Feeling Safer? Why?

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER IN THE NEW YEAR
Here's a little something for you to contemplate as you plan to ring in the new year.  The City of Costa Mesa is not safer this year than it was last year.  And, sadly, this is a DIRECT result of policies and attitudes by the current City Council majority - specifically Mayor Steve Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer.

NUMBERS TO CONTEMPLATE
Here's a little information for you, plucked straight from the pages of the city web site.  I've provided the last three months available for your consideration, but you can find all the rest at the city web site HERE.  (Click on the individual charts to expand.)

POTHOLES BEFORE PUBLIC SAFETY
So, as we enter the new year, full of hope and anticipation, keep in mind that some of your elected leaders have chosen to place potholes before public safety.  They care more about their legacy as measured by paved streets and alleys and fancy new center dividers than the safety of those of us who live or work in and those who visit and shop in Costa Mesa

FEWER COPS... AND DROPPING
As of the end of the year the Costa Mesa Police Department will have fewer than 100 officers ready for duty.  There are nearly 30 vacancies in the department.  Of the authorized staff level - which is well short of optimal - five are so-called "grant cops", officers being paid through a 5-year grant.  The time on those grants is expiring, which will reduce the authorized strength of the department's sworn officers even more!

INTENTIONALLY STALLED THE PROCESS
And, you may recall that Mensinger and Righeimer refused to let then-chief Tom Gazsi begin the hiring process for new officers for more than eight months, putting the department so far behind the curve that it will take years to recover.

AN EVEN GREATER NEED!
Even without the impact of a growing drug problem, and expanding homelessness problem, AB 109 releases and Prop. 47, it would be tough to properly police this city.  Add those elements to the mix, PLUS the fact that Costa Mesa has the highest percentage of rehab homes in the county - by far - than any other city and those places have been demonstrated to be incubators for homeless criminals.  When they are bounced out of the rehab homes for failure to complete the programs there is no mechanism or requirement for them to be returned to their home of record, so they end up on our streets.  A recent incident where a resident clobbered a burglar with a flashlight emphasizes that problem, HERE.

THE CONTRACT
And, of course, we have the CMPD contract to consider.  The men and women of the CMPD are working without a new contract for more than 500 days.  Only three members of the City Council - Gary Monahan, Katrina Foley and Sandra Genis - may be involved in the negotiations because the other two men have sued the men and women of the CMPD.  And those three must reach unanimous accord on the contract.

ROOKIES CANNOT REPLACE VETERANS
And, there is the loss of experience caused by the retirement and/or departure to other venues by skilled, season veteran officers.  Yes, we can hire some of the best new officers available, but they simply don't have the experience yet to actually fill the void - that takes years.

"THANK" THOSE RESPONSIBLE
So, I encourage you to drop a little note to the two top elected leaders in our city to "thank them" for caring more about their legacy than our safety.  I'm sure they will welcome a little note from you.  I suspect Mayor Pro Tem Righeimer will remind you of what he constantly says - "Having more cops doesn't mean you have a safer city."  Yeah, really?  Well, it's a great place to start!

HOPING FOR A SAFER, HAPPIER NEW YEAR
And a Very Happy New Year to you all.

Crime In Costa Mesa Continues To Climb

DAILY PILOT REPORTS ON RISING CRIME STATS

This afternoon Jeremiah Dobruck published an article in the Daily Pilot, HERE, outlining the continued upward climb of serious crime in Costa Mesa.

FOLEY HAS IT RIGHT
I'm not going to try to paraphrase the content of this distressing article, except to note that Katrina Foley seems to have it right - too few cops on the street result in increased crime.

READ IT AND WEEP!
For your enlightenment, below I've captured the last three months of crime stats as released by the Costa Mesa Police Department, including the June numbers which were released today.  Take a couple minutes to glance down the three charts and see if you feel comfortable... I sure don't.  Click on the image to enlarge it.

Feelin' Safer In Costa Mesa? You Shouldn't!(Amended)

THE "RIGHEIMER ERA"
Over the past several years - ever since Jim Righeimer came to town - things have not gone especially well for the Costa Mesa Police Department and the community it serves.

REVOLVING DOOR AT THE TOP
We've seen a steady stream of police chiefs, both permanent and interim, come and go.  Each situation was different for those men, but with each departure came more unrest and angst within the ranks of the CMPD.

STAVELEY WAS CORRECT
When Interim Chief Steve Staveley left in frustration four years ago he did so while tossing a grenade over his shoulder - his best professional opinion, based on four decades of law enforcement leadership, that the elected leadership of our city was "incompetent, unskilled and unethical".  And, it turns out he was exactly right.

DISREGARD FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
Your mayor and mayor pro tem have sued the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department.  Gary Monahan has dragged his feet in negotiations on a new contract for that group although they've been working without one for a year.  The negotiators for the City have not responded to the offer placed on the table by the Costa Mesa Police Association last October!  And we've had cops leave in droves to earlier-than-planned retirements or to other venues because of the toxic environment created by the current council majority.

PLANS UN-ACTED UPON
When Chief Tom Gazsi, an outstanding law enforcement leader and a man of impeccable character with more than three decades of law enforcement behind him in our neighboring city of Newport Beach, retired as Costa Mesa Police Chief to accept the position of Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Port Police, he did so having done his very best to rebuild the department that was decimated by early retirements and lateral moves to other jurisdictions.  He left never having had as much as an acknowledgement from his boss, CEO Tom Hatch, that a comprehensive document - the Attrition Report -  he submitted to Hatch nine months earlier had even been read, much less acted upon.  That document provided a very specific road map to get the CMPD out of the doldrums and back to the once lofty status it held as a "destination" police department.

PART 1 CRIMES UP NEARLY 50%!
The results of the short-sighted management of public safety resources in this city has now come home to roost.  The April, 2015 Part 1 Crime Overview chart is now posted on the City website.  You can read it at this link, HERE, along with several years of similar information.  Let me save you some time.  Below is a chart I cut and pasted showing April, 2015, February, 2015 (the next most recent chart available) and December, 2014.  You will notice that Part 1 Crimes - the biggies - are up nearly 50% in April.  They were up nearly 40% in February! (Click on the image to enlarge it)

 

 TOUGH TO BE A COP THESE DAY
These are tough times to be a cop anywhere, but in California in particular.  The impact of AB 109 - the prison "realignment" legislation that put criminals back out on the street earlier than they should be - and Prop. 47, which reduced the designation of certain crimes which resulted in shorter penalties, if any, for some of them - have dramatically impacted law enforcement policies and practices throughout the state.  Combine that with what certainly appears to be, in some segments of our broader society, a "hardening" against law enforcement in general, and you have a tough job made even tougher.  And, of course, here in Costa Mesa where our police staffing is running at least 30% below what is necessary to effectively protect the community, the situation is amplified.


YOU'RE LESS SAFE TODAY BECAUSE...

Folks, there's just no way to sugar-coat this situation.  The City of Costa Mesa is demonstrably less safe today because of three men - Mayor Steve Mensinger, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and lame-duck Councilman Gary Monahan.  Their animosity toward the men and women of the CMPD and the policies they've implemented that reflect that vindictive, short-sighted attitude have directly affected the safety of every single resident and visitor to our city.  Today we operate with a diminished Detective Bureau, no Narcotics Squad, a Gang Detail that's nearly non-existent, no K-9 support, a half-dozen motorcycles sitting dormant because we don't have the staff to put them in the field and, of course, no A.B.L.E helicopter support.  This comes at a time when we have more transients in our city, more parolees and probationers and an exploding number of rehab homes.  Look at those crime stats....

BUDGET TIME IS TUESDAY JUNE 23RD

The 2015-2016 Municipal Budget will be voted on next Tuesday, June 16, June 23, 2015 during a special council meeting at City Hall.  It's time for the members of the public to step up and tell your elected leaders that you've had enough!  It's time for the council to follow the best advice available -  from former chiefs Roger Neth, Dave Snowden, Steve Staveley and Tom Gazsi AND from the consultants hired four years ago to assess the CMPD and make recommendations.  If YOU don't speak up they're going to assume that you think their policies are just fine and dandy.  They are not!  If you can't make it to the council meeting Tuesday evening, call Tom Hatch's office or send an email to the council letting them know how you feel.  There's cash in the budget to fund more cops - we're down to fewer than 100 officers available for duty today and are hiring as fast as the system can accommodate - it just needs to be prioritized. (NOTE: The budget adoption meeting has been scheduled for a SPECIAL meeting on June 23rd.  It seems the Mayor Pro Tem will NOT be at this Tuesday's regular meeting, so the budget will have it's own special event the following week!)

MEET THE MAYOR AND THE CHIEF
Or, even better, on Sunday, June 14, 2015, from 2-4 p.m. your mayor - shown here strolling past the makeshift memorial for Huy Pham outside City Hall last March - is holding another of his "Meet The Mayor" events, HERE, and this time, fortuitously, he's going to be joined by new Police Chief Rob Sharpnack on the 5th Floor of City Hall.  This seems like a PERFECT opportunity for you and a few dozen of your friends and neighbors to take advantage of his hospitality to ask him and the new chief how they plan to address crime in our city.  You can ask about the parolees and probationers, or the sober living homes, or the gangs, or the graffiti, or why we have lost so many cops... all that important stuff.

Stand up and Speak up!  Now is the time!

A Day In The Life Of The CMPD

NEW CRIME STATS
As most readers here know, recently the Costa Mesa Police Department introduced new crime statistics, available to the public at a link on its web site, HERE.  This is fascinating information, which can be seen in a couple permutations and sliced several ways depending on what you choose to see, including maps with color-coded crime locations throughout the city.

FOR SOME PERSPECTIVE
Yesterday afternoon I decided to provide a little different experience for you.  I cut and pasted one day's worth of "Calls For Service" below, so you can quickly scroll down through the list and get a feel for what a typical 24-hour period is like for the men and women of the CMPD.  I think you'll be able to read the entries - I didn't include the addresses and some other information, but you can go to the web site and find most of that info for yourselves.

DRAMATICALLY REDUCED RESOURCES
I think it's important to understand that the CMPD is attempting to keep us safe with vastly diminished resources when compared to a couple years ago.  For example, it was just over two years ago that the Jim Righeimer-led council decided to abandon the A.B.L.E. helicopter program - THE model program for all municipal helicopter programs throughout the country.  In addition, the authorized sworn officer strength today is down from 164 at its peak to 131 today - still well below the staffing levels recommended by the city-hired consultants AND Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley.  And, it's my understanding that we have nowhere near that 131 level actually on the job.  We may be at least 10% below that number today.

RECRUITMENT TOUGHER TODAY
This is compounded by the fact that it is increasingly more difficult for The City to recruit officers.  Hundreds are screened to find one person qualified to hire in a process that takes months.  And, that fact is exacerbated by the fact that it is anticipated that dozens of highly skilled officers may opt to retire within the next several months.

ARROGANT DISREGARD
There seems to be a willingness by the current council majority to place the safety of every resident, business and visitor to our city in jeopardy, ignoring the fact that crime is up in our city and brushing aside any suggestion that more boots on the ground will make the city safer.  This arrogant disregard for our safety is likely due to a long-harbored animosity for law enforcement by one or two members of the council.

EXACERBATING THE ISSUE
Recently a new blog has popped up in town.  It's published by an old fella who regurgitates the party line in the most boring of ways and is heartily-endorsed by the current power elite in the city.  No, I don't mean the grumpy old guy - The Mouth From Mesa North.  This is another old guy with too much time on his hands and, apparently, no capacity for original thought.  He recently posted an entry dismissing the need for additional police resources like swatting a fly perched on his baloney sandwich.  That's a shame...

SCROLL AND LEARN
So, take your time and just scroll down through a day in the life of the CMPD, below.  It might help give you a little perspective on what it's like to be a cop in our city.

Good Crime News, E-Verify & Phu Nguyen

COSTA MESA VIOLENT CRIME DOWN
Tuesday evening, in the Daily Pilot online, Joe Serna reports that - according to FBI statistics - violent crime in Costa Mesa dropped 14% in 2009! You can read Serna's article, which includes the details, HERE.


GREAT NEWS IN TOUGH TIMES
This is terrific news and a great testament to those brave men and women who patrol our streets and try to make our city safer. We only hope the current budget constraints, and the current salary negotiations, won't keep them from continuing to perform at such a high level. Kudos to the Chief Chris Shawkey and the men and women of the CMPD.

MANSOOR TOUTS E-VERIFY
Our formerly young, and former jailer, Mayor Allan Mansoor has been getting a lot of press recently. For example, the media is all abuzz about his latest scheme to quash what he perceives to be a marauding hoard of illegal immigrants in Costa Mesa - to REQUIRE the use of the federal E-Verify program. This was discussed at the city council study session Tuesday. I was not there, nor have I seen the tape of the meeting yet, but I'm told that Mansoor stuck close to his request as presented in the staff report.

ONEROUS DEMAND ON BUSINESSES
Not only will his plan require the City of Costa Mesa to utilize E-Verify, but he would require every NEW BUSINESS to agree to use E-Verify before a business license could be issued. Additionally, Mansoor also wants to require EVERY EXISTING business to use E-Verify on all it's current employees before a license renewal could be issued.

MANSOOR TO ASK FOR FUNDING FOR RESEARCH
It's my understanding that Mansoor will bring this item before the council in a future meeting, seeking authorization for the staff to do exhaustive research and create the appropriate legal documents needed to implement such a plan. This seems like an unnecessary, costly (in these difficult budget times) and intrusive measure - one that will certainly not endear Mansoor to the business community. Much like his "rule of law city" resolution, this is just another grandstanding move on his part to gin up votes for his faltering Assembly race against Phu Nguyen. Cindy Carcamo and Jon Cassidy of the Orange County Register did an excellent article late Tuesday on this subject. You can find it HERE.

ORANGE JUICE BLOG PIECE ON MANSOOR
There's a very interesting piece about Mansoor on the Orange Juice blog by crooner Vern Nelson that is part of a series of articles on that site about our aspiring assemblyman. I think you'll find this particular one especially entertaining. You can find it HERE. Enjoy.

A VIEW OF PHU FOR YOU
Finally, before I close, I want to provide you with some perspective. The following little video clip from YouTube presents a view of Mansoor's opponent in the 68th Assembly race - Phu Nguyen. I know you'll find it interesting and gives you a way to compare his background and qualifications to those of Mansoor.