Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

AROUND THE COUNTRY

AROUND THE COUNTRY ACROSS THE US The Latest Breaking News as we go LIVE. KAMALA HARRIS COMPARES FERGUSON RIOTS WITH THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG COLUMBIA, S.C. – Kamala Harris made an outlandish comment that has gone largely unchecked when she compared the 2014 Ferguson riots with the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The vice president, who is prone to non-nonsensical word salads, made the absurd statement during a speech in South Carolina on Martin Luther King Day, the Post Millennial reported. Harris said both events were examples of Americans fighting to “make the promise of freedom real.” What she failed to mention was that more than 300 arrests were made in Ferguson, Missouri for all manner of violent crime while law enforcement tried to keep the peace, or that more than 350,000 Union soldiers died during the Civil War in order fulfill the hope of freedom for enslaved people. “The 1863 Battle of Gettysburg eventually led to the end of the Civil War two years later and secured victory for the North, while quashing the Confederate’s ambition of forming a separate nation. It also helped set the country on path towards the abolition of slavery, the Post Millennial noted. The Civil War cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides. Yet the North, fighting to abolish slavery, suffered more losses than the South. “The 2014 Ferguson riots should never be categorized with anything noble. The ongoing violence was the result of a false and politically twisted narrative that Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown—a strongarmed robbery suspect—as he had his hands raised in the air. Evidence revealed that Brown violently attacked Wilson, forcing the officer to resort to lethal force. Wilson was exonerated for his actions at the state and federal level, despite lies being perpetuated to disparage his name and the institution of law enforcement. The riots that soon followed the shooting were among several landmark events in the past 10 years that have undermined the rule of law and upended the institution of law enforcement, which has further damaged marginalized individuals living in high crime areas in America. CALIF. PD ALMOST FULLY STAFFED 10 MONTHS AFTER IT ANNOUNCED K HIRING BONUSES By Will McCarthy Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA, CA. — During the pandemic, California lost thou- 48 The Blues - February ‘24

sands of police officers, falling between 2020 and 2022 to the lowest number of patrol officers per capita since at least 1991, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Alameda was no exception. But in its rebuilding effort, its police department was willing to go further with financial incentives than any other city in the country, offering ,000 in signing bonuses to new officers last year. Ten months later, the recruitment plan has worked, but it has yet to be reflected in the city’s crime statistics. Last year, 30% of positions in the Alameda Police Department were still open. Since the signing bonus was implemented, the department has received over 400 applications, and 20 officers have been hired, while four retired or resigned, leading to a net gain of 16 officers and nearing the maximum of 88. Alameda Chief of Police Nishant Joshi said he expects the department to have completely filled its vacancies by June. The ,000 bonuses are funded by unspent police salaries. LASD SUPERVISORS REC- OMMEND STRICTER RULES FOR OFF-DUTY INTOXICATION WHILE CARRYING FIREARMS By Linh Tat Daily Breeze, Torrance, Calif. LOS ANGELES — In response to dozens of incidents over the years of law enforcement officers being intoxicated while carrying a gun, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Jan. 23, passed a motion asking Sheriff Robert Luna to consider banning deputies — whether on duty or not — from drinking while in possession of a firearm. The motion asks Luna to update a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department policy “to include a strict prohibition against carrying firearms while consuming alcohol, on or off-duty” in addition to other measures. It comes more than four years after the county’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) first recommended changes to the department’s policy on firearms safety. In 2019, the OIG identified 81 cases in which Sheriff’s deputies were charged with being under the influence of alcohol while a firearm was within reach. In another report this past November, the OIG identified eight more incidents in which deputies consumed alcohol while in possession of a firearm. These instances included examples where the deputies allegedly fired their weapons negligently, threatened others by displaying the gun or got into fights while in possession of a firearm. “I was surprised that LASD firearms safety policy was filled with weaknesses and loopholes,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who introduced Tuesday’s motion to the board, along with board chair Lindsey Horvath. “We know that mixing of alcohol and guns never ends in a good manner and, rather, increases the risk of injuries and death,” Solis added at the board meeting. The motion passed 4-0. Supervisor Janice Hahn abstained from voting, saying she believes it should be up to Luna, as sheriff, to set the policy for his department. Tuesday’s motion referenced both OIG reports and recent news reports that alleged members of a deputy gang got into a confrontation with teenagers outside a Montclair bowling alley, during which an off-duty deputy who had been drinking flashed a gun. The L.A. Sheriff’s Department currently allows off-duty deputies to carry a firearm if their blood-alcohol content is below 0.08. If it’s higher than 0.08, a deputy can challenge a claim that he or she is unfit to handle a firearm if they believe they aren’t impaired — based on socalled “rebuttable presumption language” in the department’s firearms safety policy. DENVER POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY IN SHOOTING THAT WOUNDED 6 BYSTAND- ERS By Shelly Bradbury The Denver Post DENVER — The Denver police officer accused of shooting six bystanders while aiming at an armed man in Lower Downtown in July 2022 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on Tuesday and was sentenced to probation. Brandon Ramos, 30, can no longer work as a police officer in Colorado after the third-degree assault conviction for the July 2022 shooting near 20th and Larimer streets. As part of the plea agreement, 14 other criminal charges filed against Ramos were dismissed, and prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that Ramos be sentenced to 18 months of pro- The Blues - February ‘24 49