Community Police Academy, Day 2

The Community Police Academy at the San Bernardino Police Department continues to engage residents, offering a weekly educational meeting, Wed. 6-8PM, through March 26. The second meeting, held Feb. 12, featured three speakers: Sgt. Bryan Lentz, of the Professional1 Standards Unit, Motorcycle Officer Martin Gonzalez, and Robert Houts, Code Enforcement Officer. Although attendance was down from last week, Marie Scott, a local Realtor and a 40-year resident, has seen all the changes throughout the city. "We as citizens have to be accountable and make an effort to help our Police and Fire Departments. There are so many of us, and so few of them. We’re foolish to believe that they would be able to handle any major situation by themselves, so we have to step up and be prepared. Going through a class like this," Scott shared, “I think you gain a whole new respect for what their lives are up against every day." The first presenter this evening was Sgt. Bryan Lentz, of the Professional Standards Unit, or as typically referred to on TV, Internal Affairs. What do they do? Sgt. Lentz shared that they are the "fact finding agency" whenever there is a complaint filed with the department, whether by the public or internally. The Professional Standards Unit is also the custodian of records, all personnel files, all employee commendations, records of discipline and evaluations, along with background and training files. Lentz's office also responds to public record requests and subpoenas, provided such requests meet the requirements of the Public Records Act. When asked by one of the residents in attendance if there is a point Lentz gets overwhelmed, Lentz, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, responded, “Pick a day. It’s there. We put the most important items at the front of the list, such as media requests for information, but if there are things that can wait, yes, they wait, but we’re trying to make it more efficient and to do more with less,” especially with only three investigators, himself and the lieutenant in charge, according to Lentz. "Each complaint really needs and deserves a quick turnaround. The citizen wants a resolution, which is a grievance of some kind. The officer wants it to be done and not hanging over his head, so we do what we can." Lentz’s office handles three kinds of investigations: ∙a personnel complaint, which is a citizen who has a grievance about whatever an officer may have done. ∙an internal investigation, which is one of our employees sees another employee doing something wrong. ∙a service complaint, which is a complaint about the way we do business. “So, we do complain on our own." Lentz was quick to point out regarding internal investigations. And with regard to service complaints, Lentz shared, for example, an officer issued a ticket, but in addition, the officer had the person’s car towed. So, the person files a complaint, stating, for example, that although they didn’t think their car should have been towed, the officer did it anyway. So, we look into these sorts of concerns also." Another aspect of Lentz's unit has to do with claims (i.e., lawsuits against a city entity). For example, "A resident's door is broken down by an officer handling some circumstance. So, is the officer that was in pursuit responsible or the suspect? We handle such claims." After a claim is filed, Lentz shared, it goes through a thorough investigation, step by step. This process can take as much as 6 months or more depending on the situation. After the investigation process, the report goes to the appropriate lieutenant who carefully looks over the investigation and then puts together a review and ultimately recommends the findings: There are basically four types of findings, Lentz said: ∙unfounded: the investigation shows the act or acts complained about did not occur, or did not involve the employee. ∙exonerated: the acts in the complaint occurred, but the investigation shows such acts to be justified, lawful, and proper. ∙not sustained: the investigation fails to disclose sufficient facts to prove or disprove the allegations made in the complaint. ∙sustained: the investigation discloses sufficient facts to prove the allegations made in the complaint. "Once the findings are completed, the person filing the complaint is notified in writing of the results of the investigation, indicating one of the four investigation results above," Lentz stated. When asked by a residents how such findings fared, Sgt. Lentz shared the percent of complaints determined (or dispositioned, as it's commonly referred) in 2013: ∙42% were unfounded ∙6% were exonerated ∙15% were not sustained ∙34% were sustained (6% public complaints; 28% internal) ∙2% were incomplete "Sustained complaints go to the command staff where changes are made accordingly. The facts are what determine the result. It's a matter of quality control," Lentz concluded. The next presentation for the evening was with Motorcycle Officer Martin Gonzalez, who has been with the city for over 10 years and a motorcycle officer for over 2 years. To become a motorcycle officer, Gonzalez shared how a candidate must pass a rigorous 40-hour training class. As prize for completing the training, the officer "gets paid to ride" a Honda ST1300, which weighs about 800lbs, fully loaded. It's "top heavy," Gonzalez stated. Gonzalez went on to talk about statistics and answer questions regarding citations and distracted driving. "According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, who keep statistics on a daily basis," Gonzalez shared, "In 2012, there were over 3000 fatalities due to distracted drivers," whether drinking coffee, putting on make-up, eating, cell phone use, texting, a dog on the drivers lap, etc. Officer Gonzalez shared a story about a woman who was distracted while driving with coffee who ended up killing a pedestrian. A couple more stats Gonzalez shared were, one is: ∙4 times more likely to be in an accident when using a cell phone. ∙23 times more likely to be in an accident when texting. Officer Gonzalez's "pet peeve is car seats. Children can't buckle themselves. Parents who fail to teach their children in this way, open the door for unsafe driving conditions later in life," Gonzalez said. "Seat belts do save lives, and they must be properly worn to do the job intended." Another topic Gonzalez discussed with the class are what he called, "Sweet spots." "Sweet spots" are where an officer plants their vehicle because there is a greater potential for a collision at these locations. Sometimes an officer stumbles upon these highly violated spots, or concerned community residents call and issue a complaint about how people are driving unsafely at these locations, such as at "Mt. View and 28th, north of Highland, where people are often found blowing the stop sign," Gonzalez shared. "Although I don't like to, giving tickets is better than having to write a 20 page report regarding an accident or fatality," Gonzalez stated. "Often people's excuse is they're running late for work, but driving as people do can create a whole other set of problems, with insurance, injuries, fatalities," Gonzalez said. Another pertinent question for Officer Gonzalez concerned motorcycle riders and whether they are allowed in the Diamond Lane or in-between cars. To both questions, both instances are still legal. The final question was regarding pedestrians at crosswalks, where a vehicle wants to make a turn. The only time you have to wait during the entire time is when those crossing include children, the elderly, or handicapped individuals. The final presentation this evening was by Code Officer Robert Houts, who has been with the department for over 18 years. With the city's bankruptcy, the Code Enforcement department has had a "48% staff reduction," Houts shared. After various changes since 2010, in Dec. 2012, Code Enforcement was placed under the Police Department. "Now, all Code Officers have been divided under reporting districts. Therefore, you should know who your Code Officer is. If you have an issue, we want you to talk to them. We want you to be a part of the solution." Last year, Code Enforcement conducted about 24,000 inspections, and about the same number of notice of violations, as well as administrative citations," according to Houts. "The administrative staff handles all incoming calls. Once a call comes in, they assign the people you need to talk to. In addition, they send out all the notices. They process all the liens, and they collect all monies received from violations sustained." Houts went on to share, "Last year, Code Enforcement brought in over $693,000 to the general fund, plus they got over $723,000 from county income taxes paid, and in addition, over the past two years, Code Enforcement received $339,000 in administrative civil penalties that people came into pay, so all total, over $1.7 million in revenue was collected." However, Houts cautioned the community, "Code Enforcement is not supposed to be a revenue generating agency. The goal of Code Enforcement is compliance." "One of the things Code Enforcement is charged with is the protection of people, health, life, and safety. We deal with that all the time. We deal with living conditions and housing codes, so we can make people's lives better. We are also charged with the preservation of the community. That's not so easy, because I need your help with that," Houts encouraged. It may sound trivial, but Houts also shared his pet peeve, "I get complaints about little old ladies who don't bring their trash cans in, and I want to slap people upside the head. How come you're not taking the time to say, 'Hey, do you need a hand?' That's the thing we should be passionate about, my neighbor. What the City of San Bernardino needs more than anything else is to become a community once again." Other important issues Houts concerns himself with are property maintenance violations. Code Enforcement works with the property owners to make changes in the "least intrusive way possible." Things of concern include: ∙landscaping ∙trash and debris ∙vehicle issues ∙structures: paint and dilapidation ∙fences ∙graffiti Regarding housing code violations, Houts pointed out that they must be invited in by the resident/occupant, for things such as: ∙interior inspections ∙unsanitary conditions ∙structural hazards ∙mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and other urgent issues. In such cases, "Code Enforcement could get a warrant, if necessary," Houts stated. When asked why the city takes so long to get to overgrown trees and grass fields, Houts stated, "We're doing the best we can." But at the same time, Houts encouraged residents to take the initiative. At this point in the meeting, we were introduced to who Houts referred to as an exemplary community advocate, a city resident by the name of Frank Guzman. Frank Guzman is with Block Captain's Association, a Neighborhood Watch team in his community and more. He shared how they handled general maintenance concerns in their alleys at West 24th and West 25th Streets. "The alleys had overgrown shrubs. It was the worst case scenario. So, we sent out an email and got about 20 people to work together using own trash cans to clean up our alleys. We did this 3 years in a row." In the fourth year of clean up, the city had informed Guzman that they'd gladly pick up whatever debris they had cleaned up from that point on. All they had to do was call and leave it in the alley for the city to come by and pick up. Guzman went on to state, "We don't depend on the city for everything, because we realized years ago that the city had no money. If a neighbor's grass is overgrown, and we know they don't have a lawn mower, one of us will cut their grass for them. That's just the way we function in our watch area. If you don't have a watch area, you should build one. It works out really well." Guzman welcomed residents to contact him at (909)289-2282. Houts encouraged residents, "If your community wants to form this sort of Neighborhood Watch program, get in touch with Frank. Frank is one of the best community advocates in the city. He will do everything he can to help you out." Finally, anyone looking to be a volunteer with Code Enforcement, Houts invited residents to contact him at (909)384-5241.