propensity to commit violence toward themselves or others, and potentially prohibit the purchase of firearms or remove firearms already in possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When someone is in crisis, the people closest to them are often the first to spot the warning signs, but almost nothing can now be done to get back their guns or prevent them from buying more,” said Skinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winkler is not sure that legislation can make a difference, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we think about two of the main elements of President Obama’s gun proposals, limiting high-capacity magazines and background checks on every gun purchase, those are already the law in California and they certainly didn’t prevent this horrible tragedy,” Winkler said. “All we can do is take a public health approach to this and try to lower the number of gun victims every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/151592397&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Don Thompson from the Associated Press contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Lisa Pickoff-White, Mina Kim and Rachel Dornhelm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_137311\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/493651175.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-137311\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/493651175-640x421.jpg\" alt=\"Bullet holes in the IV Deli Mart, one of several crime scenes Saturday, May 24, 2014. (Spencer Weiner/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bullet holes in the IV Deli Mart, one of several crime scenes Saturday, May 24, 2014. (Spencer Weiner/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The UC Santa Barbara community is mourning the victims of a violent rampage Friday night that left seven dead, including the alleged killer. Three of the dead were \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/26/stabbing-victims-in-isla-vista-killings-were-from-san-jose-fremont/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">from the Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authorities say 22-year-old Elliot Rodger stabbed to death three men in his apartment, and then shot three people and injured 13 others before shooting himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodger’s parents reportedly \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/26/amid-multiple-warning-signs-alleged-isla-vista-killer-slipped-through-system/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alerted police last month\u003c/a> about concerns they had about their son. But police did not search his room, where he was stowing weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without probable cause to believe a crime was being committed, the police wouldn’t have had authority to go search his apartment. Also, while Rodger legally possessed three firearms, possession of a firearm is not in and of itself evidence of a criminal act or criminal intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) suggested that authorities should be required, as part of such welfare visits, to go beyond just talking and to check whether a person has purchased weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘All we can do is take a public health approach to this and try to lower the number of gun victims every single day.’\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Additional steps could include searching the individual’s surroundings and talking to roommates, neighbors and relatives, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There need to be the protocols in place, training, and culture, which says when you see these kinds of warning signs you’re going to take consistent steps to double-check and make sure this person isn’t someone who might be prone to violence,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, therapists can tell authorities when they fear a client is at risk of committing a violent act. However, there is no prohibition on firearms ownership unless someone has been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police could also use social media to help determine someone’s mental state, recommends \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/adam-winkler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Winkler\u003c/a>, a law professor at UCLA and a gun law expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sending seven deputies to someone’s home is not the best way to find out if someone is mentally ill or not,” Winkler said. “Perhaps we have to start taking seriously online threats and people’s social media presence as well. I don’t know if that digital footprint would have been enough to give police probably cause to search that home, but maybe something could have been found.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deputies found Rodger to be shy but polite and left without walking through the apartment or talking to anyone else. Rodger later wrote in his manifesto that deputies would have found his weapons and foiled his plot if only they had done a bit more checking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Assembly members Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) announced legislation that would create a gun violence restraining order: Concerned family members, intimate partners or friends could notify law enforcement of someone who is demonstrating a propensity to commit violence toward themselves or others, and potentially prohibit the purchase of firearms or remove firearms already in possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When someone is in crisis, the people closest to them are often the first to spot the warning signs, but almost nothing can now be done to get back their guns or prevent them from buying more,” said Skinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winkler is not sure that legislation can make a difference, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we think about two of the main elements of President Obama’s gun proposals, limiting high-capacity magazines and background checks on every gun purchase, those are already the law in California and they certainly didn’t prevent this horrible tragedy,” Winkler said. “All we can do is take a public health approach to this and try to lower the number of gun victims every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/151592397&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Don Thompson from the Associated Press contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Bill Would Impose Sanctions for Sexually Harassing Farmworkers",
"title": "Bill Would Impose Sanctions for Sexually Harassing Farmworkers",
"headTitle": "News Fix | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136817\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/RS5166_5Maricruz-lpr.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-136817\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/RS5166_5Maricruz-lpr-640x426.jpg\" alt=\"Maricruz Ladino remained silent for seven months after she says she was raped by a work supervisor, afraid to lose her job if she complained, she says. (Grace Rubenstein/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maricruz Ladino remained silent for seven months after she says she was raped by a work supervisor, afraid to lose her job if she complained. (Grace Rubenstein/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s an open secret in California’s agricultural fields and packing houses: Female farmworkers often endure sexual harassment, or even sexual assault. The perpetrators are usually crew bosses who threaten to fire the women if they speak up. Now, a bill making its way through the California Legislature tries to address the problem by cracking down on employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB1087\" target=\"_blank\">SB1087\u003c/a> focuses on farm labor contractors, those who hire workers for jobs like picking strawberries or packing lettuce for different growers. It would give the state labor commissioner the power to revoke farm labor contractors’ licenses if they hire crew supervisors who have sexually harassed workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most good employers do want to play by the rules, because they know that if they break the rules, it’s going to cost them money,” says s\u003ca href=\"http://sd17.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\">tate Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel)\u003c/a>. “I think we can create a greater framework of integrity in the fields, translating into greater protection, particularly for female workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning says he was moved to introduce the bill because of in-depth reporting on the issue of farmworker sexual harassment and assault by the \u003ca href=\"http://cironline.org/rapeinthefields\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"http://investigativereportingprogram.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201306280850/a\" target=\"_blank\">The California Report\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maricruz Ladino is one the farmworkers we interviewed for our earlier series, which ran on KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/243219199/silenced-by-status-farm-workers-face-rape-sexual-abuse\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>. Ladino says she was assaulted by her supervisor, after he harassed her for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t give supervisors any training about sexual harassment. They train them about pesticides, farm safety and everything else,” Ladino says in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"f5cfef61dfc07bfc86c528276d027c97\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to sexual harassment training, Ladino says supervisors are often just asked to sign a paper claiming they’ve been trained. It’s a practice sometimes referred to as “tailgate training.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning’s bill would require more training on how to prevent sexual harassment, not only for farm supervisors but for \u003cem>all\u003c/em> farm employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the state’s farm groups, which usually oppose more state regulation, say they won’t block this bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Sexual harassment in the fields] is an issue. This is unacceptable,” says Barry Bedwell, president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cgtfl.com/\" target=\"_blank\">California Grape & Tree Fruit League\u003c/a>. “Maybe things that were taken for granted in the past – ‘that’s just the way things are.’ No, that’s not the way they should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other farm groups say that while they, too, are concerned about sexual abuse in the fields, they believe some of the bill’s provisions are unreasonable. The \u003ca href=\"http://www.cfbf.com/\" target=\"_blank\">California Farm Bureau Federation\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cawg.org/\" target=\"_blank\">California Association of Winegrape Growers\u003c/a> say farm employers can’t do the kinds of background checks this bill would require.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know of a database that you can go and consult to find out if someone had committed sexual harassment in the past,” says Bryan Little, who directors labor affairs for the California Farm Bureau. “There’s really no practical way that we know of for that farm labor contractor to learn that information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning says he plans to address that concern through an amendment to the bill. Prospective hires would have to fill out a written disclosure form indicating whether they have any past sexual assault convictions or sexual harassment judgments against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill will come up for a full Senate vote next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/150810686&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136817\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/RS5166_5Maricruz-lpr.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-136817\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/RS5166_5Maricruz-lpr-640x426.jpg\" alt=\"Maricruz Ladino remained silent for seven months after she says she was raped by a work supervisor, afraid to lose her job if she complained, she says. (Grace Rubenstein/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maricruz Ladino remained silent for seven months after she says she was raped by a work supervisor, afraid to lose her job if she complained. (Grace Rubenstein/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s an open secret in California’s agricultural fields and packing houses: Female farmworkers often endure sexual harassment, or even sexual assault. The perpetrators are usually crew bosses who threaten to fire the women if they speak up. Now, a bill making its way through the California Legislature tries to address the problem by cracking down on employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB1087\" target=\"_blank\">SB1087\u003c/a> focuses on farm labor contractors, those who hire workers for jobs like picking strawberries or packing lettuce for different growers. It would give the state labor commissioner the power to revoke farm labor contractors’ licenses if they hire crew supervisors who have sexually harassed workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most good employers do want to play by the rules, because they know that if they break the rules, it’s going to cost them money,” says s\u003ca href=\"http://sd17.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\">tate Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel)\u003c/a>. “I think we can create a greater framework of integrity in the fields, translating into greater protection, particularly for female workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning says he was moved to introduce the bill because of in-depth reporting on the issue of farmworker sexual harassment and assault by the \u003ca href=\"http://cironline.org/rapeinthefields\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"http://investigativereportingprogram.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201306280850/a\" target=\"_blank\">The California Report\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maricruz Ladino is one the farmworkers we interviewed for our earlier series, which ran on KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/243219199/silenced-by-status-farm-workers-face-rape-sexual-abuse\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>. Ladino says she was assaulted by her supervisor, after he harassed her for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t give supervisors any training about sexual harassment. They train them about pesticides, farm safety and everything else,” Ladino says in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to sexual harassment training, Ladino says supervisors are often just asked to sign a paper claiming they’ve been trained. It’s a practice sometimes referred to as “tailgate training.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning’s bill would require more training on how to prevent sexual harassment, not only for farm supervisors but for \u003cem>all\u003c/em> farm employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the state’s farm groups, which usually oppose more state regulation, say they won’t block this bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Sexual harassment in the fields] is an issue. This is unacceptable,” says Barry Bedwell, president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cgtfl.com/\" target=\"_blank\">California Grape & Tree Fruit League\u003c/a>. “Maybe things that were taken for granted in the past – ‘that’s just the way things are.’ No, that’s not the way they should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other farm groups say that while they, too, are concerned about sexual abuse in the fields, they believe some of the bill’s provisions are unreasonable. The \u003ca href=\"http://www.cfbf.com/\" target=\"_blank\">California Farm Bureau Federation\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cawg.org/\" target=\"_blank\">California Association of Winegrape Growers\u003c/a> say farm employers can’t do the kinds of background checks this bill would require.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know of a database that you can go and consult to find out if someone had committed sexual harassment in the past,” says Bryan Little, who directors labor affairs for the California Farm Bureau. “There’s really no practical way that we know of for that farm labor contractor to learn that information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monning says he plans to address that concern through an amendment to the bill. Prospective hires would have to fill out a written disclosure form indicating whether they have any past sexual assault convictions or sexual harassment judgments against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill will come up for a full Senate vote next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/150810686&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"single-video\">[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sawwd8dh6M4?rel=0&w=640&h=360]\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Note: Video depicts shooting and contains explicit language.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A day of protest over recent police shootings in the Monterey County city of Salinas culminated Wednesday night with a crowd of residents throwing rocks and bottles at officers — one of whom was struck in the head while attempting to perform CPR on a shooting victim. That officer was reportedly in stable condition Thursday with non-life-threatening injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The confrontation between city residents and officers also damaged several police vehicles. It occurred near the scene of a Tuesday afternoon shooting, seen in the video above, in which two officers followed a man who police say was carrying a large pair of garden shears. Police say officers shot the man after he lunged at them. \u003ca href=\"http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/salinas/salinas-police-shooting-video-frame-by-frame/26090432\" target=\"_blank\">An analysis of the video by TV station KSBW\u003c/a> shows the final moments of the incident and suggests one of the officers was moving in on the unidentified man from behind and that the man turned toward the officer immediately before shots are heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the Salinas Police Department's third fatal officer-involved shooting this year and the second this month, following a deadly incident in a grocery store parking lot 11 days earlier. In that case, a man named Osman Hernandez was shot with a Taser, and then shot and killed after police say he \"revealed\" a lettuce-cutting knife in his waistband. San Francisco civil rights and personal injury attorney \u003ca href=\"http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/local/2014/05/21/family-plans-lawsuit-officer-involved-death/2336316/\" target=\"_blank\">Christopher Dolan has filed a claim against the city\u003c/a> for the Hernandez shooting, the first step toward a possible lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department has scheduled a Thursday afternoon press conference to discuss this week's shooting. Before video of the incident went viral, \u003ca href=\"http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/2014/05/20/salinas-police-kill-man-lunged-shears/9353391/\" target=\"_blank\">the Salinas Californian reported this police account\u003c/a> of the shooting:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Officers responded about noon Tuesday to a home on the 700 block of Elkington Avenue when a woman reported a man had jumped her backyard fence and attempted to attack her dog with scissors, Maiorana said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When officers encountered the man at the intersection of Sanborn Road and Del Monte Avenue, outside Delicia's Bakery, he made no attempt to hide the shears, Maiorana said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attempts at hailing the man in English and Spanish were unsuccessful, Maiorana said. Officers then unsuccessfully deployed a Taser as the man began waving the gardening shears in the air, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This individual pulled the gardening shears and actually attempted to attack the officers with the gardening shears,\" Maiorana said. \"In response, the officers, fearing for their personal safety, shot this individual, and this individual is now deceased.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both officers involved fired and will be placed on paid administrative leave, per policy, Maiorana said. He wouldn't identify the officers except to say both are veterans of the force with \"many, many years\" under their belts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investigators are currently poring over video evidence and witness statements, Maiorana said. The video evidence will most likely not be publicized, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \"There's no doubt about what happened,\" he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Hours after the shooting, residents crowded into a meeting of the Salinas City Council, many demanding a federal investigation of the Salinas Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_132019\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/81018775.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-132019\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/81018775-640x441.jpg\" alt=\"File photo of the Vallejo Police Department. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"441\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pattern of officer-involved shootings in Vallejo raises eyebrows. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>hortly after midnight on an evening nearly two years ago, Vallejo police officers on the lookout for drunken drivers spotted a white 1999 Lexus speeding, without its lights on. When the officers turned on their lights and siren to pull the car over, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=30966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">police said later\u003c/a>, the driver led them on a short chase that ended in back of an apartment building on a dead-end street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driver, Anton Barrett, and his teen-age son got out of the car and ran. Within minutes, the unarmed Barrett had been fatally shot, then shocked with a Taser. He was one of six people killed in 2012 by Vallejo police in officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those half-dozen deadly incidents, occurring in one year in a city of fewer than 120,000 people, gave Vallejo a rate of fatal police-involved shootings dozens of times greater than the national average. The killings have prompted a stream of civil rights and wrongful death lawsuits against the city and its police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of those six deadly incidents shows that one member of the 91-person police force — Officer Sean Kenney — appears to have been involved in three of the fatal shootings. Even in the context of an understaffed force contending with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_24831783/crimes-increased-2013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">high rate of violent crime\u003c/a>, some Vallejo residents and an independent criminal justice expert say the number of fatal shootings and the apparent repeated involvement of one officer raises questions about the department’s management and accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1379\" height=\"747\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11826901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate.jpg 1379w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-800x433.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-1020x553.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-160x87.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding the police shootings to Vallejo’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225176308/Violent-Crime-in-Vallejo-Calif-1985-to-2012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 other homicides in 2012\u003c/a>, the police department accounted for nearly one-third of the city’s 20 homicides for the year, a statistic that shocks Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor and director of the law school’s criminal justice research program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you were to ask me, have I ever heard in an American city of a situation in which the police force is responsible for 25 or 30 percent of total homicides in the community,” Zimring said, “the answer is I haven’t heard of that before, ever, and I would hope not to hear of it again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, the rate of fatal officer-involved shootings in Vallejo — which had about 118,000 residents — was about 38 times the national rate. The deaths have resulted in calls from Vallejo residents for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Vallejo officers’ use of force, just as it \u003ca href=\"http://www.abqjournal.com/apd-under-fire#intro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has done with the Albuquerque Police Department\u003c/a>. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent Justice Department report found\u003c/a> that Albuquerque police, who have \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ff-albuquerque-meeting-silence-20140509-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shot and killed 25 people since 2010\u003c/a>, have engaged in a “pattern or practice of excessive force that violates the Constitution and federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zimring said 2012 doesn’t appear to be just a statistical anomaly. Vallejo police shot and killed three people in 2013 and another one last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not merely lightning striking in 2012 — lightning keeps on striking in Vallejo,” Zimring said. “Use of lethal force, whether justified or not in individual cases, is systemically problematic in Vallejo in a way that compels a heck of a lot more attention than it’s been getting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/19/vallejo-city-manager-responds-to-questions-about-police-shootings/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">email response to questions\u003c/a> about fatal police shootings in Vallejo, City Manager Dan Keen said more than 75 percent of Vallejo’s homicides last year were gang-related, and police routinely encounter dangerous situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2012 and 2013, through direct contact with citizens and Vallejo Police Officers, each year, more than 200 illegal firearms were seized from individuals in Vallejo,” \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/19/vallejo-city-manager-responds-to-questions-about-police-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keen wrote\u003c/a>. “In 2013, Vallejo Police Officers responded to hundreds of ‘shots-fired’ calls, including more than 200 shootings where individuals were victims of firearms violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the rate of fatal police shootings in Vallejo is far higher than in bigger Bay Area cities also dealing with high crime rates. In 2012, the rate of fatal officer-involved shootings per 100,000 residents by Vallejo police was 20 times the rate in both Oakland and San Francisco. In the same year, Oakland had one fatal officer-involved shooting, and San Francisco had two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1449\" height=\"749\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11826903\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate.jpg 1449w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-800x414.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-1020x527.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-160x83.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1449px) 100vw, 1449px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In lawsuits resulting from the Vallejo Police Department’s fatal shootings and excessive force complaints in 2012, Officer Sean Kenney’s name appears several times. He is confirmed to have been involved in the controversial killing of a suspect in a parked car and has been named as a shooter in lawsuits involving two other fatal incidents. He is also defendant in two suits alleging he used excessive force in nonfatal confrontations with suspects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo Police Lt. Sid De Jesus said Kenney would not comment on any of the fatal officer-involved shooting incidents that allegedly involve him. Information about police officers’ personnel records are sealed by California law, so Kenney’s career is difficult to trace. A Napa City Police Department spokesman confirmed Kenney worked there prior to transferring to Vallejo, sometime around 2005. Kenney left that department in good standing, the spokesman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kenney left Vallejo for the Hayward Police Department in early 2010 amid layoffs, \u003ca href=\"http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14416120\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to the Vallejo Times Herald\u003c/a>. He returned in August of 2011, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=34032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vallejo city documents\u003c/a>, to be part of the department’s crime suppression unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department has since made Kenney a detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">With the six fatal shootings in 2012, the Vallejo Police Department accounted for nearly 30 percent of the city’s homicides for the year.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney John Burris, who has represented clients in numerous complaints against Bay Area police departments, including fatal shootings, says Kenney’s reassignment isn’t surprising. He says he’s seen it before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unseemly, though,” he says. “A detective may be involved in officer-involved shooting investigations, and there’s a person who does that who has cases outstanding and pending? Their credibility is called into question, but I’m not convinced the police care about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris’s office is representing the family of Anton Barrett, the 41-year-old driver of the white Lexus speeding without headlights, and the first person allegedly shot and killed by Kenney in 2012\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>May 28, 2012: The Anton Barrett Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136540\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 112px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136540 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/Anton-Barrett-480x640.jpeg\" alt=\"Anton Barrett. (Courtesy of Law Offices of John L. Burris)\" width=\"112\" height=\"150\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anton Barrett. (Courtesy of Law Offices of John L. Burris)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the Lexus turned into a dead-end street, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=30966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">police say\u003c/a>, Barrett and his son, Anton Frank Barrett, 18, jumped from their vehicle and fled on foot in different directions near Farragut and Wilson avenues in west Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The younger Barrett heard gunshots coming from the direction his father had run, according to the lawsuit, and scrambled into some bushes to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the elder Barrett had encountered an officer — named in \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223936483/Estate-of-Anton-Pat-Barrett-et-al-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-First-Amended-Complaint-13-08-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a subsequent civil rights lawsuit\u003c/a> as Sean Kenney — who told him to stop and put his hands up. Here’s what happened next, according to the department account:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The suspect did not comply and continued running towards the officer. The officer began backing up and telling the suspect several times to show him his hands. The suspect had his hands in his waistband area of his hooded sweat jacket. The suspect reached into his pocket and pull out a dark colored metal object. The officer believed the suspect was now armed, was in fear the suspect was going to kill him or shoot other officers. The officer fired his service weapon and struck the suspect several times. The suspect fell to the sidewalk but tried to get up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officer began telling the additional officers that the suspect had a gun. The suspect was immobilized by another officer who used his taser.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The dark-colored object that police say Barrett reached for turned out to be a metal wallet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While all that was happening, Officers Boyce, Thompson and a police canine named Yago caught up to the younger Barrett. The lawsuit alleges Thompson ordered the dog to attack Barrett, who was unarmed. After dragging him from the bushes, Boyce threw Barrett to the ground and handcuffed him, then leaned his knee on Barrett’s head as he questioned him. Then, the suit alleges, Thompson ordered the dog to again attack the handcuffed Barrett while threatening to kill the 18-year-old and calling him a “nigger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adante Pointer, an Oakland-based civil rights attorney with the law offices of John Burris, is representing Anton Barrett and other members of his father’s family in their lawsuit against Vallejo. He said the repeated attack on the younger Barrett points to “the culture in terms of the way police are approaching how they deal with suspects and just the manner of how they’re dealing with the people of Vallejo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years after Barrett died, the Police Department and Solano County District Attorney’s Office have yet to conclude their review of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Sept. 2, 2012: The Mario Romero Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2012, Vallejo police officers Kenney and Dustin Joseph were on their way to a reported burglary when they spotted two black men in a parked Ford Thunderbird about a block and a half from the reported crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223937993/Mario-Romero-Joseph-Johnson-Solano-County-District-Attorney-Letter-to-Vallejo-s-Police-Chief-13-06-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A later review of the shooting\u003c/a> by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office lays out the probable cause for Kenney and Joseph to approach Mario Romero, 23, in the driver’s seat of the Thunderbird, and its passenger, Joseph Johnson, 21 at the time: There had been a recent spike in gang-related gun violence in the area, the review says, and Kenney recalled a similar car described in one shooting incident about a month before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These were also the only two people out on the street just after 4:30 a.m., and the vehicle’s occupants “appeared shocked to see the marked Vallejo Police unit coming down the street,” according to the district attorney’s review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The review says both Joseph and Kenney exited their cruiser and Romero stepped out of the Thunderbird while reaching into his waistband. Joseph saw a gun in Romero’s hand, and Kenney saw what he thought was a movement of reaching for a gun. Both fired at Romero multiple times, and he fell back into the Thunderbird. Kenney and Joseph continued to shout for Romero to “show his hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Romero re-emerged into view with both hands still clenched toward the center of his body like he was holding a firearm, [Officer] Kenney fired several more shots,” the district attorney’s review says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers fired a third volley of gunshots at Romero as he “started to come up looking directly at [Officer] Kenney. … These shots appeared to have an effect, as both officers saw Mr. Romero settle back and stop moving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County coroner said Romero was shot 30 times, including three to the head, five to the neck, six to the torso, six to his upper right extremity, nine to his upper left extremity and one to the left thigh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passenger Joseph Johnson was also shot, surviving a single bullet wound to his pelvic area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223938746/Johnson-et-al-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-13-10-04\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a federal lawsuit\u003c/a> filed against the police department, Romero’s three sisters say they were were in their home waiting for Johnson and Romero to come in. The women say they heard a commotion outside, went to a window and saw Officer Dustin Joseph open fire on the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Romero’s sisters dispute several details of the police account. While the district attorney’s review states Kenney jumped on the hood of the Thunderbird only to check the car after the shooting had stopped, the witnesses inside the house say they saw Joseph fire several rounds while standing on the hood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DA’s review reports that after the shooting, Kenney went into the Thunderbird looking for the weapon he and Joseph had seen in Romero’s hands:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“He found it wedged between the center console and the rear portion of the driver’s seat, near the floorboard of the passenger area immediately behind the driver’s seat. He briefly lifted the firearm with the intent to clear it of any live ammunition, but put it back in place when he realized he was not wearing gloves and that there was blood on it.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. Police also recovered baggies of pills later determined to be methamphetamine. Romero’s toxicology report, according the DA’s review, found he had a significant amount of methamphetamine in his system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney Catherine Haley, who is representing Romero’s family and Joseph Johnson, called the shooting “absolutely execution-style.” She said it’s difficult to believe Romero would continue to reach for a fake gun while police fired at least 30 .40-caliber bullets into the car. And Kenney’s handling of evidence without gloves, in a shooting he had just participated in, raises significant questions about the integrity of the investigation on which both the district attorney and the U.S. attorney’s office based their reviews.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Kenney’s handling of evidence without gloves, in a shooting he had just participated in, raises significant questions.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The district attorney’s review gives far more weight to statements from the involved officers, compared with those made by civilian witnesses inside the house. Romero’s sisters tried to accompany their brother’s body and the wounded Joseph to the hospital, but were told to get back inside their house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though police knew they were there, no one interviewed them for more than two months after the shooting. That’s despite the fact both a Solano County district attorney’s investigator and Vallejo Police Lt. Sid De Jesus have said all witness statements should be taken as soon as possible after this kind of incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district attorney’s review explains the credence given to the officers’ account this way :\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“The statements of Mr. Romero’s sisters were all made almost ten weeks after this incident occurred. During that time, it would have been natural for them to reflect and discuss this incident. In contrast, the statements made by [Officer] Joseph and [Officer] Kenney were taken merely hours after the incident, when neither of them had a chance to speak to the other nor to any other involved person, as they were removed from the scene and sequestered almost immediately after the incident.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>De Jesus says that under orders from Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Kreins, the department will no longer comment on officer-involved shootings. Kreins issued the order after stories about fatal October 2012 shooting of Jeremiah Moore — also allegedly involving Officer Kenney. De Jesus did confirm that Kenney had been reassigned to the detective’s division, which he characterized as a “lateral movement,” not a promotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Oct. 21, 2012: The Jeremiah Moore Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136545\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 112px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136545 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/9644_transform.jpg\" alt=\"Jeremiah Moore (Courtesy of Lisa Moore.)\" width=\"112\" height=\"150\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremiah Moore (Courtesy of Lisa Moore.)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/04/131648/vallejo-police-killing-mystery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED reported\u003c/a> in early April that the Solano County district attorney’s review of Jeremiah Moore’s killing on Oct. 21, 2012, by Vallejo police had been ongoing for a year and a half. Neither investigators with the office nor police detectives had interviewed a witness who lived across the street from the incident and whose account contradicted key points of \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=31056\" target=\"_claim\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the police department’s statement on the shooting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors called 911 after a chaotic evening in which Moore and his roommate smashed windows in their cars and were overheard saying they were about to set their home on fire. Police responded and said \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=31056\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a press release\u003c/a> that officers fatally wounded Moore after he threatened an officer with a rifle, placing it “directly against an officer’s stomach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But witness Jaime Alvarado said he saw Moore naked with nothing in his hands when he was shot by a Vallejo police officer standing about 8 to 10 feet away. Alvarado said he tried to go outside after the scene had calmed down to give a statement to police, but was told to go back inside. He was finally interviewed by district attorney’s investigators last month — a year and a half after the shooting and only after KQED had published his account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 29, Oakland civil rights attorney Michael Haddad filed a federal \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-filed-in-vallejo-police-killing-of-jeremiah-moore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">civil rights lawsuit\u003c/a> against Vallejo, the police department, Chief Kreins and Kenney, whom the lawsuit names as one of perhaps several police officers who may have opened fire. Haddad also said that Alvarado’s account suggests police invented their details of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Moore shooting also suggests police escalated a situation that could have been defused if officers had approached it as a mental health call, Haddad said. He added they should have known what they were approaching because people calling 911 described naked men, running, shouting and breaking windows outside their home in a generally quiet neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t need much more information than that to know that somebody has some sort of mental disturbance,” Haddad said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haddad is also critical of California law and law-enforcement policies that make it difficult to get basic information about officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t imagine the government can just take someone’s life and not even explain why, and that’s the situation we’re living in in California,” Haddad said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added, “For them to be able to hide behind the law that protects police officers’ personnel information, to hide behind that law and not justify their taking of life is really abhorrent, and it’s a situation that must be changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Excessive Force Claims\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kenney is also named in two other federal lawsuits alleging brutality in non-fatal interactions with suspects in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyrone Hicks alleged that a traffic stop on March 30 of that year quickly escalated when Kenney began choking Hicks’ passenger, Teresa Scott, just after he had been ordered out of his vehicle and handcuffed by another Vallejo officer. Hicks says he told Kenney he had no right to choke Scott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225180033/Tyrone-Edward-Hicks-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-Amended-Complaint-14-04-02\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the lawsuit\u003c/a>: “Defendant Kenney approached Plaintiff [Hicks], placed his hands around Plaintiff’s throat and began choking Plaintiff where Plaintiff could not breathe. … The choking occurred approximately for 15-20 seconds and Plaintiff was placed in a patrol car.” The second officer involved in the incident is accused of failing to intercede to stop the alleged choking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”97698f477385328fd9cc9f400df4fcd0″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit says Hicks was booked for possession of cocaine for sale, but the charges were dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spawned from a separate incident, \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225181166/IDC-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-First-Amended-Complaint-14-01-14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivan Carter’s lawsuit\u003c/a> against Vallejo says he had been working with his son on Aug. 17, 2012, at a property on Indiana Street. The suit alleges that Vallejo police officers Kenney and Thompson were chasing a separate group of youths suspected of trespassing, and the officers apparently mistook Carter’s son for one in the group they had been chasing, confronting him at a cousin’s home at 640 Indiana St.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers allegedly shot the unnamed minor with a Taser, then “began beating, choking, and pepper spraying” him, the suit says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hicks and others claiming to be injured by Vallejo police say they are part of a group of residents in the city who have been subjected to a “long-standing practice, policy or custom of allowing Vallejo police officers to use excessive force.” The group is organized by Frederick Cooley, who recently settled \u003ca href=\"http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020131030785\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his lawsuit against the city\u003c/a> originating from a confrontation with Officers Kenney and Eric Jensen in late 2011. A Vallejo police department union newsletter says Cooley was arrested for driving a stolen car.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“This is not no new thing. They’ve been doing this for a long time, but it’s come to a head, where they’re killing unarmed individuals.”\u003ccite>Frederick Cooley, Vallejo resident\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Once Cooley was in handcuffs, “Sean Kenney lifted me up to my feet and Jensen took his flashlight and hit me on top of my head,” Cooley said. “Then he (Jensen) got on top of me and started beating me with the flashlight and ended up breaking my hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, Cooley said, Kenney picked him up and slammed his face into the patrol car, lacerating his chin, and closed the patrol car door on his ankles after throwing him in the back seat. When the officers got to the emergency room, Jensen told medical workers that Cooley had been injured in a car crash, according to Cooley. Cooley did crash into two parked cars, according to the police union blotter, but Cooley said that’s not how he was injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After he was released from the hospital, Cooley ended up in the medical facilities of Solano County Jail. “There I met almost 40 different individuals who had been housed there because of injuries they received from Vallejo PD,” he said. “So that’s what started it all. Most of us knew each other, but if we didn’t, we had something in common. Most everybody in the medical area was beat up by the police, dog bites, Tasers, beat with a baton, broken legs, ankles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooley won a legal fight compelling the Vallejo Police Department to disclose 10 years of internal affairs investigations, including any instances in which Kenney or Jensen were accused of excessive force, dishonesty or falsification of evidence. Rather than disclose the information, Vallejo settled Cooley’s case in December 2013 for $35,000, Cooley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a bad person — I have made mistakes in the past, but right now, I think we can make this a better place to live,” said Cooley, who says he’s lived Vallejo for 30 years. “This is not no new thing. They’ve been doing this for a long time, but it’s come to a head, where they’re killing unarmed individuals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Attorney for California’s Eastern District confirmed the office had reviewed the Mario Romero shooting, and said “the facts did not present a prosecutable criminal offense for violation of federal civil rights laws.” She said the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice reached a similar conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She directed further questions to the U.S. Department of Justice about when the federal government would get involved in a police department’s use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Justice Department did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting an explanation of how it decides to investigate cities like Albuquerque, where they found a “pattern or practice of excessive force that violates the Constitution and federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "With six fatal shootings in 2012, Vallejo police accounted for nearly a third of the city's killings.",
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"title": "Questions Surround Surge in Vallejo Police Shootings | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_132019\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/81018775.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-132019\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/04/81018775-640x441.jpg\" alt=\"File photo of the Vallejo Police Department. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"441\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pattern of officer-involved shootings in Vallejo raises eyebrows. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>hortly after midnight on an evening nearly two years ago, Vallejo police officers on the lookout for drunken drivers spotted a white 1999 Lexus speeding, without its lights on. When the officers turned on their lights and siren to pull the car over, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=30966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">police said later\u003c/a>, the driver led them on a short chase that ended in back of an apartment building on a dead-end street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driver, Anton Barrett, and his teen-age son got out of the car and ran. Within minutes, the unarmed Barrett had been fatally shot, then shocked with a Taser. He was one of six people killed in 2012 by Vallejo police in officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those half-dozen deadly incidents, occurring in one year in a city of fewer than 120,000 people, gave Vallejo a rate of fatal police-involved shootings dozens of times greater than the national average. The killings have prompted a stream of civil rights and wrongful death lawsuits against the city and its police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of those six deadly incidents shows that one member of the 91-person police force — Officer Sean Kenney — appears to have been involved in three of the fatal shootings. Even in the context of an understaffed force contending with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_24831783/crimes-increased-2013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">high rate of violent crime\u003c/a>, some Vallejo residents and an independent criminal justice expert say the number of fatal shootings and the apparent repeated involvement of one officer raises questions about the department’s management and accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1379\" height=\"747\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11826901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate.jpg 1379w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-800x433.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-1020x553.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/VAllejo-murder-rate-160x87.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding the police shootings to Vallejo’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225176308/Violent-Crime-in-Vallejo-Calif-1985-to-2012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 other homicides in 2012\u003c/a>, the police department accounted for nearly one-third of the city’s 20 homicides for the year, a statistic that shocks Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor and director of the law school’s criminal justice research program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you were to ask me, have I ever heard in an American city of a situation in which the police force is responsible for 25 or 30 percent of total homicides in the community,” Zimring said, “the answer is I haven’t heard of that before, ever, and I would hope not to hear of it again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, the rate of fatal officer-involved shootings in Vallejo — which had about 118,000 residents — was about 38 times the national rate. The deaths have resulted in calls from Vallejo residents for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Vallejo officers’ use of force, just as it \u003ca href=\"http://www.abqjournal.com/apd-under-fire#intro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has done with the Albuquerque Police Department\u003c/a>. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent Justice Department report found\u003c/a> that Albuquerque police, who have \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ff-albuquerque-meeting-silence-20140509-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shot and killed 25 people since 2010\u003c/a>, have engaged in a “pattern or practice of excessive force that violates the Constitution and federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zimring said 2012 doesn’t appear to be just a statistical anomaly. Vallejo police shot and killed three people in 2013 and another one last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not merely lightning striking in 2012 — lightning keeps on striking in Vallejo,” Zimring said. “Use of lethal force, whether justified or not in individual cases, is systemically problematic in Vallejo in a way that compels a heck of a lot more attention than it’s been getting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/19/vallejo-city-manager-responds-to-questions-about-police-shootings/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">email response to questions\u003c/a> about fatal police shootings in Vallejo, City Manager Dan Keen said more than 75 percent of Vallejo’s homicides last year were gang-related, and police routinely encounter dangerous situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2012 and 2013, through direct contact with citizens and Vallejo Police Officers, each year, more than 200 illegal firearms were seized from individuals in Vallejo,” \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/05/19/vallejo-city-manager-responds-to-questions-about-police-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keen wrote\u003c/a>. “In 2013, Vallejo Police Officers responded to hundreds of ‘shots-fired’ calls, including more than 200 shootings where individuals were victims of firearms violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the rate of fatal police shootings in Vallejo is far higher than in bigger Bay Area cities also dealing with high crime rates. In 2012, the rate of fatal officer-involved shootings per 100,000 residents by Vallejo police was 20 times the rate in both Oakland and San Francisco. In the same year, Oakland had one fatal officer-involved shooting, and San Francisco had two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1449\" height=\"749\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11826903\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate.jpg 1449w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-800x414.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-1020x527.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/Staffing-rate-160x83.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1449px) 100vw, 1449px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In lawsuits resulting from the Vallejo Police Department’s fatal shootings and excessive force complaints in 2012, Officer Sean Kenney’s name appears several times. He is confirmed to have been involved in the controversial killing of a suspect in a parked car and has been named as a shooter in lawsuits involving two other fatal incidents. He is also defendant in two suits alleging he used excessive force in nonfatal confrontations with suspects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo Police Lt. Sid De Jesus said Kenney would not comment on any of the fatal officer-involved shooting incidents that allegedly involve him. Information about police officers’ personnel records are sealed by California law, so Kenney’s career is difficult to trace. A Napa City Police Department spokesman confirmed Kenney worked there prior to transferring to Vallejo, sometime around 2005. Kenney left that department in good standing, the spokesman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kenney left Vallejo for the Hayward Police Department in early 2010 amid layoffs, \u003ca href=\"http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14416120\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to the Vallejo Times Herald\u003c/a>. He returned in August of 2011, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=34032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vallejo city documents\u003c/a>, to be part of the department’s crime suppression unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department has since made Kenney a detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">With the six fatal shootings in 2012, the Vallejo Police Department accounted for nearly 30 percent of the city’s homicides for the year.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney John Burris, who has represented clients in numerous complaints against Bay Area police departments, including fatal shootings, says Kenney’s reassignment isn’t surprising. He says he’s seen it before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unseemly, though,” he says. “A detective may be involved in officer-involved shooting investigations, and there’s a person who does that who has cases outstanding and pending? Their credibility is called into question, but I’m not convinced the police care about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris’s office is representing the family of Anton Barrett, the 41-year-old driver of the white Lexus speeding without headlights, and the first person allegedly shot and killed by Kenney in 2012\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>May 28, 2012: The Anton Barrett Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136540\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 112px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136540 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/Anton-Barrett-480x640.jpeg\" alt=\"Anton Barrett. (Courtesy of Law Offices of John L. Burris)\" width=\"112\" height=\"150\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anton Barrett. (Courtesy of Law Offices of John L. Burris)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the Lexus turned into a dead-end street, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=30966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">police say\u003c/a>, Barrett and his son, Anton Frank Barrett, 18, jumped from their vehicle and fled on foot in different directions near Farragut and Wilson avenues in west Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The younger Barrett heard gunshots coming from the direction his father had run, according to the lawsuit, and scrambled into some bushes to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the elder Barrett had encountered an officer — named in \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223936483/Estate-of-Anton-Pat-Barrett-et-al-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-First-Amended-Complaint-13-08-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a subsequent civil rights lawsuit\u003c/a> as Sean Kenney — who told him to stop and put his hands up. Here’s what happened next, according to the department account:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The suspect did not comply and continued running towards the officer. The officer began backing up and telling the suspect several times to show him his hands. The suspect had his hands in his waistband area of his hooded sweat jacket. The suspect reached into his pocket and pull out a dark colored metal object. The officer believed the suspect was now armed, was in fear the suspect was going to kill him or shoot other officers. The officer fired his service weapon and struck the suspect several times. The suspect fell to the sidewalk but tried to get up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officer began telling the additional officers that the suspect had a gun. The suspect was immobilized by another officer who used his taser.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The dark-colored object that police say Barrett reached for turned out to be a metal wallet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While all that was happening, Officers Boyce, Thompson and a police canine named Yago caught up to the younger Barrett. The lawsuit alleges Thompson ordered the dog to attack Barrett, who was unarmed. After dragging him from the bushes, Boyce threw Barrett to the ground and handcuffed him, then leaned his knee on Barrett’s head as he questioned him. Then, the suit alleges, Thompson ordered the dog to again attack the handcuffed Barrett while threatening to kill the 18-year-old and calling him a “nigger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adante Pointer, an Oakland-based civil rights attorney with the law offices of John Burris, is representing Anton Barrett and other members of his father’s family in their lawsuit against Vallejo. He said the repeated attack on the younger Barrett points to “the culture in terms of the way police are approaching how they deal with suspects and just the manner of how they’re dealing with the people of Vallejo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years after Barrett died, the Police Department and Solano County District Attorney’s Office have yet to conclude their review of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Sept. 2, 2012: The Mario Romero Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2012, Vallejo police officers Kenney and Dustin Joseph were on their way to a reported burglary when they spotted two black men in a parked Ford Thunderbird about a block and a half from the reported crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223937993/Mario-Romero-Joseph-Johnson-Solano-County-District-Attorney-Letter-to-Vallejo-s-Police-Chief-13-06-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A later review of the shooting\u003c/a> by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office lays out the probable cause for Kenney and Joseph to approach Mario Romero, 23, in the driver’s seat of the Thunderbird, and its passenger, Joseph Johnson, 21 at the time: There had been a recent spike in gang-related gun violence in the area, the review says, and Kenney recalled a similar car described in one shooting incident about a month before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These were also the only two people out on the street just after 4:30 a.m., and the vehicle’s occupants “appeared shocked to see the marked Vallejo Police unit coming down the street,” according to the district attorney’s review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The review says both Joseph and Kenney exited their cruiser and Romero stepped out of the Thunderbird while reaching into his waistband. Joseph saw a gun in Romero’s hand, and Kenney saw what he thought was a movement of reaching for a gun. Both fired at Romero multiple times, and he fell back into the Thunderbird. Kenney and Joseph continued to shout for Romero to “show his hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Romero re-emerged into view with both hands still clenched toward the center of his body like he was holding a firearm, [Officer] Kenney fired several more shots,” the district attorney’s review says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers fired a third volley of gunshots at Romero as he “started to come up looking directly at [Officer] Kenney. … These shots appeared to have an effect, as both officers saw Mr. Romero settle back and stop moving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County coroner said Romero was shot 30 times, including three to the head, five to the neck, six to the torso, six to his upper right extremity, nine to his upper left extremity and one to the left thigh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passenger Joseph Johnson was also shot, surviving a single bullet wound to his pelvic area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/223938746/Johnson-et-al-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-13-10-04\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a federal lawsuit\u003c/a> filed against the police department, Romero’s three sisters say they were were in their home waiting for Johnson and Romero to come in. The women say they heard a commotion outside, went to a window and saw Officer Dustin Joseph open fire on the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Romero’s sisters dispute several details of the police account. While the district attorney’s review states Kenney jumped on the hood of the Thunderbird only to check the car after the shooting had stopped, the witnesses inside the house say they saw Joseph fire several rounds while standing on the hood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DA’s review reports that after the shooting, Kenney went into the Thunderbird looking for the weapon he and Joseph had seen in Romero’s hands:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“He found it wedged between the center console and the rear portion of the driver’s seat, near the floorboard of the passenger area immediately behind the driver’s seat. He briefly lifted the firearm with the intent to clear it of any live ammunition, but put it back in place when he realized he was not wearing gloves and that there was blood on it.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. Police also recovered baggies of pills later determined to be methamphetamine. Romero’s toxicology report, according the DA’s review, found he had a significant amount of methamphetamine in his system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney Catherine Haley, who is representing Romero’s family and Joseph Johnson, called the shooting “absolutely execution-style.” She said it’s difficult to believe Romero would continue to reach for a fake gun while police fired at least 30 .40-caliber bullets into the car. And Kenney’s handling of evidence without gloves, in a shooting he had just participated in, raises significant questions about the integrity of the investigation on which both the district attorney and the U.S. attorney’s office based their reviews.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Kenney’s handling of evidence without gloves, in a shooting he had just participated in, raises significant questions.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The district attorney’s review gives far more weight to statements from the involved officers, compared with those made by civilian witnesses inside the house. Romero’s sisters tried to accompany their brother’s body and the wounded Joseph to the hospital, but were told to get back inside their house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though police knew they were there, no one interviewed them for more than two months after the shooting. That’s despite the fact both a Solano County district attorney’s investigator and Vallejo Police Lt. Sid De Jesus have said all witness statements should be taken as soon as possible after this kind of incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district attorney’s review explains the credence given to the officers’ account this way :\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“The statements of Mr. Romero’s sisters were all made almost ten weeks after this incident occurred. During that time, it would have been natural for them to reflect and discuss this incident. In contrast, the statements made by [Officer] Joseph and [Officer] Kenney were taken merely hours after the incident, when neither of them had a chance to speak to the other nor to any other involved person, as they were removed from the scene and sequestered almost immediately after the incident.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>De Jesus says that under orders from Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Kreins, the department will no longer comment on officer-involved shootings. Kreins issued the order after stories about fatal October 2012 shooting of Jeremiah Moore — also allegedly involving Officer Kenney. De Jesus did confirm that Kenney had been reassigned to the detective’s division, which he characterized as a “lateral movement,” not a promotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Oct. 21, 2012: The Jeremiah Moore Case\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136545\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 112px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136545 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/9644_transform.jpg\" alt=\"Jeremiah Moore (Courtesy of Lisa Moore.)\" width=\"112\" height=\"150\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremiah Moore (Courtesy of Lisa Moore.)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/04/04/131648/vallejo-police-killing-mystery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED reported\u003c/a> in early April that the Solano County district attorney’s review of Jeremiah Moore’s killing on Oct. 21, 2012, by Vallejo police had been ongoing for a year and a half. Neither investigators with the office nor police detectives had interviewed a witness who lived across the street from the incident and whose account contradicted key points of \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=31056\" target=\"_claim\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the police department’s statement on the shooting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neighbors called 911 after a chaotic evening in which Moore and his roommate smashed windows in their cars and were overheard saying they were about to set their home on fire. Police responded and said \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=31056\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a press release\u003c/a> that officers fatally wounded Moore after he threatened an officer with a rifle, placing it “directly against an officer’s stomach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But witness Jaime Alvarado said he saw Moore naked with nothing in his hands when he was shot by a Vallejo police officer standing about 8 to 10 feet away. Alvarado said he tried to go outside after the scene had calmed down to give a statement to police, but was told to go back inside. He was finally interviewed by district attorney’s investigators last month — a year and a half after the shooting and only after KQED had published his account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 29, Oakland civil rights attorney Michael Haddad filed a federal \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-filed-in-vallejo-police-killing-of-jeremiah-moore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">civil rights lawsuit\u003c/a> against Vallejo, the police department, Chief Kreins and Kenney, whom the lawsuit names as one of perhaps several police officers who may have opened fire. Haddad also said that Alvarado’s account suggests police invented their details of the shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Moore shooting also suggests police escalated a situation that could have been defused if officers had approached it as a mental health call, Haddad said. He added they should have known what they were approaching because people calling 911 described naked men, running, shouting and breaking windows outside their home in a generally quiet neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t need much more information than that to know that somebody has some sort of mental disturbance,” Haddad said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haddad is also critical of California law and law-enforcement policies that make it difficult to get basic information about officer-involved shootings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t imagine the government can just take someone’s life and not even explain why, and that’s the situation we’re living in in California,” Haddad said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added, “For them to be able to hide behind the law that protects police officers’ personnel information, to hide behind that law and not justify their taking of life is really abhorrent, and it’s a situation that must be changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Excessive Force Claims\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kenney is also named in two other federal lawsuits alleging brutality in non-fatal interactions with suspects in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyrone Hicks alleged that a traffic stop on March 30 of that year quickly escalated when Kenney began choking Hicks’ passenger, Teresa Scott, just after he had been ordered out of his vehicle and handcuffed by another Vallejo officer. Hicks says he told Kenney he had no right to choke Scott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225180033/Tyrone-Edward-Hicks-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-Amended-Complaint-14-04-02\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the lawsuit\u003c/a>: “Defendant Kenney approached Plaintiff [Hicks], placed his hands around Plaintiff’s throat and began choking Plaintiff where Plaintiff could not breathe. … The choking occurred approximately for 15-20 seconds and Plaintiff was placed in a patrol car.” The second officer involved in the incident is accused of failing to intercede to stop the alleged choking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit says Hicks was booked for possession of cocaine for sale, but the charges were dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spawned from a separate incident, \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/225181166/IDC-v-City-of-Vallejo-et-al-First-Amended-Complaint-14-01-14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivan Carter’s lawsuit\u003c/a> against Vallejo says he had been working with his son on Aug. 17, 2012, at a property on Indiana Street. The suit alleges that Vallejo police officers Kenney and Thompson were chasing a separate group of youths suspected of trespassing, and the officers apparently mistook Carter’s son for one in the group they had been chasing, confronting him at a cousin’s home at 640 Indiana St.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers allegedly shot the unnamed minor with a Taser, then “began beating, choking, and pepper spraying” him, the suit says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hicks and others claiming to be injured by Vallejo police say they are part of a group of residents in the city who have been subjected to a “long-standing practice, policy or custom of allowing Vallejo police officers to use excessive force.” The group is organized by Frederick Cooley, who recently settled \u003ca href=\"http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020131030785\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his lawsuit against the city\u003c/a> originating from a confrontation with Officers Kenney and Eric Jensen in late 2011. A Vallejo police department union newsletter says Cooley was arrested for driving a stolen car.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“This is not no new thing. They’ve been doing this for a long time, but it’s come to a head, where they’re killing unarmed individuals.”\u003ccite>Frederick Cooley, Vallejo resident\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Once Cooley was in handcuffs, “Sean Kenney lifted me up to my feet and Jensen took his flashlight and hit me on top of my head,” Cooley said. “Then he (Jensen) got on top of me and started beating me with the flashlight and ended up breaking my hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, Cooley said, Kenney picked him up and slammed his face into the patrol car, lacerating his chin, and closed the patrol car door on his ankles after throwing him in the back seat. When the officers got to the emergency room, Jensen told medical workers that Cooley had been injured in a car crash, according to Cooley. Cooley did crash into two parked cars, according to the police union blotter, but Cooley said that’s not how he was injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After he was released from the hospital, Cooley ended up in the medical facilities of Solano County Jail. “There I met almost 40 different individuals who had been housed there because of injuries they received from Vallejo PD,” he said. “So that’s what started it all. Most of us knew each other, but if we didn’t, we had something in common. Most everybody in the medical area was beat up by the police, dog bites, Tasers, beat with a baton, broken legs, ankles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooley won a legal fight compelling the Vallejo Police Department to disclose 10 years of internal affairs investigations, including any instances in which Kenney or Jensen were accused of excessive force, dishonesty or falsification of evidence. Rather than disclose the information, Vallejo settled Cooley’s case in December 2013 for $35,000, Cooley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a bad person — I have made mistakes in the past, but right now, I think we can make this a better place to live,” said Cooley, who says he’s lived Vallejo for 30 years. “This is not no new thing. They’ve been doing this for a long time, but it’s come to a head, where they’re killing unarmed individuals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Attorney for California’s Eastern District confirmed the office had reviewed the Mario Romero shooting, and said “the facts did not present a prosecutable criminal offense for violation of federal civil rights laws.” She said the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice reached a similar conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She directed further questions to the U.S. Department of Justice about when the federal government would get involved in a police department’s use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Justice Department did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting an explanation of how it decides to investigate cities like Albuquerque, where they found a “pattern or practice of excessive force that violates the Constitution and federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_98178\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/28/bay-area-participatory-budgeting/town-of-vallejo-california-declares-bankruptcy-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-98178\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-98178\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/05/vallejo-640x421.jpg\" alt=\"Georgia Street in downtown Vallejo. (Justin Sulivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georgia Street in downtown Vallejo. (Justin Sulivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED interviewed Vallejo City Manager Daniel E. Keen about the spike in fatal shootings by Vallejo police in 2012 and beyond. Keen declined to speak in person and said he would answer questions only by email. Here is an edited version of that interview.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> How has Vallejo’s bankruptcy impacted public safety in the city? I understand the police department has lost a significant number of officers, and is now making a recruitment push to replenish staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong>Vallejo’s significant decline in property tax and sales tax revenue, as a result of the recession, had a significant negative impact on public safety staffing for both police and fire. Both departments reduced staffing by more than 40 percent at the lowest staffing point. At one time, the Vallejo Police Department was authorized staffing for 158 sworn officers. That authorized staffing level had dropped to 88 officers, with actual staffing dropping to as low as 77 officers in 2013. Today, the Vallejo Police Department has an authorized sworn staffing level of 110 police officers. As of May 1, 2014, actual sworn staffing is at 91 police officers with an additional four (4) police trainees attending the police academy. We anticipate that our sworn staffing level will be at 95-98 police officers by June 30, 2014, and we believe that we will reach 105-110 sworn by Dec. 31, 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo’s bankruptcy process provided the opportunity to restructure labor agreements and has reduced the cost of providing public safety services to the community. Additionally, in November 2011 Vallejo voters approved Measure B (1 percent sales tax for 10 years) which has provided increased resources for investment in public safety technology and staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Are there additional socioeconomic factors that can also affect public safety? For instance, I know that in 2012 there were 14 homicides in Vallejo and 24 in 2013 (not counting fatal officer-involved shootings). Do you think economic issues in the city (unemployment or others) are affecting this trend, and what is the city doing about it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> The spike of homicides in 2013 are most directly attributed to gang activity in Vallejo. More than 75 percent of all homicides in 2013 were gang-related. The nearby city of Fairfield has experienced many of the same violent crime-related incidents that we have seen in Vallejo. There are numerous socioeconomic factors related to violent crimes in our country. However, most law enforcement agencies throughout California; from Fresno to Oakland and Stockton to Sacramento, will agree that issues pertaining to gangs, a proliferation of firearms, and drugs and alcohol are quite often associated with violent crimes, including homicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past two years, the Vallejo Police Department has initiated and implemented numerous crime prevention and crime intervention strategies in an effort to combat and reduce violent crimes in our community. We believe that many of the proactive steps taken have had a positive effect by way of reducing violent crimes in Vallejo in the first quarter of 2014. The command staff of the department recently met with the Eastern District U.S. Attorney and several other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, ATF, IRS, Stockton and Sacramento Police Departments, Sacramento and Solano Sheriff’s Departments, California Highway Patrol and crime analysis partners in an effort to discuss common problem-solving strategies and to search for solutions to reduce violent crimes in our communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vallejo Police Department conducted joint targeted enforcement operations with the California Highway Patrol and Solano County Sheriff’s Department in 2013, and a Vallejo police officer will be assigned to the Solano Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team in 2014 to assist in the focus on parolees and probationers in Solano County, especially those who are prone to commit violent crimes. We have also initiated discussions with our local FBI office to place a Vallejo police officer on a new FBI “Safe Streets Task Force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>U.S. Department of Justice's 2013 Visit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> I understand the U.S. Department of Justice facilitated a series of community meetings in early 2013 in an effort to improve the relationship between the community and Vallejo’s Police Department. Was that effort successful, and is the city doing anything else to continue this effort?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> Yes, The U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service assisted the City of Vallejo with a series of community meetings designed to focus on relationships between the Vallejo Police Department and the community in an effort to build trust and relationships. We believe that the meetings were successful in providing information directly to community members in small group settings. Since that time, the Vallejo Police Department has established a Community Relations Section within the department. The Community Relations Section has reached out to the community and provided information and training on crime prevention; established new and reinforced existing Neighborhood Watch programs; held neighborhood and community meetings; and attended many other community meetings with a focus on enhancing police/community relations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department also reviewed citizen complaints and revised our policies and procedures related to the citizen complaint process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2012-2013 the Vallejo Police Department worked closely with a Citizens Public Safety Advisory Committee. The committee made numerous recommendations for the enhancement of public safety, police/community relationships, public safety communication and police professionalism in our community. The Department embraced these suggestions, and numerous policy, procedure and program changes were implemented as a result of this successful police/community partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Is there any other effort underway in the city of Vallejo to reduce the number of fatal or otherwise violent contacts between police and citizens, especially citizens who are unarmed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> For the past two years, the Vallejo Police Department has invested thousands of hours of training to ensure that our officers are prepared to respond to any critical incident or potential violent confrontation. In 2013, the department purchased (and incorporated into our training regimen) a state-of-the art defensive tactics and firearms simulator that trains our officers in “decision-based scenarios” related to potential violent contacts. The Vallejo Police Department continually reviews, evaluates and amends policies and procedures related to use of force and response to critical incidents. For the past two years, the department has been engaged in a complete renovation of policies and procedures by way of transitioning to the “Lexipol” Policy Manual. More than 95 percent of California law enforcement agencies and more than 1,500 total public safety agencies subscribe to the Lexipol Policy system. The department has made numerous policy and procedure changes during these past two years, and the implementation of the Lexipol system in the next few months will complete a very comprehensive review and change of key department policies. The Vallejo Police Department is currently in the final meet-and-confer stage with the Vallejo Police Officer’s Association to complete this transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Virtually every day, Vallejo PD officers encounter individuals with firearms and other dangerous weapons. In 2012 and 2013, through direct contact with citizens and Vallejo police officers, each year, more than 200 illegal firearms were seized from individuals in Vallejo. In 2013, Vallejo police officers responded to hundreds of “shots-fired” calls, including more than 200 shootings where individuals were victims of firearms violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Regarding the Vallejo Police Department’s recruitment effort, I recently found a video published April 16, 2014, on YouTube and propagated in your newsletter. The video shows a line of six police officers holding assault rifles and shotguns, a K-9 officer commanding a dog that then runs off screen, an officer drawing his handgun against a backdrop of a man on a front lawn, and a mock SWAT raid in which officers throw a (tear gas?) grenade into a home and then charge in. When I showed this video to an independent legal expert I’ve interviewed for this story, he was amazed and talked at length about it showing a disregard for the Vallejo Police Department’s recent history of fatal shootings of civilians, which continues beyond 2012. Is the level of dramatized lethal force in this video appropriate, given Vallejo’s crime rate and/or officer-involved fatal incident record? \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12d9Y_xM7VY\">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12d9Y_xM7VY\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> Your independent legal expert certainly has his/her right to their opinion regarding the Vallejo Police Department’s Recruitment Video. We disagree with the assessment that this recruitment video displays a disregard for citizens in Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Finally, the independent legal expert I have interviewed for this story said if a single police officer is involved in more than one fatal incident in the period of a year, it becomes a question of department management rather than actions of the individual officer, and that officer would almost always be reassigned. I have information that at least two officers in the Vallejo Police Department fit that criteria: Sean Kenney (3) and Joseph McCarthy (2). Does the department or the city have any policy regarding this issue? (Note: this question would likely be better directed to your police chief, but repeated requests for comment from Joseph Kreins resulted in Lt. Sid De Jesus telling me that as a new “organizational policy,” the department would no longer comment at all on any aspect of officer-involved shootings).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> The Vallejo Police Department investigates, or provides for the investigation of every such incident, and makes decisions about potential reassignment based on the information revealed in the investigation\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_98178\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/05/28/bay-area-participatory-budgeting/town-of-vallejo-california-declares-bankruptcy-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-98178\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-98178\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/05/vallejo-640x421.jpg\" alt=\"Georgia Street in downtown Vallejo. (Justin Sulivan/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georgia Street in downtown Vallejo. (Justin Sulivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED interviewed Vallejo City Manager Daniel E. Keen about the spike in fatal shootings by Vallejo police in 2012 and beyond. Keen declined to speak in person and said he would answer questions only by email. Here is an edited version of that interview.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> How has Vallejo’s bankruptcy impacted public safety in the city? I understand the police department has lost a significant number of officers, and is now making a recruitment push to replenish staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong>Vallejo’s significant decline in property tax and sales tax revenue, as a result of the recession, had a significant negative impact on public safety staffing for both police and fire. Both departments reduced staffing by more than 40 percent at the lowest staffing point. At one time, the Vallejo Police Department was authorized staffing for 158 sworn officers. That authorized staffing level had dropped to 88 officers, with actual staffing dropping to as low as 77 officers in 2013. Today, the Vallejo Police Department has an authorized sworn staffing level of 110 police officers. As of May 1, 2014, actual sworn staffing is at 91 police officers with an additional four (4) police trainees attending the police academy. We anticipate that our sworn staffing level will be at 95-98 police officers by June 30, 2014, and we believe that we will reach 105-110 sworn by Dec. 31, 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo’s bankruptcy process provided the opportunity to restructure labor agreements and has reduced the cost of providing public safety services to the community. Additionally, in November 2011 Vallejo voters approved Measure B (1 percent sales tax for 10 years) which has provided increased resources for investment in public safety technology and staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Are there additional socioeconomic factors that can also affect public safety? For instance, I know that in 2012 there were 14 homicides in Vallejo and 24 in 2013 (not counting fatal officer-involved shootings). Do you think economic issues in the city (unemployment or others) are affecting this trend, and what is the city doing about it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> The spike of homicides in 2013 are most directly attributed to gang activity in Vallejo. More than 75 percent of all homicides in 2013 were gang-related. The nearby city of Fairfield has experienced many of the same violent crime-related incidents that we have seen in Vallejo. There are numerous socioeconomic factors related to violent crimes in our country. However, most law enforcement agencies throughout California; from Fresno to Oakland and Stockton to Sacramento, will agree that issues pertaining to gangs, a proliferation of firearms, and drugs and alcohol are quite often associated with violent crimes, including homicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past two years, the Vallejo Police Department has initiated and implemented numerous crime prevention and crime intervention strategies in an effort to combat and reduce violent crimes in our community. We believe that many of the proactive steps taken have had a positive effect by way of reducing violent crimes in Vallejo in the first quarter of 2014. The command staff of the department recently met with the Eastern District U.S. Attorney and several other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, ATF, IRS, Stockton and Sacramento Police Departments, Sacramento and Solano Sheriff’s Departments, California Highway Patrol and crime analysis partners in an effort to discuss common problem-solving strategies and to search for solutions to reduce violent crimes in our communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vallejo Police Department conducted joint targeted enforcement operations with the California Highway Patrol and Solano County Sheriff’s Department in 2013, and a Vallejo police officer will be assigned to the Solano Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team in 2014 to assist in the focus on parolees and probationers in Solano County, especially those who are prone to commit violent crimes. We have also initiated discussions with our local FBI office to place a Vallejo police officer on a new FBI “Safe Streets Task Force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>U.S. Department of Justice's 2013 Visit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> I understand the U.S. Department of Justice facilitated a series of community meetings in early 2013 in an effort to improve the relationship between the community and Vallejo’s Police Department. Was that effort successful, and is the city doing anything else to continue this effort?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> Yes, The U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service assisted the City of Vallejo with a series of community meetings designed to focus on relationships between the Vallejo Police Department and the community in an effort to build trust and relationships. We believe that the meetings were successful in providing information directly to community members in small group settings. Since that time, the Vallejo Police Department has established a Community Relations Section within the department. The Community Relations Section has reached out to the community and provided information and training on crime prevention; established new and reinforced existing Neighborhood Watch programs; held neighborhood and community meetings; and attended many other community meetings with a focus on enhancing police/community relations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department also reviewed citizen complaints and revised our policies and procedures related to the citizen complaint process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2012-2013 the Vallejo Police Department worked closely with a Citizens Public Safety Advisory Committee. The committee made numerous recommendations for the enhancement of public safety, police/community relationships, public safety communication and police professionalism in our community. The Department embraced these suggestions, and numerous policy, procedure and program changes were implemented as a result of this successful police/community partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Is there any other effort underway in the city of Vallejo to reduce the number of fatal or otherwise violent contacts between police and citizens, especially citizens who are unarmed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> For the past two years, the Vallejo Police Department has invested thousands of hours of training to ensure that our officers are prepared to respond to any critical incident or potential violent confrontation. In 2013, the department purchased (and incorporated into our training regimen) a state-of-the art defensive tactics and firearms simulator that trains our officers in “decision-based scenarios” related to potential violent contacts. The Vallejo Police Department continually reviews, evaluates and amends policies and procedures related to use of force and response to critical incidents. For the past two years, the department has been engaged in a complete renovation of policies and procedures by way of transitioning to the “Lexipol” Policy Manual. More than 95 percent of California law enforcement agencies and more than 1,500 total public safety agencies subscribe to the Lexipol Policy system. The department has made numerous policy and procedure changes during these past two years, and the implementation of the Lexipol system in the next few months will complete a very comprehensive review and change of key department policies. The Vallejo Police Department is currently in the final meet-and-confer stage with the Vallejo Police Officer’s Association to complete this transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Virtually every day, Vallejo PD officers encounter individuals with firearms and other dangerous weapons. In 2012 and 2013, through direct contact with citizens and Vallejo police officers, each year, more than 200 illegal firearms were seized from individuals in Vallejo. In 2013, Vallejo police officers responded to hundreds of “shots-fired” calls, including more than 200 shootings where individuals were victims of firearms violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Regarding the Vallejo Police Department’s recruitment effort, I recently found a video published April 16, 2014, on YouTube and propagated in your newsletter. The video shows a line of six police officers holding assault rifles and shotguns, a K-9 officer commanding a dog that then runs off screen, an officer drawing his handgun against a backdrop of a man on a front lawn, and a mock SWAT raid in which officers throw a (tear gas?) grenade into a home and then charge in. When I showed this video to an independent legal expert I’ve interviewed for this story, he was amazed and talked at length about it showing a disregard for the Vallejo Police Department’s recent history of fatal shootings of civilians, which continues beyond 2012. Is the level of dramatized lethal force in this video appropriate, given Vallejo’s crime rate and/or officer-involved fatal incident record? \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12d9Y_xM7VY\">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12d9Y_xM7VY\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> Your independent legal expert certainly has his/her right to their opinion regarding the Vallejo Police Department’s Recruitment Video. We disagree with the assessment that this recruitment video displays a disregard for citizens in Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. \u003c/strong> Finally, the independent legal expert I have interviewed for this story said if a single police officer is involved in more than one fatal incident in the period of a year, it becomes a question of department management rather than actions of the individual officer, and that officer would almost always be reassigned. I have information that at least two officers in the Vallejo Police Department fit that criteria: Sean Kenney (3) and Joseph McCarthy (2). Does the department or the city have any policy regarding this issue? (Note: this question would likely be better directed to your police chief, but repeated requests for comment from Joseph Kreins resulted in Lt. Sid De Jesus telling me that as a new “organizational policy,” the department would no longer comment at all on any aspect of officer-involved shootings).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A. \u003c/strong> The Vallejo Police Department investigates, or provides for the investigation of every such incident, and makes decisions about potential reassignment based on the information revealed in the investigation\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LiBf4jQ814?rel=0&w=640&h=360]\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Talking to James Houston today, it's difficult to imagine the troubled young man he was back in 1996, when he shot and killed a neighbor during an argument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spent 17 years behind bars at San Quentin State Prison, where he earned a college degree, became an addiction counselor and even pitched a tech startup to some Silicon Valley venture capitalists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before 2009, even a model inmate like Houston had little chance of ever leaving prison. The parole board was reluctant to let \"lifers\" out, and when it did, the governor would often overturn its decision. In 2000, for example, 13 lifers were released as Gov. Pete Wilson reversed 92 percent of the parole board’s findings that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"c49e9bf6daa345011a9fa090f12f204b\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that began to change when a key California Supreme Court ruling limited the reasons that lifers may be denied parole. The board and the governor can no longer consider the severity of the crime alone, and they now have to ask how dangerous the person is today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, 443 lifers got out as Gov. Jerry Brown let 81 percent of the parole board’s decisions stand. At a recent rally for victims' rights, Brown said, “I’m worried about a number of things, but after we catalog our worries, we have to do what our job is, and I try to do that with common sense and a certain degree of compassion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recidivism rate for lifers is less than 1 percent, according to the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Houston has two jobs. By day, he drives Richmond's roughest blocks looking for the young men most likely to shoot someone or be shot. He's an outreach worker at the Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety, which many credit as an important reason violent crime is reducing in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A lot of these kids have never had a man take an interest in them without eventually asking for something in return,\" said Houston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At night he's an addiction counselor at Options Recovery Services in downtown Berkeley. Just-released lifers go there to get help finding housing, employment and things like a ride to Target to buy a toothbrush and soap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year after his release, Houston has moved from transitional housing to a tidy house in Richmond, where he checks his 6-year-old stepson's homework while his wife makes lasagna. The couple knew each other as teenagers, and reconnected decades later when she sent him a letter at San Quentin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His older son, James Jr., was 10 months old when he went to prison. Now 18, James Jr. keeps a large stack of letters Houston wrote him from prison. \"I wanted to be like 'Leave It to Beaver'-- to be able to kiss my son on the cheek, show him a different type of man,\" said Houston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He now has a second chance.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814?rel=0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814?rel=0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Talking to James Houston today, it's difficult to imagine the troubled young man he was back in 1996, when he shot and killed a neighbor during an argument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spent 17 years behind bars at San Quentin State Prison, where he earned a college degree, became an addiction counselor and even pitched a tech startup to some Silicon Valley venture capitalists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before 2009, even a model inmate like Houston had little chance of ever leaving prison. The parole board was reluctant to let \"lifers\" out, and when it did, the governor would often overturn its decision. In 2000, for example, 13 lifers were released as Gov. Pete Wilson reversed 92 percent of the parole board’s findings that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that began to change when a key California Supreme Court ruling limited the reasons that lifers may be denied parole. The board and the governor can no longer consider the severity of the crime alone, and they now have to ask how dangerous the person is today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, 443 lifers got out as Gov. Jerry Brown let 81 percent of the parole board’s decisions stand. At a recent rally for victims' rights, Brown said, “I’m worried about a number of things, but after we catalog our worries, we have to do what our job is, and I try to do that with common sense and a certain degree of compassion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recidivism rate for lifers is less than 1 percent, according to the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Houston has two jobs. By day, he drives Richmond's roughest blocks looking for the young men most likely to shoot someone or be shot. He's an outreach worker at the Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety, which many credit as an important reason violent crime is reducing in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A lot of these kids have never had a man take an interest in them without eventually asking for something in return,\" said Houston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At night he's an addiction counselor at Options Recovery Services in downtown Berkeley. Just-released lifers go there to get help finding housing, employment and things like a ride to Target to buy a toothbrush and soap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year after his release, Houston has moved from transitional housing to a tidy house in Richmond, where he checks his 6-year-old stepson's homework while his wife makes lasagna. The couple knew each other as teenagers, and reconnected decades later when she sent him a letter at San Quentin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His older son, James Jr., was 10 months old when he went to prison. Now 18, James Jr. keeps a large stack of letters Houston wrote him from prison. \"I wanted to be like 'Leave It to Beaver'-- to be able to kiss my son on the cheek, show him a different type of man,\" said Houston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He now has a second chance.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Former Lifers Discuss Hopes, Fears After Winning Parole",
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"content": "\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcrmag/2014/05/2014-05-16b-tcrmag.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, California inmates serving sentences like 25-years-to-life had very little chance of being released. Parole was routinely denied by the Board of Parole Hearings, or blocked by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the past few years, there's been a dramatic change. Since a key Supreme Court ruling in 2008, the number of so-called \"lifers\" winning parole has steadily climbed. Since then, more than 1,700 lifers have been released\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is being felt on both sides of the prison walls. At a recent graduation day at San Quentin State Prison, about 50 inmates — most of them lifers — collected their diplomas from a course in leadership. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ceremony, Associate Warden Jeff Lawson said that as more and more lifers are granted parole and leave prison, the inmates are taking notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of these guys understand there is light at the end of the tunnel now,” Lawson says. “So it just helps improve the overall environment for them. And it gets the ones who were maybe straddling the fence to get off the fence and get on the right side.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/-LiBf4jQ814\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inmate Duane Reynolds just completed the leadership course. On the way back to his cellblock, he describes the crime that sent him away more than 25 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, what I did was, I murdered my uh, my supervisor,” Reynolds says. “High on drugs. So my life was out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds was 30 at the time. His sentence: 26 years to life. He's now 54. Despite being denied parole three times, Reynolds is hopeful. Next month, he says, the parole board will decide — once again — if he's suitable for parole and no longer a risk to society. I ask him if he thinks he's suitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's a very difficult question for me,” he answers. “I will say this: I'm a changed individual. But the fact that I took another human being's life, that's a hard question for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds says he and his fellow San Quentin inmates are very aware that after years of routine denials of parole, word is out: If you do the work, complete the programs and stay in line, release is a very real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that people are going home is really encouraging to a lot of individuals,” he notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, more than twice as many lifers have been paroled than in the previous two decades combined. There are several reasons for that. State Supreme Court rulings that made it tougher to deny parole to inmates who are no longer a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Gov. Jerry Brown's 12 appointees on the parole board are granting parole at a much higher rate than previous commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And unlike his predecessors, who usually blocked parole for murderers, Brown is allowing 80 percent of the parole recommendations to go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you might think that freedom after decades in prison is all upside, the reality is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Rivers was just released from Solano State Prison after serving more than three decades for a murder. The former gang member was 17 at the time. Now 55, he recalls that first full day on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That morning when I woke up, got dressed — it's about 6 in the morning — I was scared to open the door,” Rivers remembers. “Because while I’m free physically, mentally I still have some work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10341813\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg\" alt=\"Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\" width=\"400\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10341813\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He worries that somehow his newfound freedom will lead to trouble — and back to prison. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do plan to walk a straight and narrow path and give back to society,” he says, adding, “You know, it's remarkable that I was given a second chance when I didn't give my victims a second chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers is standing inside a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. He is, in a sense, the guest of honor, joining a dozen other former lifers recently released from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering is part celebration, part reunion. All the men were trained to be drug and alcohol counselors while they were still in prison. Some will continue that work now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting around a larger corner table in the restaurant, the men share their feelings — and their fears. One of them, Vandrick Towns, remembers entering prison at the age of 17, thinking, he says, he was \"the biggest, baddest person alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the others reach for more food and clean their plates, Towns says he's learned to be vulnerable — how to cry and how to give his pain a voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s something I never did during my childhood,” Towns says. “Never talked about things, whether they was good or bad. I never talked. I stayed isolated. Today I’m comfortable with talking because I’m comfortable in my own skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of prison less than a year now, Towns works at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley, a nonprofit group that works with inmates and parolees. But, he remembers, finding that first job wasn't easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For my first six months nobody wanted to touch me,” he recalls. “When it got to the job interview — ‘Oh, you’re very articulate, you’re very educated. Oh, you’re a parolee? Sorry. Next.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former lifer, Greg Jones, was also released from the Solano prison just over a week ago. On this day, he's celebrating something most of us take for granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my ID today and I was elated,” Jones says to bellows of laughter. “That was a big deal. And I got my driver’s license today, also.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men laugh and warn him not to text and drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are plenty of serious moments. They talk about getting reacquainted with their children — and grandchildren. One of them, David Hillary, stresses the importance of keeping a positive attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day I have to go to bed, and knowing this is an opportunity I was given ... I will never squander it like I did before in the past,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The philosopher in the group seems to be James Thomas. Crisply dressed in blue jeans and a white, button-down shirt, Thomas talks about humility and resisting disappointment when he's turned down for jobs. The key, he says, is patience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And everything good will come to you if you just wait for it,” Thomas says to a hushed room. “I’ve tried to chase it and I guarantee you it’s an uphill battle trying to catch it. Because no matter how close you get, it’s always gonna be one step ahead of you. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are more than 26,000 California inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. Many will never get out. Those who do will need the kind of support these men have found to make the most of their second chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California's Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/timeline-a-history-of-the-california-lifers-up-for-parole/\" target=\"_blank\">Timeline: History of California Lifers Up for Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/video-lifer-free-richmond\" target=\"_blank\">Video: Freed After Years in San Quentin, Richmond Man Seizes His Second Chance\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcrmag/2014/05/2014-05-16b-tcrmag.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, California inmates serving sentences like 25-years-to-life had very little chance of being released. Parole was routinely denied by the Board of Parole Hearings, or blocked by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the past few years, there's been a dramatic change. Since a key Supreme Court ruling in 2008, the number of so-called \"lifers\" winning parole has steadily climbed. Since then, more than 1,700 lifers have been released\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is being felt on both sides of the prison walls. At a recent graduation day at San Quentin State Prison, about 50 inmates — most of them lifers — collected their diplomas from a course in leadership. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ceremony, Associate Warden Jeff Lawson said that as more and more lifers are granted parole and leave prison, the inmates are taking notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of these guys understand there is light at the end of the tunnel now,” Lawson says. “So it just helps improve the overall environment for them. And it gets the ones who were maybe straddling the fence to get off the fence and get on the right side.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Inmate Duane Reynolds just completed the leadership course. On the way back to his cellblock, he describes the crime that sent him away more than 25 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, what I did was, I murdered my uh, my supervisor,” Reynolds says. “High on drugs. So my life was out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds was 30 at the time. His sentence: 26 years to life. He's now 54. Despite being denied parole three times, Reynolds is hopeful. Next month, he says, the parole board will decide — once again — if he's suitable for parole and no longer a risk to society. I ask him if he thinks he's suitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's a very difficult question for me,” he answers. “I will say this: I'm a changed individual. But the fact that I took another human being's life, that's a hard question for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reynolds says he and his fellow San Quentin inmates are very aware that after years of routine denials of parole, word is out: If you do the work, complete the programs and stay in line, release is a very real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that people are going home is really encouraging to a lot of individuals,” he notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, more than twice as many lifers have been paroled than in the previous two decades combined. There are several reasons for that. State Supreme Court rulings that made it tougher to deny parole to inmates who are no longer a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Gov. Jerry Brown's 12 appointees on the parole board are granting parole at a much higher rate than previous commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And unlike his predecessors, who usually blocked parole for murderers, Brown is allowing 80 percent of the parole recommendations to go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you might think that freedom after decades in prison is all upside, the reality is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Rivers was just released from Solano State Prison after serving more than three decades for a murder. The former gang member was 17 at the time. Now 55, he recalls that first full day on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That morning when I woke up, got dressed — it's about 6 in the morning — I was scared to open the door,” Rivers remembers. “Because while I’m free physically, mentally I still have some work to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10341813\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg\" alt=\"Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\" width=\"400\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10341813\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes-400x338.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/TCRLifersDudes.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just-released lifers can find housing, counseling, and help getting a driver's license at Options Recovery in Berkeley. (Jeremy Raff/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He worries that somehow his newfound freedom will lead to trouble — and back to prison. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do plan to walk a straight and narrow path and give back to society,” he says, adding, “You know, it's remarkable that I was given a second chance when I didn't give my victims a second chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers is standing inside a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. He is, in a sense, the guest of honor, joining a dozen other former lifers recently released from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering is part celebration, part reunion. All the men were trained to be drug and alcohol counselors while they were still in prison. Some will continue that work now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting around a larger corner table in the restaurant, the men share their feelings — and their fears. One of them, Vandrick Towns, remembers entering prison at the age of 17, thinking, he says, he was \"the biggest, baddest person alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the others reach for more food and clean their plates, Towns says he's learned to be vulnerable — how to cry and how to give his pain a voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s something I never did during my childhood,” Towns says. “Never talked about things, whether they was good or bad. I never talked. I stayed isolated. Today I’m comfortable with talking because I’m comfortable in my own skin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of prison less than a year now, Towns works at Options Recovery Services in Berkeley, a nonprofit group that works with inmates and parolees. But, he remembers, finding that first job wasn't easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For my first six months nobody wanted to touch me,” he recalls. “When it got to the job interview — ‘Oh, you’re very articulate, you’re very educated. Oh, you’re a parolee? Sorry. Next.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former lifer, Greg Jones, was also released from the Solano prison just over a week ago. On this day, he's celebrating something most of us take for granted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my ID today and I was elated,” Jones says to bellows of laughter. “That was a big deal. And I got my driver’s license today, also.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men laugh and warn him not to text and drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are plenty of serious moments. They talk about getting reacquainted with their children — and grandchildren. One of them, David Hillary, stresses the importance of keeping a positive attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day I have to go to bed, and knowing this is an opportunity I was given ... I will never squander it like I did before in the past,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The philosopher in the group seems to be James Thomas. Crisply dressed in blue jeans and a white, button-down shirt, Thomas talks about humility and resisting disappointment when he's turned down for jobs. The key, he says, is patience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And everything good will come to you if you just wait for it,” Thomas says to a hushed room. “I’ve tried to chase it and I guarantee you it’s an uphill battle trying to catch it. Because no matter how close you get, it’s always gonna be one step ahead of you. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are more than 26,000 California inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. Many will never get out. Those who do will need the kind of support these men have found to make the most of their second chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, \"Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California's Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/timeline-a-history-of-the-california-lifers-up-for-parole/\" target=\"_blank\">Timeline: History of California Lifers Up for Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/video-lifer-free-richmond\" target=\"_blank\">Video: Freed After Years in San Quentin, Richmond Man Seizes His Second Chance\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcr/2014/05/2014-05-16a-tcr.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, California inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole rarely got out of prison. Most of these so-called lifers committed murder, and most were routinely denied parole by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s changing. The past few years have seen record numbers of lifers getting out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a spare room just outside the main walls of San Quentin Prison, Kent Wimberly makes his case for parole in mid-March. In 1979, he stabbed and killed two people in San Diego. He was 17 at the time. Today, he’s 51.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today I’ve moved so far from that person that I was,” Wimberly says in a voice with little emotion. “I’ve developed so many tools and so much understanding and maturity, and so much more compassion for others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the 12th time Wimberly has appeared before the parole board. But it’s his first hearing under a new state law (SB260) requiring the parole board to weigh the age of inmates who committed their crimes as juveniles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly three hours of questions and testimony, the parole board deliberates for less than 30 minutes. They reconvene, and Parole Commissioner Marisela Montes announces the board’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We find that Mr. Wimberly does not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society or threat to public safety and is therefore now eligible for parole,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not the final word. California is one of just three states where governors can block parole decisions. And while previous California governors routinely vetoed parole for lifers, Jerry Brown is taking a very different approach — allowing 80 percent of parole recommendations to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford law Professor Robert Weisberg says the change is striking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean statistically it’s a very dramatic change from the Schwarzenegger administration and an unbelievable change from the Gray Davis administration,” Weisberg says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/-LiBf4jQ814\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Report’s analysis of state parole data finds that since 2009, more than 1,700 lifers have been released in California — that’s more than twice the number paroled in the previous two decades combined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not everyone is happy about the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a rally for crime victims’ families in Sacramento recently, Susan Hamlin describes the upset caused by having to attend a parole hearing for someone who victimized her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the dread of this hearing, and fear of his possible release, set in a full year prior to the hearing,” Hamlin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Capitol sidewalk is lined with posters showing photos of relatives who were murdered. Gov. Brown tells the crowd they aren’t forgotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you come here and show us the pictures of real human beings who are your loved ones who were murdered, then it isn’t abstract,” the governor says. “It’s very real. It’s very individual. It’s a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, I ask the governor if he ever worries about a paroled lifer committing another violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried about a number of things,” he says, rattling off concerns like climate change and childhood hunger. “But after we catalog our worries, we have to do what our job is. And I try to do that with common sense and a certain degree of compassion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked to describe his approach toward lifer parole, Brown says simply “to follow the law and evaluate very carefully each case, which I do every week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When told that his record is very different from past governors, he said, “Well, I don’t know what they did and whether they read the record or whether they looked at the law. The law has changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown is referring to a 2008 decision by the California Supreme Court. It stopped blanket denials of parole based on the viciousness of a crime alone. The justices ruled that there must also be evidence that an inmate is still a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Shaffer, executive director of the state Board of Parole Hearings, says that decision changed everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As you can imagine, if their crime alone could keep them from being paroled forever, then that was really not life with the possibility of parole,” Shaffer notes. “So there had to be something else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By following the new legal guidelines Shaffer says, Brown is saving the time and taxpayer expense of inmate appeals that result in lifers being paroled anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A California Report analysis also finds that under Brown, the parole board is granting parole at a rate that’s more than triple what it was five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney Charles Carbone represents hundreds of lifers. He says Brown’s appointees are taking a different approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re more sensitive and understanding of the rights of life inmates to receive parole,” Carbone says. “There were parole commissioners in the past who just had a philosophy, if you want to call it, where they issued blanket denials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some critics, like Christine Ward with the Crime Victims Action Alliance, believe the current parole board is simply too lenient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is like playing Russian roulette,” she says. “We just hope that that one time bomb doesn’t go off and create that really serious, heinous crime that will leave, not only that family devastated, but the entire state devastated. We’ve seen it before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what kind of risk do paroled lifers present? The Stanford Criminal Justice Center examined 860 murderers paroled in California over 15 years and found that only five were returned to prison for new felonies. That works out to less than 1 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main reason, says Weisberg, is that paroled lifers are typically older. Young people, he says, are far more likely to commit violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Thomas can attest to that. He went to prison at the age of 17 after killing someone during a robbery in Los Angeles. He’s now 47.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After being denied parole 14 times, Thomas was finally released last year — after 30 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody makes mistakes,” Thomas says. “Some are just more costly than others. I think once a person makes that transition from one lifestyle to another, he should be or she should be able to live their life in peace and be respected for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> Given the rising number of lifers winning parole, the State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has begun new programs to help inmates prepare for life on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, “Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California?s Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201405161630/b\" target=\"_blank\">Former Lifers Discuss Hopes, Fears After Winning Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/timeline-a-history-of-the-california-lifers-up-for-parole/?__utma=34673459.643003035.1412104317.1412121311.1412130030.7&__utmb=34673459.55.10.1412130032&__utmc=34673459&__utmx=-&__utmz=34673459.1412116048.4.2.utmcsr=google%7Cutmccn=%28organic%29%7Cutmcmd=organic%7Cutmctr=%28not%20provided%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=152166971\" target=\"_blank\">Timeline: History of California Lifers Up for Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the 12th time Wimberly has appeared before the parole board. But it’s his first hearing under a new state law (SB260) requiring the parole board to weigh the age of inmates who committed their crimes as juveniles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly three hours of questions and testimony, the parole board deliberates for less than 30 minutes. They reconvene, and Parole Commissioner Marisela Montes announces the board’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We find that Mr. Wimberly does not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society or threat to public safety and is therefore now eligible for parole,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not the final word. California is one of just three states where governors can block parole decisions. And while previous California governors routinely vetoed parole for lifers, Jerry Brown is taking a very different approach — allowing 80 percent of parole recommendations to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stanford law Professor Robert Weisberg says the change is striking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean statistically it’s a very dramatic change from the Schwarzenegger administration and an unbelievable change from the Gray Davis administration,” Weisberg says.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-LiBf4jQ814'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The California Report’s analysis of state parole data finds that since 2009, more than 1,700 lifers have been released in California — that’s more than twice the number paroled in the previous two decades combined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not everyone is happy about the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a rally for crime victims’ families in Sacramento recently, Susan Hamlin describes the upset caused by having to attend a parole hearing for someone who victimized her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the dread of this hearing, and fear of his possible release, set in a full year prior to the hearing,” Hamlin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Capitol sidewalk is lined with posters showing photos of relatives who were murdered. Gov. Brown tells the crowd they aren’t forgotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you come here and show us the pictures of real human beings who are your loved ones who were murdered, then it isn’t abstract,” the governor says. “It’s very real. It’s very individual. It’s a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, I ask the governor if he ever worries about a paroled lifer committing another violent crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried about a number of things,” he says, rattling off concerns like climate change and childhood hunger. “But after we catalog our worries, we have to do what our job is. And I try to do that with common sense and a certain degree of compassion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked to describe his approach toward lifer parole, Brown says simply “to follow the law and evaluate very carefully each case, which I do every week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When told that his record is very different from past governors, he said, “Well, I don’t know what they did and whether they read the record or whether they looked at the law. The law has changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown is referring to a 2008 decision by the California Supreme Court. It stopped blanket denials of parole based on the viciousness of a crime alone. The justices ruled that there must also be evidence that an inmate is still a threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Shaffer, executive director of the state Board of Parole Hearings, says that decision changed everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As you can imagine, if their crime alone could keep them from being paroled forever, then that was really not life with the possibility of parole,” Shaffer notes. “So there had to be something else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By following the new legal guidelines Shaffer says, Brown is saving the time and taxpayer expense of inmate appeals that result in lifers being paroled anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A California Report analysis also finds that under Brown, the parole board is granting parole at a rate that’s more than triple what it was five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorney Charles Carbone represents hundreds of lifers. He says Brown’s appointees are taking a different approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re more sensitive and understanding of the rights of life inmates to receive parole,” Carbone says. “There were parole commissioners in the past who just had a philosophy, if you want to call it, where they issued blanket denials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some critics, like Christine Ward with the Crime Victims Action Alliance, believe the current parole board is simply too lenient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is like playing Russian roulette,” she says. “We just hope that that one time bomb doesn’t go off and create that really serious, heinous crime that will leave, not only that family devastated, but the entire state devastated. We’ve seen it before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what kind of risk do paroled lifers present? The Stanford Criminal Justice Center examined 860 murderers paroled in California over 15 years and found that only five were returned to prison for new felonies. That works out to less than 1 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main reason, says Weisberg, is that paroled lifers are typically older. Young people, he says, are far more likely to commit violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Thomas can attest to that. He went to prison at the age of 17 after killing someone during a robbery in Los Angeles. He’s now 47.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After being denied parole 14 times, Thomas was finally released last year — after 30 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody makes mistakes,” Thomas says. “Some are just more costly than others. I think once a person makes that transition from one lifestyle to another, he should be or she should be able to live their life in peace and be respected for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> Given the rising number of lifers winning parole, the State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has begun new programs to help inmates prepare for life on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of our series, “Second Chance: Lifers and Parole in California.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/behind-californias-dramatic-increase-in-lifers-freed-from-prison/\" target=\"_blank\">Behind California?s Dramatic Increase in Lifers Freed from Prisons\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More: \u003ca href=\"http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201405161630/b\" target=\"_blank\">Former Lifers Discuss Hopes, Fears After Winning Parole\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Judge Tours Billionaire's Disputed Beachfront Property",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136242\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/martinsbeach.jpeg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-136242\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/martinsbeach-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach stands in the middle of the crowd while touring Martins Beach. (Peter Jon Shuler/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach stands in the middle of the crowd while touring Martins Beach. (Peter Jon Shuler/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, May 15:\u003c/strong> The courtroom battle over whether Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla can legally bar the public from a coastal property he owns moved to the beach in question on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach toured Martins Beach for nearly an hour, walking past dilapidated restrooms and an ungraded parking area. Legal teams from both sides, and a gaggle of reporters, joined the judge on her inspection. An orange plastic barrier and piles of rocks blocked the crumbling stairway down to the beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mallach asked property manager Steven Baugher all about the area, including why the rental \"cabins\" look like normal homes. She also inspected the gate that has been used to lock out the public since Kholsa bought the land eight years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers were under a gag order to not speak to the press during the tour. However, after Baugher shut the gate, reporters approached Khosla’s lawyer, Jeffrey Essner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I thought it was important for the judge to see the conditions on the beach and to see that there was no parking available on the beach and that if the gate were opened and the owner were forced to have cars come down the beach, it would be a health and safety issue,\" Essner said, talking to the press for the first time since the trial began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the Surfrider Foundation argued that Khosla purposefully allowed the beach to fall into disrepair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's incredibly disingenuous and self-serving to destroy your own property, let the bathrooms fall apart, not fix the road to other parking, and then say, 'Oh gosh, we piled rocks all over the public parking area. Sorry we can't have any beach access.' I don't think the judge is going to go for that,\" attorney Mark Massara told KQED's Peter Jon Shuler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing arguments will begin in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla testified Monday that he can't remember much about the management of a $37.5 million San Mateo County beach property that's at the center of a coastal-access lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Superior Court testimony in Redwood City, Khosla said he could not remember anything specific about his intentions for Martins Beach, south of Half Moon Bay, about directions he might have given his manager for the property, or about a lawsuit or appeals filed in his name in connection with the tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Surfrider Foundation has sued Khosla to restore public use of a road to the beach, which was closed after the billionaire bought the 100-acre property in 2008. The suit is the latest in a series of actions that challenges the closure of the road to Martins Beach as a violation of state laws regulating development on California's coastline and safeguarding public access to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surfrider attorneys subpoenaed Khosla, saying that as owner of the property he had vital knowledge of any decision made regarding the tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in his exchanges with attorney Joseph Cotchett, representing the Surfrider Foundation, Khosla said he couldn't provide details about locking the gate across the beach road, partly because property manager Steven Baugher was responsible, partly because his discussions with Baugher were in the presence of attorneys and thus privileged. For instance, this exchange was reported by KQED's Peter Jon Shuler:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> Did you discuss with Mr. Baugher the locking of the gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> All such discussions happened in the presence of counsel.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> Did you tell Mr. Baugher, 'Please lock the gate'?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> No, not at any specific time that, not that I can recollect.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> You never told him, 'Lock the gate'?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> He's the operations manager and he makes those decisions.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> So he locked the gate.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I assume he made that decision.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> So he made the decision to lock the gate. Who instructed him to lock the gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I did not instruct him. I do not know who instructed him. It must have been at the advice of counsel.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Khosla, who with his wife owns two limited liability corporations that hold the Martins Beach property, has been widely reported to want to build a home there. Monday, he denied having any such intention:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> The purchase was for private use and not for a commercial enterprise. True or false?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla: \u003c/strong> I had no specific plans for the property.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett: \u003c/strong>The property was for private use, true or false?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I never discussed the purpose because I never had a purpose.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shuler says Cotchett expressed incredulity at Khosla's claims:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"He asked repeatedly 'So, you spent 37 and a half million dollars and you don't remember what you did about it or what your intention was about this property?' Those questions were objected to by defense counsel and most of those objections were sustained by the judge.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_136242\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/martinsbeach.jpeg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-136242\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/05/martinsbeach-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach stands in the middle of the crowd while touring Martins Beach. (Peter Jon Shuler/KQED)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach stands in the middle of the crowd while touring Martins Beach. (Peter Jon Shuler/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, May 15:\u003c/strong> The courtroom battle over whether Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla can legally bar the public from a coastal property he owns moved to the beach in question on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach toured Martins Beach for nearly an hour, walking past dilapidated restrooms and an ungraded parking area. Legal teams from both sides, and a gaggle of reporters, joined the judge on her inspection. An orange plastic barrier and piles of rocks blocked the crumbling stairway down to the beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mallach asked property manager Steven Baugher all about the area, including why the rental \"cabins\" look like normal homes. She also inspected the gate that has been used to lock out the public since Kholsa bought the land eight years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers were under a gag order to not speak to the press during the tour. However, after Baugher shut the gate, reporters approached Khosla’s lawyer, Jeffrey Essner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I thought it was important for the judge to see the conditions on the beach and to see that there was no parking available on the beach and that if the gate were opened and the owner were forced to have cars come down the beach, it would be a health and safety issue,\" Essner said, talking to the press for the first time since the trial began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the Surfrider Foundation argued that Khosla purposefully allowed the beach to fall into disrepair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's incredibly disingenuous and self-serving to destroy your own property, let the bathrooms fall apart, not fix the road to other parking, and then say, 'Oh gosh, we piled rocks all over the public parking area. Sorry we can't have any beach access.' I don't think the judge is going to go for that,\" attorney Mark Massara told KQED's Peter Jon Shuler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing arguments will begin in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla testified Monday that he can't remember much about the management of a $37.5 million San Mateo County beach property that's at the center of a coastal-access lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Superior Court testimony in Redwood City, Khosla said he could not remember anything specific about his intentions for Martins Beach, south of Half Moon Bay, about directions he might have given his manager for the property, or about a lawsuit or appeals filed in his name in connection with the tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Surfrider Foundation has sued Khosla to restore public use of a road to the beach, which was closed after the billionaire bought the 100-acre property in 2008. The suit is the latest in a series of actions that challenges the closure of the road to Martins Beach as a violation of state laws regulating development on California's coastline and safeguarding public access to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surfrider attorneys subpoenaed Khosla, saying that as owner of the property he had vital knowledge of any decision made regarding the tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in his exchanges with attorney Joseph Cotchett, representing the Surfrider Foundation, Khosla said he couldn't provide details about locking the gate across the beach road, partly because property manager Steven Baugher was responsible, partly because his discussions with Baugher were in the presence of attorneys and thus privileged. For instance, this exchange was reported by KQED's Peter Jon Shuler:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> Did you discuss with Mr. Baugher the locking of the gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> All such discussions happened in the presence of counsel.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> Did you tell Mr. Baugher, 'Please lock the gate'?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> No, not at any specific time that, not that I can recollect.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> You never told him, 'Lock the gate'?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> He's the operations manager and he makes those decisions.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> So he locked the gate.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I assume he made that decision.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> So he made the decision to lock the gate. Who instructed him to lock the gate?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I did not instruct him. I do not know who instructed him. It must have been at the advice of counsel.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Khosla, who with his wife owns two limited liability corporations that hold the Martins Beach property, has been widely reported to want to build a home there. Monday, he denied having any such intention:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cotchett:\u003c/strong> The purchase was for private use and not for a commercial enterprise. True or false?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla: \u003c/strong> I had no specific plans for the property.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cotchett: \u003c/strong>The property was for private use, true or false?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Khosla:\u003c/strong> I never discussed the purpose because I never had a purpose.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shuler says Cotchett expressed incredulity at Khosla's claims:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"He asked repeatedly 'So, you spent 37 and a half million dollars and you don't remember what you did about it or what your intention was about this property?' Those questions were objected to by defense counsel and most of those objections were sustained by the judge.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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},
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
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"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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},
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"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
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