Tag: Crime

Sent from heaven

“I want the perception to be that every time you turn around, there’s a black-and-white,” he said. “We want people to have one of two reactions: ‘Oh, thank God, a patrol car is here,’ or ‘Oh my God, a patrol car is here.’ “

So says Sacramento Sheriff John McGinness in today’s Bee.

The Sheriff’s Department, who patrols the unincorporated areas of Sacramento (including, as the Bee points out, Rancho Cordova), are changing their colours. These cops are going retro – recalling the great law enforcement strategies of the 1920s:

Schuler said the zebra color scheme first appeared in the United States in the 1920s, when nearly all cars were black. Officers painted the doors white to set them apart, launching a national trend.

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Sac City Unified background check fails students

Disciplinary action has been taken against Vernon Proctor, an assistant principal in charge of discipline at Hiram Johnson High School, after he was arrested Friday on suspicion of being under the influence of narcotics, according to the Sac Bee. This story goes beyond the irony of the disciplinarian being disciplined. Sure, you say, if he has a drug problem he should not be in the classroom.

Proctor — who had taken Friday off from work — was placed on paid administrative [leave] (sic) when he arrived on campus Monday morning

A slap on the wrist. Well, I suppose if it was just one incident, I can understand giving him the benefit of the doubt. He has worked for Sac City Unified for a number of years, teaching at Burbank and New Technology High before taking this administrative job with Johnson. I’m sure he is historically the kind of man who deserves to be in a position of authority with our kids and this is just a fall from grace…
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More fun from Craigslist

Folks trying to sell their PS3s on Craigslist better take note. Cbs13.com reports that a seller was beaten and robbed while trying to meet the buyer of his Playstation at a local gas station Tuesday.

And to think, I was worried about handing out my email address.

The news station recommends meeting buyers of goods sold on the popular online classifieds site at your local police station parking lot. That’s right. The next time you sell a good for a few thousand dollars online and need to meet the buyer to make the under the table, most likely unreported cash transaction, be sure to do it somewhere where your tax dollars will ensure your safety.

Sacramentans in the news

Why does it take me like a week to find out that the UCLA taser student was from Sacramento? Is it because I don’t pay any attention to anything going on outside Nor Cal anymore, even when it has a local angle? Yes, it’s definitely because of that. And because of my YouTube non-participation.

Young mister Tabatabainejad is probably not going to have the same kind of winter as the other Sacramentan I wanted to mention, Demarcus Nelson, who seems poised for a breakout year for some school called Duke. (I think it’s a junior college in the midwest or something.) This is the sort of thing that gets me excited to watch some college hoops.

‘Tis the season

It just wouldn’t be the holidays without a heaping helping of disheartening crime in Sacramento. While PS3 mayhem is so last week, never fear as we’ve had our first Salvation Army robbery.

Sacramento police are still looking for a group of teens who robbed a Salvation Army bell ringer at knife point during the noon hour Friday outside a grocery store.

That’s noon, people, as in post meridiem. I think that is what is really shocking about crime these days. There really is no safe time to be out and about…however, Continue reading “‘Tis the season”

Are there any other kind?

Snark is not always fun and games. Sometimes the camera must be turned on the less savory parts of life. For example, the Bee’s coverage of the man currently being sought for several assaults on women contains a sidebar about other serial offenders that includes their media nicknames, like Anthony Ray Starks, nicknamed “Cowardly.” You know, unlike the courageous men who typically commit this particular crime.

New crime mapping tool on KCRA

KCRA's Crime Tracker - Mike Teselle reports
Mike Teselle reports

KCRA rolled out its Crime Tracker tool just in time for Halloween this year, and RonTopofIt just pointed it out to me this morning. It is a mashup of Google’s ubiquitous mapping service, and it works way better than the SacPD’s Crime Mapping tool, although I’m sure the SacPD’s offering is more inclusive and updated faster. One thing I have always loved about the SacPD’s tool is the ability to search by neighborhoods, not just Zip codes — this link, for example, shows you residential, auto, and business burglaries in the Ben Ali neighborhood (which is apparently a microhood between El Camino and Marconi on the West side of the Capital City, who knew). To get a similar map on KCRA I had to use an address, 1941 Iris Ave, and I get all of the crime hits (including Invasion of Privacy). But the ease of searching by Zip, intersection, or “Landmarks” on the KCRA site makes it worth a look.

Coach Eric Musselman charged with DUI

Eric Musselman, drunk driverKings head coach Eric Musselman was picked up by CHP at 2:15 a.m. Saturday and blew a 0.11 bac. He spent a few hours in county jail and was released early this morning, and will have to make a court date in November. He was picked up on K St., so I like to think of him driving like a maniac down the mall, but I suppose a DUI would be the least of your worries then…

MySpace Bush-basher now world famous

In case you missed it, the McClatchy high freshman who made local headlines last week for being questioned by the secret service for her anti-Bush MySpace group is now making headlines all over the world. I’d like to admit ashamedly that my post on The Sac Rag received slightly less than the 120,000 hits the Bee’s original article received.
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MySpace and the Secret Service

Did you all read the front page Bee story today on the McClatchy High freshman, Julia Wilson, who was questioned by the secret service without her parents present because she wrote “Kill Bush” on her MySpace page?

Sure, that sounds outrageous, but apparently state law does not require parental notification when law enforcement officials want to question a student during school hours. And actually, the mother was notified when the agents knocked on her door, but she “asked the agents to come back in an hour,” apparently mistaking Federal agents with the Fuller Brush Man.
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