☛ What does the DA expect to gain from police indictments? 12/27/2007
Dear Editor,
I am no longer willing to sit back and only observe the outrageous attempts of our District Attorney to emasculate our law enforcement agencies.
This latest effort to prosecute Eureka Police Department management personnel with serious criminal charges because their officers were confronted and used lethal force to protect themselves from serious injury or death while engaging a deranged person is truly ludicrous.
And yes, if the officers themselves weren’t guilty of an egregious act, then their management (who weren’t directly involved in the scene) somehow must be.
What could possibly motivate DA Paul Gallegos to instigate such litigation? Is it in the community’s best interest too have weaker law enforcement? Does he have delusions of grandeur for gaining personal attention by setting a legal precedent? Is it in retaliation to those who supported his opponent in the last election? Does he have a strong sympathy for drug abusers? Does Humboldt County have so much excess tax revenue that it just has to be wasted somewhere? Or ...?
It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist (although I am one) to understand that something is wrong here. I have a suggestion that should quickly put an end to this nonsense.
Gallegos should volunteer himself as a target for a couple of test firings of Cheri Lyn Moore’s flare gun under conditions replicating the crime scene. If he is unwilling to volunteer for this test, his case should be immediately dropped.
Enough said?
Bob Hansen
McKinleyville
Rose's note: How to contribute to city's defense fund for David Douglas: Send checks made out to the City of Eureka, with David Douglas written in the “for” line, to City Hall, 531 K St., Eureka, CA 95502. Councilman Larry Glass said the checks would only be cashed if needed.
Some good points. Of course you should allow Gallegos to wear standard issue soft body armour (and off course saftey glasses). I wonder if you could get any volunteers to fire the flare pistol?
ReplyDeleteI think this all boils down to Ken Miller (PVG supoporter and PALCO hater) and his posse have been pressuring Gallegos to go after the Eureka police. Miller is/has been very very very critical of the EPD (unsure why) for some time.
AND Gallegos is using the power of his elected position for a little payback ! To EPD and all the local cops for supporting Dikeman in the last election. PVG is really not that bright, just listen to him speak! Remember the "prevent crime by preventing crime" ? And of course the plagiarism ! Hiring Tim Stoen as his #2 ? But he is vindictive.
As to wasting money. PVG doesn't care if he wastes the City and County tax dollar. He'll still get paid. I don't believe PVG gives a crap about public safety. PVG protects his friends and the local drug economy, as his supporters demand.
Oh well, he won the election. Humboldt will be paying for their mistake (re-electing Gallegos) for years to come.
Let's see what shakes out on February 21st !?
Timber yes Fraud no, equal justice and all that other ...........
I was just thinking. This blog, with it's links, research, and FACTS, could be the starting point or reference for some outside government agency in a corruption investigation of PVG.
ReplyDelete"What could possibly motivate DA Paul Gallegos to instigate such litigation?"
ReplyDeleteHow about incompetence by a police force leading to the death of a mentally ill woman who was asking for help?
Well, what's his track record. As this blog has demonstrated, he eviscerated the office, purging almost every experienced felony prosecutor, destroying a team that took decades to build, whose members have been eagerly snapped up by other agencies. He destroyed CAST, even putting the egregious Schwartz in charge ( as if he ever charged anything). He soft pedalled the vicious assault by a gang of drunken college punks on an Arcata police offficer. He is convinced he's invincible, so now he has actually decided to make history and convict two scene commanders of criminal homicide for the justifiable actions of the actual shooters. And I bet he still gets re-elected.
ReplyDeleteLook at Humboldt. Look what it has become.
Where is the solid middle class? What's going on in terms of jobs, schools, community participation.
Gallegos you wanted, Gallegos you got,
nothing works anymore.
Mresquan,
ReplyDeleteDo you mean the mentally ill woman with a flare pistol (that shoots flares of 1100 degrees & can't be put out by water) who was threatening to burn down her 50-60 year old apartment building. The apartment building that housed lower income and disabled people ? The mentally itll woman that frequently used methamphetamone ? Is that the one you're talking about ?
Mark you are such a DICK !
The flare pistol that shoots flares that burn at 1100 degrees for 7 seconds and can't be put out with water can't burn anything in the presence of a water hose. She had friends that could have talked her down out of the apartment. She had put out a request for her friend, Marcus Smith, to bring her a cigarette and escort her downstairs so that she wouldn't be hurt.
ReplyDeleteFrom the 4-28-06 Times Standard article "Parallel Options" by Kimberly Wear & John Driscoll.
Ronald Scott, an investigator with a 25 year career with the Massachusetts State police and dozens of police involved shooting investigations under his belt had this to say about the Moore shooting, "...police worries about people stuck in neighboring apartments should not have triggered a decision to use deadly force. With police and fire personnel immediately available, police could have waited out the the situation...He also said that tear gas and a trained police dog might have been used once a decision was made to go in."
Rose has a link to the article.
If only it could be so, 8:38!
ReplyDeleteI just wonder how many more Cheri Moore's are out there that no one gives a shit about.
ReplyDeleteAll this after the fact concern and wringing of hands. Because you want the cops to be guilty because that fits with some view of the world you are fond of. Fine. We all know there are some bad ones. They know it, too. But trying to make someone into a bad guy who isn't to fit some societal hair shirt you insist on wearing really gets on my nerves. Those are the people who risk their lives for you. When you're pissed off about the neighbor's noise, or their dog barking, and you call them, they walk into a situation blind on your behalf. And those are the supposedly benign situations. They never know when one of those situations will turn bad. More often than not when you call them you ask them not to say WHO called them, so you don't even have the courage of your own convictions. You don't offer to help them. You weren't there to offer help that day either, because you are never there.
And where are you now? Volunteering to take meds to people like Cheri Moore so this will never happen again?
Didn't think so.
btw - that rant was NOT directed at you, Robin.
ReplyDeleteWho was it directed at, Rose? Are you just letting off steam at no one in particular? Since I would never call the cops for any reason - I don't trust them - I guess your rant was directed at mresquan. But, your response really doesn't make sense, unless... Are you a cop? I would not call you for help if my life depended on it. I try to insulate me and mine from emotionally unstable people who try to solve every problem with semi-automatic fire power and pump action shotguns loaded with 00 buckshot. I figure it is better to be safe than sorry. Marcus Smith would have had no problem taking what ever medication Cheri Moore needed. Marcus Smith wouldn't have needed a uniform and overwhelming deadly force to do it either. Marcus Smith could have gotten Cheri Moore safely out of the apartment. EPD had options they chose not to use. Your cold blooded denial of that fact indicates an irresponsibility and a danger that EPD shares towards the well being and safety of those they are sworn to protect and serve. Really, you should try to control your emotions, you will begin to feel better and you won't feel as if you are being constantly overwhelmed by every little thing. Good night.
ReplyDeleteNo. You THINK, you IMAGINE, you BELIEVE that Smith would have been able to successfully bring her down. And you MAY be right. BUT, the police could not take that risk, could not allow an unauthorized person to go in - because it is possible that HE would have been harmed, could've made her more agitated. They have no way of knowing and neither do you.
ReplyDeleteCheri Moore could have walked out. There was no reason for her to pick up a weapon, but she did. If she hadn't, she would be alive.
YOUR obstinate denial of that fact, and your belief that you know everything that went on, and would have happened, is irresponsible.
NONE of us know. We can all theorize, but we do not know. We can all agree they woulda/coulda/shoulda waited. But we don't have the responsibility that they do, and we don't have to make our decisions under the kinds of conditions they do. God help us if we ever do have to.
So - are you volunteering to deliver meds?
Am I volunteering to deliver meds? It's a little late for that to save Cheri Moore, isn't it. Marcus Smith drove back to Eureka on Moore's request for cigarettes and to escort her safely down to the police. Doesn't sound like an unreasonable request to me. But evidently you and EPD felt a safer and better way to handle the situation was to kick her door in and shoot a hail of bullets into Moore, through the wall, and into the next apartment. I think Marcus Smith should be on the police force. He demonstrated a capacity for quick thinking that EPD did not. I know you will disagree.
ReplyDeleteYou're not reading anything I say are you?
ReplyDeleteOh well. This debate is really irrelevant, and could go on forever.
Now it is in the court system.
Good for you, 10:25. Be a good driver, keep out of harm's way, mind your own business, lock your doors, stay insulated & on the right side of the law & you probably won't ever need a cop. If every driver you meet on the road, every person you pass on the street & every neighbor in your 'hood would do the same, oh, what a wonderful world this would be!
ReplyDeleteI know your rant wasn't directed at me, Rose. Glad you're doing it... that way, I don't have to.
ReplyDelete(-:
Rose,deflecting the blame here onto others doesn't help.I'm not a trained professional,and I don't know that 10:25pm is either.You put bad situations like this into the hands of those trained to deal with them.That's what happened here and they failed big time.
ReplyDeleteCherie Moore didn't call her friends asking for help.She called mental health who in turn notified the police.Both are agencies which receive funding for learning to deal with mental health patients.
And if there was such a threat from the flare gun,why did they wait for 2 and a half hours instead of going in right away,especially since they weren't going to try other non-lethal options to get her out or let her friends talk her down?
Deflecting the blame onto those who question the actions of the EPD doesn't help anything.
All I am saying, Mark is that they deal with those welfare check situations over and over again. Sometimes the people are cantankerous, as Cheri Moore was. They had no reason to anticipate that this would turn out the way it did, as so many others turn out just fine. They probably expected a completely different outcome. SHE changed the dynamic.
ReplyDeleteBut what I'm really saying is all of our discussion, and even our agreement that it would have been better to wait, doesn't matter. Once she picked up the gun, the situation changed.
So, who is taking any action to help the current, living Cheri Moores?
If you can start a group like Humboldt Watershed Council/AEB/CREG, you can sure start one to provide shuttle service to get meds to people who have run out... just like needle exchange. I don't see anybody putting effort into that, for all the concern that keeps getting expressed. Imagine if all the money that was poured into AEB et al was directed at helping people like her (n addition to all the state money and programs).
"just like needle exchange."
ReplyDeleteI don't even want to go there.At a board of supes meeting,I once heard Phil Crandall say something along the lines of the necessity to be able to put 30,000 county residents on meds.I don't remember his exact quote,as I was off somewhere else until the statement made both me and Tad jump out of our seats.Tad was sitting behind me and blurted out"holy shit!!".
Really Rose,money isn't so much the solution compared to talking to people and getting to know them, and supporting groups like Food Not Bombs or the Salvation Army,etc.. with supplies and knowledge.
Not all of these state funded programs help those they purport to help.I don't think I need to tell you that.Some are simply drug launderers.I've often thought that most down and out may be better off without many of them,and instead the money saved should be diverted locally to organizations which prove to much more effective.
I agree. I was thinking more along the lines of paying for more people to be able to help - but that's assuming the reason they didn't just take her more meds had to do with staffing, maybe it had to do with money for the drugs, that's something I've not seen explained.
ReplyDeleteWow ! Marcus Smith ? Isn't he the guy that was arrested for meth, coke, and guns ? Isn't he the one that hangs out at the local pool hall ? The pool hall that had a $50 per person (donation) fundraiser for PVG durin the last election ? Maybe there is more than one Marcus Smith in Eureka ?
ReplyDeleteAs for 10:25 PM, you are a lying piece of dog dung! Saying that you would "NEVER CALL THE COPS FOR ANY REASON". Maybe your name is Rambo ? Maybe you're Batman ? Are you so damn BAD that nobody will ever cross you, bother you ?
In reality you (10:25 PM) are probably just a girlyman that would wet himself and call for the police at the first sign of danger.
Wow! 12:53 is insane. Someone call the cops. Bring meds and a straight jacket. Shoot him if he has a flare gun. No! just shoot him, because he might have a flare gun. Call EPD SWAT! Oh, thats right, their unit was ordered to step down, permanently. Run in circles. Scream and shout. Somebody save me from 12:53.
ReplyDeleteActually I have six dogs and a shotgun and I feel very secure. I figure if you can get by the dogs, you must be serious about doing me harm at which point I would shoot you below the knee and send what is left of you back to your mother. Even an aggressive idiot like you can be rehabilitated.
gee whiz, that certainly upset you !
ReplyDeleteNo I think you got him pegged correctly as a typical chicken shit of the modern progresive type. They talk shit out of both sides of their mouth,never mind their own buisness,thumb their bully chests with endless threats and when someone properly slap the shit out of them they call the cops crying all the way.
ReplyDeleteyes yes yes
ReplyDeleteBravo! One of the most entertaining comment threads in weeks.
ReplyDeleteVery little to do with the article that was posted, but that's what the comment forum is for, I suppose.
I get dizzy trying to figure out who is attacking whom though.....
Tip: you can still be "Anonymous" and give yourself a cool sounding Moniker like "Thoughtful" or "Concerned", or "Coward", heck anything you want.
Just trying to help.
Wollf
Oh, as a ps, whichever anon you are, it's not considered acceptable to offer to maim someone with your shotgun. Just sayin'.......
Wollf
I guess we could refer to that whacko as "6 dog", or Mr. Shotgun ? Or SFL (super f'ing Loser) ?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't appear to be much difference between the cop mentality that was evident in the Cheri Moore shooting and the lynch mob mentality of Rose's enablers. You are a fanatical bunch of hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteyeah, lets let the cops kill everyone that rose and her "friends" dont like....great plan
ReplyDeleteGee you really are a loser, 10:44PM.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way 'theotheRme' you don't seem to be none too bright either.
He's the school yard tattel-tale who always wanted to be the bully. He'll be the first to call the cops if you spit in his lie today. A phony-lib.
ReplyDeleteYes but he has six dogs and a shotgun ! My oh my I'm soo scared.
ReplyDeleteYou could be, Skeet. Your emotional and mental age seem to be about eight. Is Rose your manly man father figure? You need guidance. The kind that takes place behind the woodshed. Rose is neglecting her responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteOh Rose: Seems that you rattled the cage of the mentally imbalanced. I do get amused reading their rantings. It is comforting that they themselves confirm the obvious by their posts.
ReplyDeleteWow - now I know why Crandall things that over a third of the county needs meds. Are you reading this theotherme (aka schizophrenic) and Mark?
Gallegos is trying assert his control over law enforcment. And I don't mean control in a good way. Gallegos is no "visionary". He's a mediocre lawyer, with ties to certain unsavory defense lawyers and the marijuana underground, that was used to oust Terry Farmer. Gallegos is way over his head, yet intoxicated with power. His moral compass points somewhere souht to south east.
ReplyDeleteNow he thinks he's the Alpha male.
I'm looking forward to seeing how he stands up to the likes of Bill Bragg. Gallegos isn't good enough to carry Bragg's briefcase. It will be an intersting new year for sure.
Rose, I don't know where this note belongs, but..... On Monday, 12-31/2007, Arney Klein pled down 2 DUI's to speeding infractions! What does MADD have to say? How many "don't drink and drive" messages did we hear during the holidays?
ReplyDeleteThis DA has replaced a team of experienced, effective prosecutors with a team of idiots!
This is why our towns are so screwed up! The criminals re not held accountable! They got a "get outta jail card" on election day.
When they get away with their crimes, they feel empowered to commit more crimes. Then, feeling legally invincible, they point a gun at a cop.
The masses then scream for "citizen review" when the cops kill the idiot!
This is Gallegos' legacy. He's a frickin idiot who's turned this town into a joke.
Joe Blow
This used to be such a peaceful town.
ReplyDelete9:01,
ReplyDeletewhen? during the indian massacres? during the time when the chinese were rounded up and shipped out of town? during the time that striking workers were being killed? this town has only been peaceful for rich white bullies and thier families....
a-n-n-ddd - the meds have worn off. Geez. You were doing so well, too.
ReplyDeleteActually, Theo is right on. Rose, where do you stand? Was it OK for the sheriff to kill those striking workers. You must have a law enforcement perspective that you would like to share.
ReplyDeleteSurely the acting D.A. stood behind and supported his sheriff. But, what would Gags do?
ReplyDeleteErnie Branscomb says it better than I ever could. Check out his post: We can’t judge what happened then by who we are now.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, 4:48 - I would like to know what MADD has to say. They ought to review what has been happening the last 5 years with DUIs.
I would not include the a story about a cop killing striking workers with historic Indian massacres. One is a story of genocide. The other happened much later and could be categorized with more recent stories about local law and order tactics.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the link to Ernie Branscomb's blog, Rose. I didn't know it existed & will definitely be spending some time reading there. I don't know Ernie but have known members of his family for many years. The Branscombs have a loooong history in Mendo & Humboldt Counties... the town of Branscomb bears their name... & when I think of the good people of my old hometown of Laytonville, I always think of the Branscomb family.
ReplyDeleteAnd to find Kim Sallaway's photos there, too.... wow! What a treat! Thanks!
Yeah, I stumbled onto Ernie's blog a while back, and I like it alot. I especially appreciate his common sense outlook. If I haven't already, I will add him to my sidebar links.
ReplyDeleteActually I think it was the Eureka Police that alledgedly killed the strikers.
ReplyDeleteHow do we know the truth about the Indian massacre ? Is there some reference or a book that is factual?