City, OPS Chief Found Guilty of Di$crimination

At a time when thousands of City employees are facing layoffs and pay cuts, the City of Los Angeles will be paying out more than $1.3 million to three African American officers who were illegally passed over for promotions by the Chief of the City's second police force, the Office of Public Safety.

OPS was created to consolidate security forces in the City, an effort that would have completely dissolved the Library police, the Zoo police, the Park Rangers, and the old GSD Security police in favor of a "one-size-fits-all" juggernaut if the process had gone strictly as planned.

Upon the creation of OPS in 2002, Chief Gary Newton hired and promoted friends and coworkers who were either less qualified, unqualified, or were his biggest personal supporters. Captain Richard Musquiz, hired by Newton, was the most obvious liability. In an incident reminiscent of two recent widely-publicized police violence incidents, Musquiz had previously been found guilty of seriously beating a suspect who was detained and in handcuffs. He was fired by the City of Huntington Park for the incident and later lost his appeal in court.

Newton, himself, had allegedly been illegally promoted to chief of the Department of Recreation and Parks' Ranger unit only a little over a year earlier. When made chief, Newton had been a senior officer less than the required two years.

Gary Newton's activities as chief of OPS were far from news to City officials. The City, the Mayor, and Councilmember Wendy Greuel clearly knew the man they had chosen to run their new police force was a risk back in 2005. At that time, security officers in GSD presented a detailed letter to the City Council outlining Newton's illegal activities and questionable hiring practices. This letter formed the basis of the lawsuit settled today. Greuel allegedly admitted knowledge of the issues with Newton in discussions with private parties, union representatives, and City employees as early as 2003.

It's curious that today, Gary Newton remains firmly in place as the Chief of the Office of Public Safety. Meanwhile, Ed Boks was forced by Villaraigosa to resign as general manager of Animal Services for being found guilty in March 2009 of eerily similar activities in his prior job with the City of New York. The Office of Public Safety's Oversight Committee does meets tomorrow evening and this verdict may be discussed there.

The creation of OPS as a deadly-use-of-force agency* was the brainchild of Wendy Greuel and Jim Hahn, supposedly as an efficiency measure that the CAO claimed would save the City less than $1 million annually. In 2008-09, LA's second police force was budgeted at an incredible $27 million, a budget that has been inflated every year with little comment from the City Clowncil since the force's inception.

The City can now add $1.3 million to OPS's total financial burden. Then add the outcome of the impending lawsuits to recover court costs and attorneys' fees. Now that's efficiency, LA City Clowncil-style.

So what's the over/under that our new City Controller will do an impartial audit of OPS anytime soon? At least Mayor Sam knows where Antonio can get some more police officers real cheap.




*OPS officers are definitely armed. Although OPS has some
unarmed security officers, the office is a POST-accredited
armed agency patrolling the Zoo, parks, libraries,
and public buildings. They are authorized to use
deadly force under specific circumstances.

Suspicious Fires Erupt in Elysian Park; Mayor's Budget Cuts Firefighting Rangers

A number of suspicious fires erupted in Elysian Park at around 11 PM Saturday evening causing minor damage due to the swift response by Los Angeles City Park Rangers and the LAFD. Other agencies responding included LAPD, OPS, and Los Angeles County Sheriff who were spotted passing residents roused by the noise and, in some cases, smoke.

According to residents, small fires are common in Elysian Park, but these fires were very different up to and including the hardcore response they received, with numerous agencies' helicopters buzzing the park for hours. LAFD Twitter stated that more than 90 firefighters responded to this incident, which is a very large allocation for what they reported as just a 2-acre fire.

Los Angeles City Park Rangers were observed by residents as first on-scene with firefighting units. The Rangers' division - part of the Department of Recreation and Parks - has reportedly had patrols in the area as well as in other parks as a precaution against the dry conditions throughout the past week, a week that coincidentally marked the second anniversary of the devastating Griffith Park fire.

Although the swift emergency response is in part responsible for the minimal damage caused by this fire event, it is worth noting on this politics blog that counter intuitively, Los Angeles City Park Rangers are not funded with other so-called vital emergency services in the Mayor's budget, but are prioritized by the police-obsessed Villaraigosa with all other Department of Recreation and Parks' activities, including trash collection and restroom cleaning.

In fact, as activists pointed out at the Budget and Finance Committee hearings, the Mayor's 2009-10 budget actually cuts ten Park Ranger positions plus their Chief position, regardless of the fact that the state agency that certifies and accredits these types of organizations (CA P.O.S.T.) requires them to have a chief.

Yet simultaneously, a stubborn Tony V holds firm to his 'hire 10,000 LAPD officers' obsession. At a time when LAPD is blasting stats saying crime in the City has decreased to 1950s levels, the 10,000 number appears to hold little if any real needs significance. It's more likely just a nice, round number, divisible by ten, that looks good in headlines and on resumes.


Wonder what the people whose Elysian Park homes were spared by the quick response of the Rangers think of the Mayor's budget priorities? My impression as I hung up the phone was: "Not a whole hell of a lot, right now."

Letter Details Alleged OPS Discriminatory Practices

As we reported earlier this week, the City of Los Angeles and Office of Public Safety Chief Gary Newton are co-defendants in an extensive discrimination lawsuit.

Mayor Sam has obtained a letter sent to the City Council from a group of concerned GDS/OPS employees in 2005 extensively detailing the alleged actions named in two of the three recent court cases against Newton and the City, including the one going to trial on November 12th. Many of the OPS officers alleged in the letter to have been hired for positions that they were not qualified for are now in major leadership roles within the department.

Why should anyone care about this?

If you read the somewhat sedate comments from earlier this week, you have to wonder. When people aren't angry about discrimination, that's pretty sad. But consider this: since its inception as a money-saving move in late 2004, the Office of Public Safety has quietly grown to become the second major fully-armed and empowered police force in Los Angeles with hundreds of officers patrolling all of LA's 90 libraries, 400 parks and recreation facilities, and more than 1,000 public buildings and spaces.

In City parks and recreational facilities alone, OPS may make contact or interact with more than 20 million parks visitors each year, most of them families with children. If it is proven that there are OPS officers in the chain of command who aren't qualified, everyone -- the public and other, qualified peace officers -- may be endangered.

Finally, if the lawsuit proves legitimate as the first one allegedly was, LAPD should probably care since as happened in the Leimert Park incident, OPS uniforms look a great deal like LAPD, and few seem to consciously recognize that there are two different police forces out there. If the uniforms say "police" on them, then it must be LAPD.

What follows is a reprinting of the letter received by Mayor Sam. The letter is the opinion of, and in the words of the author(s) only. Readers may decide for themselves whether the content is valid or not.

It's worth noting that since this letter was written, one of the concerns mentioned was addressed and an oversight committee for OPS was actually formed and does meet. The next meeting of the committee is Tuesday, September 16 from 5:30 p.m. -- 7:30 p.m at City Hall in room 1035.


----------------------------------------
DATE: June 15, 2005

To: Honorable Members of the Los Angeles City Council Council District’s 1-15

From: Concerned Employees of The City of Los Angeles, Department of General Services Security Services Division

SUBJECT: DISCRIMINATION WITHIN SECURITY SERVICES DIVISION



To Whom It May Concern:

The events and incidents outlined below are a chronological account of events that have occurred within Security Services Division (SSD) since October 2002. This document depicts unethical and unfair hiring and promotional practices that have occurred in the past three years and continue to take place even today. While it may be hard to believe, it cannot be misunderstood that there is conspiracy, collusion, corruption and ethical improprieties at the higher levels of City management, as it relates to General Services’ Security Services Division. Employees have described the working conditions and race relations as being “similar to how things were before Tom Bradley was Mayor.” Within Security Services Division exists a covert hostile environment that employees are apprehensive to discuss. One of the primary contributors to this environment is the fact that, there have been no African Americans promoted under General Services Police Chief Gary Newton since December 2002. Nor have there been any African Americans selected for any special assignments or administrative positions. This is the case, despite the fact that there are approximately 100 police and security personnel employed within this Division (many of them African American) and despite the fact that there have been numerous promotions, appointments and assignments within this three year period. It is worth repeating that none of these promotions, appointments or assignments were filled by African American employees. This hostile environment has been further perpetuated by a combination of favoritism, cronyism, good-ole-boyism and institutionalized discrimination. The African American employees of General Services-Security Services Division are demanding a thorough investigation into the events and allegations outlined below. The information described below in precise detail.

The Security Services Division (SSD) of The Department of General Services employs both police and security officers within their Division. Security Services Division (SSD) is responsible for providing both police and security functions for City of Los Angeles facilities. We are responsible for ensuring the safety and security of City employees who work at these facilities as well as the visitors and vendors who conduct business at these facilities. These facilities include but are not limited to City Hall, City Hall East, City Hall South, San Pedro Municipal Building, Marvin Braude Municipal Building, and the Los Angeles Constituent Services Center. We also provide security for various City Council members, City Council Chambers and the Mayors Office. The police officers employed by the Division are recognized as sworn, armed peace officers in the state of California. Peace officers employed by the Department of General Services are employed under the following City of Los Angeles job classifications: Special Officer (Police Officer), Senior Special Officer (Sergeant), Principal Special Officer (Lieutenant) and Chief Special Officer (Chief and Captain).

In October of 2002 the Department of General Services hired a new Chief to oversee the Security Services Division. Prior to this, Security Services Division had been under the direction and management of LAPD for approximately two years. Chief Newton was a sworn peace officer and had joined the Department with previous experience as a former City of Los Angeles Park Ranger (where he was a supervisor and had served as “acting” Chief) He also had approximately one year experience as a Henderson Nevada Deputy Sheriff.....


Read the rest of the letter at MS2.

Just In - Griffith Arsonist Apprehended

News flash -- the Griffith Park arsonist was apprehended and in custody with LAFD's arson unit at 2:30 pm today.

The person in custody is described as a "transient" on a bike and was caught by the GP Fire Task Force after setting yet another fire today in the same general area as last weekend's fire which was near Travel Town on the north side of the park.

Hopefully this isn't a copycat but the same scumbag who set the other 7-10 fires in the last six weeks.

Excellent work by the Fire Task Force, who included LAFD, Rec and Parks, and Park Rangers. (If you know other agencies involved, please post in comments.)

Why We Need Park Rangers

4 PM on May 15, 2008:

...ten minutes later...

4:30 - LAFD chopper is on the case:


Can't see who has ground troops on scene from here, but fire watch and supression is one of the Park Rangers' main functions. The white vehicle on the fire road below the fire is definitely LA City Rangers.

5pm - AnVil, LeBong, and Jon Mukri are at the Observatory. (LeBong is dropping bricks, you just know it.)

Here we go -- not sure of the time stamp, but Ranger fire engine and truck on scene:


See how it ends on your local newscast.

PHOTO CREDIT -- Hollywood United Neighborhood Council ... http://hollywoodunitednc.org/

City $$quirmish Moves Into High Gear

The Budget and Finance Committee has finalized their recommended changes to Tony Villar’s budget. The list includes some luke-warm news for departments unlucky enough not to be LAPD or LAFD (approximately 67% of the entire City budget goes into police and fire), but the biggest news is that the infamous City Surplus Property kickback will get a makeover. Previously, 50% of property sales went into the clowncilmember’s own discretionary fund. This will now go into the City’s General Fund, where clowncilmembers will no doubt find a way to spend it on their own projects anyway.

Another big one is a major City study into Departmental Mission Creep. Rec and Parks is a prefect target for this study since it has become the de facto social services provider for the entire City over the past two decades.

Some of the other bullet point recommendations include:

The Sidewalk Repair program will stay in business, and another another work crew will be added to the program.

Libraries: the book purchasing program will be funded; facilities will remain open on Sundays.

Recreation and Parks: RAP will be allowed to keep all cut Park Ranger position authorities but there will be no increase in allocated funding to actually pay for them.

Pension contributions will remain 1x annually rather than deferred per the Mayor's plan. (This saves the City $15 million annually.)

Citywide layoffs are still listed as 760; about half of these positions are vacant.

Parking validation to City facilities will be discontinued, saving some $350,000 annually.

DOT will expand advertising on buses and trains.

Instead of the annual mad money dash, there will be quarterly Budget development meetings.

And... the Mayor gets all the new LAPD officers he wants. Quel surprise.


The full City Clowncil will begin its deliberation on the Mayor’s proposed Citywide budget this Friday beginning with the public hearing at 10am sharp. Let the money squabble begin!

Questions Still Swirl Around Griffith Fire

Tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary of the devastating Griffith Park fire. One of the largest fires in the long history of a historic park is rumored to have been started by an off-duty Camp LeJeune marine who fell asleep with a cigarette in hand sometime in the early afternoon. One year on, no one has ever been charged with starting the fire, and details about this individual and why they were in the park in the first place are limited. In fact, in reviewing the fire and the resulting goings-on since that fateful afternoon, there are still a whole lot of questions that remain unanswered.

To mark the historic occasion, it probably goes without saying that the Autocrat of Griffith Park will be holding court. Tom LeBong and his ongoing obsession with the LAFD takes over the Greek Theatre parking area at 10AM Thursday so he can ask everyone on City time about the high school they attended. Various City officials will be forced to make appearances. Rec and Parks General Manager Jon Mukri is one of the lucky ones performing at the Autocrat’s bidding tomorrow instead of running his department.

Hey Jon M,

Q: While Griffith Park was under full closure post-fire, why was Sunset Stables allowed to conduct business in the park while other rental stables surrounding the park were banned?

Q: Why wasn't the investigation of such a high profile fire handled by LAFD or LAPD instead of the Office of Public Safety?


Along with LAFD Chief Barry, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be there to honor the dedicated firefighters who worked the blaze. This includes the Los Angeles City Park Rangers whose unit the Mayor already showed his appreciation for by slashing them in half with a swipe of his pen a few weeks ago.

Hey Tony,

Q: What happened to your promise of a fully staffed and equipped Park Ranger Division?

Q: Why did you make Recreation and Parks pay millions of dollars from their budget toward the cost of fire recovery when the funds should have come from the City's emergency contingency account?


Obviously missing from tomorrow's festivities will be our exalted Governator whose caring concern for the disaster graced the front pages of every fishwrap in town.

Q: Hey Arnie, what happened to that $50 million you promised Recreation and Parks? Wouldn’t this have made a huge difference in Rec and Parks' financial situation now?


And finally -

Hey Councilman LeBong,

Q: Why were you regularly leading private parties off-trail in the environmentally sensitive burn areas when the areas were closed?

Q: Why was a single exclusive group of some of your biggest financial supporters given the honor of being the first ‘community group’ to help restore Griffith Park and why was it kept secret from the public until after the fact?

Q: Why did you tell anyone who would listen that 'hydromulch doesn’t work' when six decades of good data shows otherwise?

Q: Why did you push for a curb-to-curb smoking ban in tinder-dry Los Angeles parks, then undermine the law at the 12th hour by making exceptions of golf courses and events venues like the Greek Theatre?

Q: Why are you holding ‘Park Restoration’ community group events that plant tree after tree after tree in a Chaparral - not Forest - ecosystem?

Q: Why have your groups been allowed to plant non-natives in a native ecosystem?

Q: Why are your aides telling members of the public things like ‘wild cucumber is invasive and needs to be ripped out from the burn area’? (Wild cucumber is decidedly native.)

Q: Why are you pushing for yet another non-native, manufactured artificial ‘garden’ to be named in honor of one of Los Angeles’ 20-plus “Sister Cities” to be built in the natural wilderness portion of the burn area and that will be preferentially managed by more of your big financial supporters?

So many questions, so few answers.

Deal, No Deal, or Outright $teal?

The Budget and Finance Committee's hearing on the Mayor's 2008-09 version of his rape of LA's quality of life has lifted off. As Joe M points out at Street-Hassle, department supervisors and GMs are playing 'Deal or No Deal' with Bernard P and his gaggle of geese all week long. Deal or No Deal has got to be one of the stupidest game shows ever. It takes zero skill to pick a suitcase. If there is just 1, $1 million case in the 26 you pick from, then the odds of having selected the $1 million case are 1 in 26 -- the odds on that never change no matter how many other cases remain. The audience for Deal or No Deal, much like the City Clowncil, is mainly composed of males attracted to shiny objects (and cleavage.) No harm, no fowl, I suppose.

I've recently pointed out how a major cut in Recreation and Parks could endanger millions by removing the parks' first responders to brush fires, the Park Rangers. After the Griffith Fire, LaBonge, the Mayor, and every other City official who had a forum to do so told us all that they would make sure Park Rangers were fully staffed and funded from now on. What a difference a year makes, eh? With a wave of his quill, Villaraigosa cuts more than 20 full peace officers from the City payroll. (Yes, I actually said "...cuts... peace officers...from the City payroll"). Isn't it fascinating that although Antonio treats some peace officers as sacrosanct, he doesn't mind endangering the public when those officers are not of a specific breed?

Park-going Angelenos have a great deal to lose if they don't wake up and get in the Budget game right now, not the least of which is 50% of the LA City Park Rangers. Our quality of life is being stolen out from under our very large bills. So shake a tail feather -- go downtown and speak in Public Comment. Email your City officials right away. Call LaBonge and let him know what high school you went to. As Sunland-Tujunga is proving, sometimes activism is not just a wild goose chase.

City Parks Suffer Dangerous Budget Cut

The Daily News today reported that a result of the Mayor’s all-out assault on Los Angelenos in the form of budget cuts and fee increases will result in serious losses of vital services in City parks. The paper points to two Rec and Parks losses in particular – less clean restrooms and a 50% cut in Park Rangers.

Most people jump right on the mental image of an unclean restroom, but the reality of this Citywide cut is that the far greater loss of the two is actually the Park Rangers.

Park Rangers are perhaps the most recognizable image of any parks service in the United States. However, LA City Park Rangers are far more than an icon. With the increased gang violence and general unrest throughout the City, more specialized park security is a must. L.A. City Park Rangers are fully qualified, POST-certified peace officers. Perhaps even more importantly, Park Rangers are also firefighters, search and rescue professionals, emergency management specialists, paramedics, wildlife specialists, educators, mediators, and community policing specialists. For those who are unhappy with the generous salaries some City employees pull down, Park Rangers are also underpaid relative to other City jobs requiring full peace officer standing. This, plus the fact that there are tons of open peace officer positions in this City, just about guarantees that being a Park Ranger in Los Angeles isn't just a job, but it must be a vocation.

On any given day in at least one of this City’s 400+ parks, Rangers put their unique combination of specialized skills to use on the public’s behalf. During the Griffith Park fire, every Park Ranger in the City demonstrated extreme dedication to their vocation by working more than 95 hours straight. The Rangers’ intimate knowledge of the park was absolutely vital to controlling the May 8, 2007 inferno. It isn’t discussed much in the wake of the usual, well-deserved accolades given to the LAFD, but those closest to the situation know that it was a heroic stand at Bee Rock by Park Ranger firefighters that halted the northeastward advance of that fire. Park Ranger firefighters used their intimate knowledge of the park to determine that this physical location was absolutely key to stopping the fire, and they made the stand that did it.

So here we are with a summer fire season widely predicted to be one of the worst on record nearly upon us. Cutting almost 50% of a single division that is as important to this City as the Park Rangers are not only makes no sense, but it may seriously endanger the lives of the 20 million people who visit Los Angeles parks annually.

The recent mauling of patrons by a Siberian Tiger at the San Francisco Zoo brings up another point. The Los Angeles Zoo is inside of Griffith Park, and the Zoo is far from impervious to animal escapes. The combination of emergency management and wildlife expertise that Park Rangers possess would make them invaluable if such a thing ever happened here. As an aside, it is interesting to note that current SF Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo, under whose watch the horrific maulings occurred, was a past General Manager of Recreation and Parks in Los Angeles as well as a Director of the Los Angeles Zoo during a time that many of the exhibit enclosures were upgraded, ostensibly to code. Hmmm...


Since they have all the money and resources, I guess the Mayor is assuming the Office of Public Safety will take care of us all. But as was pointed out in an earlier article detailing the creation and performance to-date of OPS, their promise was enticing but their carry-through has been far from optimum, or even adequate for that matter. And Rec and Parks, who is legally mandated to provide security in City parks, has little to no control over OPS which is organized within an entirely different City department.

On May 1st, there will be massive immigration demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles. If they repeat what they did in 2005, 2006, and 2007, the Office of Public Safety will pull every single officer to a man from City parks, libraries, and the Zoo and deploy them all downtown. This means that on May Day, a traditional day to celebrate the coming of Spring, the only peace officers protecting the public in 400+ City parks will be Park Rangers. 50% less Park Rangers, that is, if no one challenges the Mayor’s budget.

It's ironic that also on May 1st, the City's Budget and Finance Committee will hold the hearing on the Mayor's Budget for the Department of Recreation and Parks. So y'all come on downtown May 1 -- skip work, see the protesters and OPS in action firsthand, and give the committee your input on the $cut$ to Rec and Parks while surrounded by a hundred thousand or so of your fellow Angelenos. ...Democracy in action! WooHoo!