Quick releases frustrate officers trying to help

All of the crime data the Press Telegram has collected is useless unless there is an analysis, recommendations made, and an action plan implemented. There seems to be a correlation between the number of Gang Related Crimes and number of Total Crimes within police beats. It is important to not only look at the number of crimes, but also their severity. Among area high school police beats, Most Common Crimes, in the category of:

Fighting in Public Place, top three for incidents were:
Beat (2) Cabrillo,309;
Beat (15) Millikan, 266,
Beat (12) Wilson, 230.
Battery with Injury incidents:
Beat (5) Poly, 88
Beat (22) Jordan, 57
Beat (12) Wilson, 36

Vandalism incidents:
Beat (12) Wilson, 75
Beat (22) Jordan, 57
Beat (5) Poly, 48

Assault with Deadly Weapon incidents:
Beat (12) Wilson, 19 (the only beat reporting)

Lakewood High School, which straddles the border of Long Beach and Lakewood (Lakewood is served by L.A. County Sheriff) has similar demographics to Millikan High School, but has a significantly lower crime rate. Lakewood Sheriff probably patrols the area more frequently? Cabrillo High School has a higher Gang Related Crime rate (patrolled by LBPD) than Jordan (believe patrolled by L.A. Sheriff); while both are located in West Long Beach and have almost identical numbers of total Crime. Why is that? Does this mean that the higher the police presence, the lower the crime rate or gang related activity? Do the police beats with the highest numbers of crimes and/or gang presences receive the most police resources?

Gang Related Crimes:

Beat 1 - 80
Beat 2 - 170 (Cabrillo High School)
Beat 3 - 80
Beat 4 - 396
Beat 5 - 274 (Poly High School)
Beat 6 - 199
Beat 7 - 215
Beat 8 - 103
Beat 9 - 8
Beat 10 - 4
Beat 11 - 76
Beat 12 - 50 (Wilson High School)
Beat 13 - 4
Beat 14 - 1
Beat 15 - 32 (Millikan High School)
Beat 16 - 8
Beat 17 - 7 (Lakewood High School)
Beat 18 - 8
Beat 19 - 28
Beat 20 - 31
Beat 21 - 136
Beat 22 - 124 (Jordan High School)
Beat 23 - 107
Beat 24 – 106

Total Crimes:

Beat 1 - 566
Beat 2 - 1,307 (Cabrillo High School)
Beat 3 - 720
Beat 4 - 2,968
Beat 5 - 1,781(Poly High School)
Beat 6 - 2,550
Beat 7 - 1,354
Beat 8 - 1,584
Beat 9 - 298
Beat 10 - 392
Beat 11 - 849
Beat 12 - 1,102 (Wilson High School)
Beat 13 - 142
Beat 14 - 192
Beat 15 - 971 (Millikan High School)
Beat 16 - 236
Beat 17 - 236 (Lakewood High School)
Beat 18 - 421
Beat 19 - 411
Beat 20 - 248
Beat 21 – 1,006
Beat 22 - 1,324 (Jordan High School)
Beat 23 - 899
Beat 24 - 806

http://lang.presstelegram.com/flash/beatmap/b...
http://www.lbusd.k12.ca.us/District/pdf/LBUSD...

I think that most people would agree with a juvenile justice philosophy of cutting a kid a break on his first one or two, or even perhaps three brushes with the law, as long as they were not serious offenses, such as robbery, using a weapon, rape, etc. For those crimes, the child should be jailed for a serious period of time on the first offense. Once the threshold of reasonalbe accommodation is passed, however, it becomes obvious that the child is not getting the message that society will not permit him/her to continue a criminal career without serious punishment. Having a difficult family life is one thing, becoming a criminal and victimizing the public is quite another.

The whole purpose of a police department and a system of justice is to protect the general public from the acts of criminals, to remove the criminals from society and punish them, hopefully to rehabilitate the criminal, in cases where that is possible. But the primary goal is public safety. If a child who is entering a career as a criminal has not been taught the lessons necessary at home, that criminal behavior will not be allowed, and that there are penalties for such behavior, then it remians the duty of the police to arrest, and the duty of the criminal justice system to convict and incarcerate the criminal, regardless of his/her age.

Also, I find it very interesting that some school administrators refuse to assist the police, or declare their schools off limits to the law. I would sure love to know which schools those are, along with the names of the administrators, whose salary the public is paying. Perhaps we could arramge for delinquent, criminal children from their school to apply graffiti to their house or investment property. Perhaps it could be their car which was stolen. Perhaps they could be the victim of an armed robbery. Not that I want that to actually happen, but they should certainly be made to aciknowledge that they are putting their neighbors in that precise position.

PC, your info is slightly askew. Jordan is in North Long Beach and patrolled by LBPD. Lakewood,while part of LBUSD, is staffed bt LASO deputy SRO, but the neighborhood comprises both Long Beach and Lakewood, so the crime numbers might only reflect the LB stats and not both cities.

Having arrested numerous kids from Lakewood for crimes committed in our city, I know they have similar issues with gangs, crime, etc.

According to the video at the top of the article, juvenile offenders are ticketed, fined and/or jailed. The majority of LBUSD students (61 percent) are in poverty. It doesn't make sense to monitarily fine low-income students as a deterrent to crime because all that does is encourage them to commit illegal activities in order to pay the fines. If the student offender doesn't pay the fine, then they are again in violation of laws and/or probation and in trouble again for that. Community service that is well-supervised may be appropriate in some circumstances. Maybe if the offender's parents were jailed for their children's crimes or lost custody, then parents might be more involved? Juvenile justice is a system that creates a vicious cycle of self-perpetuating criminal activity. The goal should be to train youth to not commit crime in the first place. The current system is broken and overwhelmed.

I can see how police officers are completely frustrated with the lack of cohesiveness between crime committed and the resulting consequences or punishment. Wonder what would happen if the arresting officer had input into the recommendation for the consequences of juvenile criminal illegal activity?

LBUSD District Profile, 2006-07
http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Navigation/fsTwo...

Mathias D wrote:

PC, your info is slightly askew. Jordan is in North Long Beach and patrolled by LBPD. Lakewood,while part of LBUSD, is staffed bt LASO deputy SRO, but the neighborhood comprises both Long Beach and Lakewood, so the crime numbers might only reflect the LB stats and not both cities.
Having arrested numerous kids from Lakewood for crimes committed in our city, I know they have similar issues with gangs, crime, etc.

Mathias D., thank you for clarifying that information. Is that you in the video?

Robert J G Jackson Sr wrote:

Also, I find it very interesting that some school administrators refuse to assist the police, or declare their schools off limits to the law. I would sure love to know which schools those are, along with the names of the administrators, whose salary the public is paying.

It's also suspect that the police beats with the most criminal activity (Poly) have not reported any "Fighting in Public Place" incidents. Seems there should be a police liaison to control these situations and provide accountability in the name of public safety. A giant spotlight should be projected on such activity. School administrators are overly concerned about their school's reputation in the community to the detriment of area residents and the juvenile offenders themselves.

Not Exactly PC wrote:

The majority of LBUSD students (61 percent) are in poverty.

CORRECTION:

67.8 percent are in poverty in LBUSD

We can all sympathize with "the children" who show their contempt for society by expressing their "culture" through such means as graffiti terrorism, senseless random violence, disruptive and destructive behavior in school, and random and targeted killings of their fellows and the rest of us. After all, these "children" are only crying out for someone to "help" them.

Unfortunately, because our elected officials lack the moral authority to "help", they must waste their time criminalizing elderly grandmothers who might smoke cigarettes in beer joints instead of dealing with "the children" in an effective manner. Who can blame them for the well-deserved contempt they have for the greater society?

These "children" identify themselves by their own self expressed behavior, knowing that they can do so with impunity. Rather than wasting taxpayer money with old fashioned 19th century schemes whose only purpose today is to wait out the time needed for them to "outgrow" this anti social behavior they should be put to work doing tasks that benefit rather than undermine society.

Its time to come into the 21st century. There are crops that need to be picked, and streets that need to be cleaned and much much more. Implementing such progressive measures might save a few of "the children's" lives, and ours too.

Ronald

PC,

I for one respect you for looking at the numbers and trying to make sense from them. More people need to realize what is going on and then we can make necessary changes.

For kids whose families cannot afford to pay fines, community service is an alternative.

One issue not yet discussed in the articles is the lack of immediacy for consequences for criminal activity. A kid arrested today, booked and sent home with his parent(s), will not see the court room for about two months!

Many times kids are arrested or cited again before their initial court appearance has occurred. This is not helpful when trying to "teach a lesson" or correct inappropriate behavior. By the time the cid goes to court, they have lost all sense of wrongdoing for the crime they committed.

Mathias D makes a very good point regarding the timliness of the consequences of such illegal and unacceptable behavior. Apparently, no one is really making it plain to these kids that crimnal activity is just not acceptable. They are cited, or arrested, and sent home immediately. Even when a court case provides a conviction, the penalties are mere slaps on the wrist. This is how so many crimes, such as child molestation and some drug issues are coming to have mandatory minimum sentences. The people no longer trust the discretion of the judges. A very sad state of affairs.

Why not just let them fight to the death. Less cost to us the tax payers; less problems from them in the future. They will probably not contribute paositively to society in the future. I would then not have to pay for education, food, housing and increased police time to watch over them. No loss.

they are what they are..SCUM Its a shame they have to be around normal people

Not Exactly PC wrote:

According to the video at the top of the article, juvenile offenders are ticketed, fined and/or jailed. The majority of LBUSD students (61 percent) are in poverty. It doesn't make sense to monitarily fine low-income students as a deterrent to crime because all that does is encourage them to commit illegal activities in order to pay the fines. If the student offender doesn't pay the fine, then they are again in violation of laws and/or probation and in trouble again for that. Community service that is well-supervised may be appropriate in some circumstances. Maybe if the offender's parents were jailed for their children's crimes or lost custody, then parents might be more involved? Juvenile justice is a system that creates a vicious cycle of self-perpetuating criminal activity. The goal should be to train youth to not commit crime in the first place. The current system is broken and overwhelmed.
I can see how police officers are completely frustrated with the lack of cohesiveness between crime committed and the resulting consequences or punishment. Wonder what would happen if the arresting officer had input into the recommendation for the consequences of juvenile criminal illegal activity?
LBUSD District Profile, 2006-07
http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Navigation/fsTwo...

You do realize that when your child is in juvenile hall that you are billed for every day they are in there, dont you?

Mathias D wrote:

PC,
I for one respect you for looking at the numbers and trying to make sense from them. More people need to realize what is going on and then we can make necessary changes.
For kids whose families cannot afford to pay fines, community service is an alternative.
One issue not yet discussed in the articles is the lack of immediacy for consequences for criminal activity. A kid arrested today, booked and sent home with his parent(s), will not see the court room for about two months!
Many times kids are arrested or cited again before their initial court appearance has occurred. This is not helpful when trying to "teach a lesson" or correct inappropriate behavior. By the time the cid goes to court, they have lost all sense of wrongdoing for the crime they committed.

Mathias, I love and respect you ,but community service also costs money, there are several fees that go along with it.

True. The point being thy can perform a service to pay off their financial obligation...fees can't equal the fine can they?

Didn't mean to imoly it was free or otherwise without cost.

The biggest mistake and maybe the core cause of the continuing gang growth ando violence is the office who said on the video "We are really not trying to punish them, but rehabilitate the offender." These ignorant punks don't want to be rehabilitated and that whole philosophy is a sick joke. Violent people understand only one thing and that is punishment. As the psychologist and researcher Skinner used positive and negative reinforcement to teach animals to change their behavior.
If they are convicted of a crime take something they like away such as their freedom, money, their car. If they show improvement then reward them by giving them back their freedom, money or car.
Animals do not reason like normal people and the only way to possibly change their behavior is use what Skinner used on animals because thats exactly what they are. Cowardly animals.

Just more product for Dr. Heilbron.

I do not think that it is fair to put a parent in jail for kids offense.

Mathias D wrote:

True. The point being thy can perform a service to pay off their financial obligation...fees can't equal the fine can they?
Didn't mean to imoly it was free or otherwise without cost.

Having been through this with one of my children, I can tell you that I would have been better off just paying the fine. I had to pay the fee to have the community service agency find him an assignment which is higher the more hours you need to serve, had to take off work to go to that appointment, had to go back to the agency when the service was done, taking off work again ( I was the only parent and you are required to attend) not to mention the two court appearances which I was also obligated to attend (whether he was fined or served community service) and take off work to attend. I lost out on a hefty sum of money for my son carrying an cigarette box with a cigarette butt in it, not even a usable cigarette, I think he was 12.

The childrens juvenile traffic court only allows you to have your community service assigned through a few agencies, you cannot find your own, the delinquency court however is more lenient, you can babysit your cousins and get community service hours through probation.

ang wrote:

I do not think that it is fair to put a parent in jail for kids offense.

I think it depends on the parent. Some parents really do contribute to the delinquency of their child. Go sit in the hallway outside the delinquency court in Long Beach and watch the parents with their kids. You can tell which ones should be held responsible in many of those cases. Some parents really try everything and things still go wrong, I had one kid like that and one that never got into a stitch of trouble, and while I never went to jail, I certainly paid the price for his misdoings in more ways than I can count. Going through this experience with him, I have learned that some parents are doing crimes with their children, allowing them to not go to school, getting high with their kids, allowing the kids to take the fall for their drugs because the kids arent going to face as tough of penalties, I was shocked at the time, nothing shocks me anymore. Some parents actually indoctrinate their kids into their gangs and come up to juvenile hall in full gang attire to visit their kids. I used to tell my son, anybody can overcome bad parenting if they try hard, but its a tough road.