Tuesday Midday Briefs

By David GreenwaldDecember 19, 200644 comments

City of Davis Independent Police Ombudsman

I stumbled upon the new webpage for Davis’ Ombudsman, Bob Aaronson. From this page, you get background information on Mr. Aaronson, but also contact information in the form of his email address and phone number.

Most importantly there is a link to a police complaint form.

While the system in Davis remains in need of reform, Mr. Aaronson seems to be a straight shooter who will do a fair job of investigating and auditing complaints against the police. Anyone who believes that they have been wronged by the police is strongly encourage to come forward and go through the formal complaint process. Frankly, we need to see if this process is going to work, and the only way that will happen will be to actually use the process.

We would encourage anyone with stories about racial profiling or other forms of racial profiling to come forward and speak out at Davis City Council Meetings. In addition, feel free to send us any information that you: dougpauldavis@davisvanguard.com.

Alarming Racial Divide in San Francisco Arrest Rates

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article recently highlighting a startling discrepency in the arrest rates in San Francisco for African-Americans compared to the rest of the major cities in the state:

Black people in San Francisco are arrested for felonies at nearly twice the rate they are in Sacramento. They are arrested at twice the rate of black people in Fresno, three times the rate in San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, and four times the rate in Oakland.

The disparity between San Francisco’s black felony arrest rates and the seven other largest cities’ — measured by the number of African Americans arrested per 1,000 black residents — is so large that many experts and civic leaders who reviewed the numbers said they are “disturbing” and require an investigation.

As the Blogger Left in San Francisco writes: “One half of all felony arrests in San Francisco are of African Americans. Who represent less than 8 percent of the city’s population.”

While the article focuses on San Francisco, you’ll notice a bit closer to home that Sacramento and Fresno are on the higher end of that list as well.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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Categories:

Law Enforcement

44 comments

  1. Doug….again, you outdo yourself, now adding to the People’s Vanguard’s accomplishments a public service information piece for your fellow citizens. Perhaps I missed it but I don’t recall receiving anything in the mail from the city with this information.

  2. Doug….again, you outdo yourself, now adding to the People’s Vanguard’s accomplishments a public service information piece for your fellow citizens. Perhaps I missed it but I don’t recall receiving anything in the mail from the city with this information.

  3. Doug….again, you outdo yourself, now adding to the People’s Vanguard’s accomplishments a public service information piece for your fellow citizens. Perhaps I missed it but I don’t recall receiving anything in the mail from the city with this information.

  4. Doug….again, you outdo yourself, now adding to the People’s Vanguard’s accomplishments a public service information piece for your fellow citizens. Perhaps I missed it but I don’t recall receiving anything in the mail from the city with this information.

  17. I’m impressed. You’re way too fast for me.

    The link was only put up earlier today, after I reviewed the page’s text and e-mailed the City with my thumbs-up (at 12:30 pm today).

    I don’t think anybody intended it to be a secret (obviously!), but who had a chance to make an announcement first?

    I consider myself pretty cynical too, but not everything has a nefarious explanation.

    BTW, any comments I make here, I will make with my own name and not under a pseudonym so that you all can keep me accountable. More transparency!

  18. I’m impressed. You’re way too fast for me.

    The link was only put up earlier today, after I reviewed the page’s text and e-mailed the City with my thumbs-up (at 12:30 pm today).

    I don’t think anybody intended it to be a secret (obviously!), but who had a chance to make an announcement first?

    I consider myself pretty cynical too, but not everything has a nefarious explanation.

    BTW, any comments I make here, I will make with my own name and not under a pseudonym so that you all can keep me accountable. More transparency!

  19. I’m impressed. You’re way too fast for me.

    The link was only put up earlier today, after I reviewed the page’s text and e-mailed the City with my thumbs-up (at 12:30 pm today).

    I don’t think anybody intended it to be a secret (obviously!), but who had a chance to make an announcement first?

    I consider myself pretty cynical too, but not everything has a nefarious explanation.

    BTW, any comments I make here, I will make with my own name and not under a pseudonym so that you all can keep me accountable. More transparency!

  20. I’m impressed. You’re way too fast for me.

    The link was only put up earlier today, after I reviewed the page’s text and e-mailed the City with my thumbs-up (at 12:30 pm today).

    I don’t think anybody intended it to be a secret (obviously!), but who had a chance to make an announcement first?

    I consider myself pretty cynical too, but not everything has a nefarious explanation.

    BTW, any comments I make here, I will make with my own name and not under a pseudonym so that you all can keep me accountable. More transparency!

  21. Bob:

    Thanks for the response. I was being a bit facetious on that point. I knew I hadn’t seen it yet, but I figured I missed it, I did not realize it had just gone up today.

    For everyone else, who has the news first?

  22. Bob:

    Thanks for the response. I was being a bit facetious on that point. I knew I hadn’t seen it yet, but I figured I missed it, I did not realize it had just gone up today.

    For everyone else, who has the news first?

  23. Bob:

    Thanks for the response. I was being a bit facetious on that point. I knew I hadn’t seen it yet, but I figured I missed it, I did not realize it had just gone up today.

    For everyone else, who has the news first?

  24. Bob:

    Thanks for the response. I was being a bit facetious on that point. I knew I hadn’t seen it yet, but I figured I missed it, I did not realize it had just gone up today.

    For everyone else, who has the news first?

  25. I would not compare Yolo County with the situation in SF. However. I would still like to know how the arrest rates in Yolo compare with the racial demographics of Yolo. Even without the statistics it is obvious the cards are stacked against latinos. Does the local ACLU maintain any statistics?SAH

  26. I would not compare Yolo County with the situation in SF. However. I would still like to know how the arrest rates in Yolo compare with the racial demographics of Yolo. Even without the statistics it is obvious the cards are stacked against latinos. Does the local ACLU maintain any statistics?SAH

  27. I would not compare Yolo County with the situation in SF. However. I would still like to know how the arrest rates in Yolo compare with the racial demographics of Yolo. Even without the statistics it is obvious the cards are stacked against latinos. Does the local ACLU maintain any statistics?SAH

  28. I would not compare Yolo County with the situation in SF. However. I would still like to know how the arrest rates in Yolo compare with the racial demographics of Yolo. Even without the statistics it is obvious the cards are stacked against latinos. Does the local ACLU maintain any statistics?SAH

  29. Bob Aaronson…. wonderful to have you aboard.. I hope, when you have the time, you will look through People’s Vanguard archives… It will give you a good “taste” of Davis local politics. Doug has done a masterful job presenting local news and political struggles.

  30. Bob Aaronson…. wonderful to have you aboard.. I hope, when you have the time, you will look through People’s Vanguard archives… It will give you a good “taste” of Davis local politics. Doug has done a masterful job presenting local news and political struggles.

  31. Bob Aaronson…. wonderful to have you aboard.. I hope, when you have the time, you will look through People’s Vanguard archives… It will give you a good “taste” of Davis local politics. Doug has done a masterful job presenting local news and political struggles.

  32. Bob Aaronson…. wonderful to have you aboard.. I hope, when you have the time, you will look through People’s Vanguard archives… It will give you a good “taste” of Davis local politics. Doug has done a masterful job presenting local news and political struggles.

  33. Davisite: I don’t think Bob will mind me mentioning this, but while he has not posted here before, he is what we call a “lurker” or a reader…

  34. Davisite: I don’t think Bob will mind me mentioning this, but while he has not posted here before, he is what we call a “lurker” or a reader…

  35. Davisite: I don’t think Bob will mind me mentioning this, but while he has not posted here before, he is what we call a “lurker” or a reader…

  36. Davisite: I don’t think Bob will mind me mentioning this, but while he has not posted here before, he is what we call a “lurker” or a reader…

  37. A “lurker?”

    Welcome to the Davis community, Bob. I’m pleased that you are here and already hooked into the various web resources.

    I saw the announcement because I was checking the City website for the previous day’s police activity…

    BTW…the old summaries were better in some ways – more complete information. But the new ones show all the minor calls (loud party, etc.) calls that the police are responding to. It would be good to combine the two ways of presenting the information.

  38. A “lurker?”

    Welcome to the Davis community, Bob. I’m pleased that you are here and already hooked into the various web resources.

    I saw the announcement because I was checking the City website for the previous day’s police activity…

    BTW…the old summaries were better in some ways – more complete information. But the new ones show all the minor calls (loud party, etc.) calls that the police are responding to. It would be good to combine the two ways of presenting the information.

  39. A “lurker?”

    Welcome to the Davis community, Bob. I’m pleased that you are here and already hooked into the various web resources.

    I saw the announcement because I was checking the City website for the previous day’s police activity…

    BTW…the old summaries were better in some ways – more complete information. But the new ones show all the minor calls (loud party, etc.) calls that the police are responding to. It would be good to combine the two ways of presenting the information.

  40. A “lurker?”

    Welcome to the Davis community, Bob. I’m pleased that you are here and already hooked into the various web resources.

    I saw the announcement because I was checking the City website for the previous day’s police activity…

    BTW…the old summaries were better in some ways – more complete information. But the new ones show all the minor calls (loud party, etc.) calls that the police are responding to. It would be good to combine the two ways of presenting the information.

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