All posts by Mike

Daily Logs Show BID Patrol Groundlessly Forced More than 150 People, Including Actual Children, to Leave Selma Park on Threat of Arrest During 2013

January 30, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

BID Patrol surveillance photo of Selma Park from 2007.

In September 2015 I discovered that in late 2007, the HPOA posted signs at Selma Park prohibiting adults unaccompanied by a child from being on the property but that they did so without any legal authorization from L.A. Rec and Parks. They proceeded to use arrests and threats of arrest to enforce the restrictions stated on these bogus signs. Furthermore, they weren’t even properly interpreting the statute under which they made these threats. In any case, with the recent release of all BID Patrol daily activity logs from 2013, I have been able to begin the process of quantifying the BID Patrol’s operations in Selma Park.

There are at least 137 mentions of Selma Park in the daily activity logs.¹ Reading through these by hand and tallying the people kicked out of the park I count 159 of them. I skipped as many duplicates as I noticed (due to backup reporting and so on). We noted recently that a 2013 arrest almost certainly constitutes a violation of California Civil Code §52.1(a), which states:

If a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney may bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured.

Here are 159 more color of law abuses by the BID Patrol, which also violations of that law, and this is 2013 alone.

Note also that the BID Patrol officers don’t even seem to know what law they’re enforcing. Sometimes it’s trespassing, sometimes it’s loitering, sometimes it’s who knows what. Also, they even kick kids out of the park under the law which they mistakenly claim disallows adults. Just look here:

10-21-2013_FB2_LOG_10262013_HAGOPIAN.doc
6500 SELMA: SELMA PARK. MADE CONTACT WITH SEVERAL JUVENILES AND ADVISED THEM THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE THE AREA. ALL SUBJECTS COMPLIED AND LEFT THE LOC.

I really have to wonder who actually is allowed in this park according to the BID Patrol? Only non-juvenile children? It’s not reasonable. Look below the break for a list of all 137 items with links to source and some information on my search methodology.
Continue reading Daily Logs Show BID Patrol Groundlessly Forced More than 150 People, Including Actual Children, to Leave Selma Park on Threat of Arrest During 2013 →

Announcements

Andrews International BID Patrol All 2013 Arrest Reports and Daily Activity Logs Now Available

January 27, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Screenshot of a random daily activity log from 2013. Click to enlarge.

I am pleased to present a stunning dump comprising all BID Patrol arrest reports and all daily activity logs.² Kerry Morrison was conscientious enough to supply these in their original .doc format, allowing for effective and reliable batch searching. We’ll be writing on the results³ later tonight, but for now I just wanted to get links to these up here. Note that the files are as I received them, except that I had to change the file names a little bit to (a) get them to sort properly and (b) to be acceptable to the Archive, which has strict rules on filenames.
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Public Records Act Pragmatics, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition

Stop LAPD Spying Public Records Lawsuit Switched to Judge James C. Chalfant, Hearing Continued to March 8, 2016

January 27, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

The Rampart LAPD Station. Why? Don't know. — The Rampart LAPD Station. Why? Don’t know.

The City of Los Angeles, which is being sued by the National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition because of its flouting of the California Public Records Act, filed a motion a couple weeks ago asking that the judge be changed. Last Thursday this motion, which was peremptory, was granted, and here is the order. It’s now in Judge James C. Chalfant’s courtroom, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Department 85, and the initial hearing has been set for Tuesday, March 8, at 1:30 PM.
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Central City East Association

Video of Yesterday’s Central City East Association Meeting Now Available

January 27, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Edward Camarillo at the January 26, 2016 meeting of the CCEA at 725 S. Crocker Street.

I’m formally initiating coverage of the Central City East Association with some video of yesterday’s meeting of the Board of Directors at CCEA headquarters at 725 S. Crocker Street. You can find Part 1 and also Part 2. Note that the record is not complete because the Board went into closed session and I couldn’t stick around to see them reconvene. Part I consists entirely of CD14 representative Jose Huizar policy director Martin Schlageter talking about homeless issues in the BID’s territory and then, most interesting of all, taking questions from the Board members. The level of micromanagement is astonishing. We hope to write on some of the details later, but check some representative Q&A after the break. Part 2 is mostly taken up by a representative from the Runyon Group seeking CCEA support for entitlements for their ROW DTLA project (this project was formerly known as Alameda Square). Someone here will be writing on this soon in some detail.
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Lawsuits

Defendants in Street Vending Lawsuit (City of LA, Fashion District BID, etc.) Granted Extension to February 25, 2016, to File Response to Complaint

January 21, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell presenting an award to some people in Burbank. — Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell presenting an award to some people in Burbank.

This is not a big deal, but I just thought I’d mention it. On Tuesday all the parties to the street vending lawsuit filed a stipulation asking Judge O’Connell to extend the deadline for the defendants to answer the initial complaint until February 25, 2016. Today the judge filed an order granting that request. The reason for the delay is the settlement conference scheduled for February 11, 2016. You read it here first, friends!

Image of Judge O’Connell in Burbank seems to me to be a public record in California since I got it from the website of the California Judiciary.

Public Records Act Pragmatics, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition

City of Los Angeles Files Boilerplate Motion in Stop LAPD Spying CPRA Case Stating that Judge Joanne O’Donnell is too Prejudiced to Officiate

January 21, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell. — Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell.

There’s a (relatively) new development in the Stop LAPD Spying v. City of L.A. Public Records Act case. Unfortunately the L.A. County Superior Court doesn’t seem to have an automated filing notification system like the Federal District Courts do, which is why I missed (until now) this interesting motion that the City of L.A. filed on January 12, 2016. It is a Motion for an Order Establishing Peremptory Challenge to Judicial Officer as well as a Declaration of Julie Raffish. Julie Raffish is the Deputy City Attorney that’s defending the case for L.A. In this declaration she claims that:

Joanne O’Donnell, the judge before whom the trial or hearing in this action is pending or to whom it has been assigned, is prejudiced against the Respondent [City of Los Angeles] or its attorney or the interest of the Respondent or its attorney, so that the declarant [Julie Raffish] believes that she cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before the judge.

Now, this is obviously a boilerplate motion, and, at least as of today, the first three hits on a Google search on los angeles superior court peremptory challenge to judicial officer are forms for this, using the identical language to the motion filed by Julie Raffish. But there’s more!
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Lawsuits

A Series of Unexpected Events Add Up to Discovery Delays in L.A. Catholic Worker v. City of L.A., Central City East Association Lawsuit Over Homeless Property Confiscations; Trial Now Scheduled for June 21, 2016

January 16, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Yesterday, Judge Philip Gutierrez issued an order extending the discovery deadline in L.A. Catholic Worker et al. v. City of L.A. et al. until February 19 and moving the trial date to June 21, 2016. This order capped off a week full of filings. First, on Monday, January 11, presumably after the hearing on plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery, Ronald Whitaker, who supervises the Business and Complex Litigation section of the L.A. City Attorney’s office, filed a notice of appearance in the case. He’s (probably) the boss of Deputy City Attorney Elizabeth Fitzgerald, who has been defending the case for the City.

I didn’t see the significance of this at the time, but it was clarified on Wednesday, when the plaintiffs filed an ex parte (that is, without the on-the-record participation of the defendants) application to amend the scheduling order to continue dates by 30 days. This is an unusual procedure and it seems it must be justified by the existence of exigent circumstances. In this case the first of these is that on Monday the 11^th, after the discovery hearing, Elizabeth Fitzgerald had a medical emergency and will be on leave at least through the end of January. At the very least this requires the rescheduling of a bunch of depositions, and is probably why Ronald Whitaker joined the case. Note also that the plaintiffs asked for and received the City of LA’s support of the application and that the CCEA did not oppose it.

Elizabeth Fitzgerald’s illness is only one of the reasons supporting plaintiffs’ request for an extension. The others all have to do with what’s turned out to be a lengthy, drawn-out, painful, inch-by-inch discovery process. It seems that any optimism over the pace of document production, both by the City and by the CCEA, was unwarranted, and I’m guessing it won’t even be complete by February 19, but we shall see, shan’t we? There are some more specific details after the break if you’re interested.
Continue reading A Series of Unexpected Events Add Up to Discovery Delays in L.A. Catholic Worker v. City of L.A., Central City East Association Lawsuit Over Homeless Property Confiscations; Trial Now Scheduled for June 21, 2016 →

Lawsuits

Street Vending Lawsuit Mandatory Settlement Conference Set for February 11, 2016

January 15, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Mere minutes ago, Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell filed an order in the street-vending lawsuit Aureliano Santiago et al. v. City of L.A. and Fashion District BID setting a mandatory settlement conference for February 11, 2016. The order looks like pure boilerplate and of course settlement conferences are super-top-secret, so there’s nothing to attend and probably will be nothing to report. But I had to get the document to learn that, so I thought I’d toss it up here for you.
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Announcements, Lawsuits

Documents Available as City of L.A., Charlie Beck Sued by Michael Brown Protesters, National Lawyers Guild, over November 2014 Rights Violations

January 15, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

April 2015 Death by Cop march in Westlake. It's not what this lawsuit is about, but it's a good picture. — April 2015 Death by Cop march in Westlake. It’s not what this lawsuit is about, but it’s a good picture.

Yesterday night the Times reported that a suit was filed in federal court on January 14, 2016, on behalf of people, including NLG-LA lawyers there to observe, whose rights were violated by the LAPD in November 2014 during a protest against a Missouri grand jury’s failure to indict Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown. For whatever reason, newspaper articles like this never link to the court filings, which I, and maybe even you, find fascinating. On the face of it this case has nothing to do with BIDs, although it’s conceivable that a connection will develop,¹ but I’m going to collect filings here anyway since I’m going to read them myself, so I might as well distribute them. I don’t plan to write much on them, but who knows? I set up a page to display them. It’s also reachable through the menu structure above. Right now the initial complaint is there and is well worth your time. There are some selections after the break:
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Public Records Act Pragmatics

San Francisco Police Department Fulfills Experimental CPRA Request in 23 Days (!) and Provides Emails in an Actually Almost Usable Format

January 14, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

It's not just candy, but public records for everyone with the SFPD! — It’s not just candy, but public records for everyone with the SFPD!

As you may remember, in January 2015 I requested some emails from the LAPD under the CPRA. After 11 months of inaction, noodging, and stubbornness, last month they finally produced about 3% of the records I’d requested, with the (so far unfulfilled) promise of more to come. I am not the only one to have had this problem.

Anyway, on December 21, it occurred to me to make experimental requests for innocuous records to various police departments around the state and then, depending on the results, write to the Los Angeles Police Commission about how other cities around California are, somehow, able to abide by the law. I abandoned that aspect of the plan because, as fate would have it, the very next day a bunch of people sued the LAPD over their flouting of the Public Records Act, obviating the need for any letters from me. But the requests were still out there, so I let them ride.

Berkeley and Long Beach still have failed to acknowledge my requests, even though it’s been 24 days since I sent them. This is in spite of the fact that Berkeley has a city-wide guide to CPRA requests and a far-reaching open government ordinance. The difference between Berkeley PD’s nonresponsiveness and the LAPD’s is that Berkeley has an administrative procedure to encourage city departments to follow the law whereas Los Angeles has nothing of the sort. I’m not going to go that route because I don’t have time, but it’s nice to know it’s there. I don’t know exactly what’s up with Long Beach, but have no plans to press them.

However, the City and County of San Francisco, which also has a sunshine ordinance (the League of Women Voters thinks it was the first such municipal statute), followed the law scrupulously (with one minor lapse). I asked for the last 100 emails between the SFPD and the Union Square BID. And here is what they sent. They didn’t supply them in the native format I requested, which they’re required to do by law, but even here they did better than the LAPD. I’ll describe the interesting formatting compromise they (unilaterally) made after the break. Again, LAPD and the rest of the City of Los Angeles have a lesson they could learn from this.
Continue reading San Francisco Police Department Fulfills Experimental CPRA Request in 23 Days (!) and Provides Emails in an Actually Almost Usable Format →