DON'T WALK ALONE
On October 16, a reputed Mongol member named Ronald "Sonic" Cobos was shot and killed outside The Pantry, the restaurant once owned by former mayor Dick Riordan. While Sonic claimed the Mongols, apparently he was one of those new wave recruits that didn't even own a motorcycle.
According to what was pieced together, Cobos met up with some females in a biker bar in Alhambra and went to the Pantry to eat. While there, Cobos got into a mad dog contest with a couple of Filipinos. Nothing real serious but noticeable enough that the staff threw the Filipinos out. When Cobos and the girls were done eating, they went outside. In the parking lot across the street, Cobos and his new friends were confronted by a group of ten to twelve Filipinos. Apparently the Filipinos decided to wait for Cobos and called in the cavalry to back them up. Words were exchanged and one of the Asians grabbed a piece and shot Cobos in the chest at near point blank range.
Cobos lived for three weeks on life support but was never able to talk. His status was improving but then all of a sudden, he got worse and died on November 4.
The lesson here is clear. Don't go into harm's way without backup. At the very least bring something that goes bang. You're courage may be admirable but it won't mean much when you lose. Contrary to what some posters have said about the Mongols, it's obvious they don't always travel in packs.
In the same general area of downtown, a yet to be named drug dealer paid the ultimate price last night for refusing to kick up his taxes. Sometimes macho pride can be a very bad career move.
Monday, November 21, 2005
TOOKIE AND TUONG.
No matter where you stand on the Tookie Williams execution issue, you have to marvel at the exquisite timing of another execution a half world away. Singapore, to be exact, where Nguyen Tuong Van, a convicted drug dealer is scheduled to be hanged on December 2 for smuggling just under a pound of heroin.
When it comes to crime and punishment, Singapore is medieval. You get caned and fined for spitting on the sidewalk, littering or tagging. Drug smuggling is a death penalty offense. Note to Courtney and Snoop. Stay out of Singapore. Just to provide a comparison, Tuong Van was arrested in December 2002. That figures out to three years between the crime and execution. I count good. Since 1991, Singapore has hanged 400 criminals. It also happens to have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Connection? You be the judge.
Tookie, on the other hand, has had a quarter century of appeals on his multi homicide conviction and he's been allowed to write books and have a movie made about him and, as we've heard for about the millionth time, has been nominated for the Nobel Prize.
It really doesn't get any more clear than this. No matter what Jesse and the Hollywood types like to say about this country, they can't say we don't bend over backwards to make sure every avenue of appeal is exhausted before the State takes a life. And there's still an outside chance Arnold may give Tookie a pass. There aren't any passes in Singapore. They hang 'em high and often. Same goes for other countries like Malaysia and Viet Nam that execute drug slangers. It's kind of ironic too that the same people like the Tom Haydens and the Mike Farrells that were rooting for the other side in Viet Nam aren't saying a word about the drug dealers in Nam waiting to be executed. Go figure.
It would be unfair to say that the authorities in Singapore are completely lacking in compassion. They're letting Tuong's mom have a few extra visits before they hang him.
No matter where you stand on the Tookie Williams execution issue, you have to marvel at the exquisite timing of another execution a half world away. Singapore, to be exact, where Nguyen Tuong Van, a convicted drug dealer is scheduled to be hanged on December 2 for smuggling just under a pound of heroin.
When it comes to crime and punishment, Singapore is medieval. You get caned and fined for spitting on the sidewalk, littering or tagging. Drug smuggling is a death penalty offense. Note to Courtney and Snoop. Stay out of Singapore. Just to provide a comparison, Tuong Van was arrested in December 2002. That figures out to three years between the crime and execution. I count good. Since 1991, Singapore has hanged 400 criminals. It also happens to have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Connection? You be the judge.
Tookie, on the other hand, has had a quarter century of appeals on his multi homicide conviction and he's been allowed to write books and have a movie made about him and, as we've heard for about the millionth time, has been nominated for the Nobel Prize.
It really doesn't get any more clear than this. No matter what Jesse and the Hollywood types like to say about this country, they can't say we don't bend over backwards to make sure every avenue of appeal is exhausted before the State takes a life. And there's still an outside chance Arnold may give Tookie a pass. There aren't any passes in Singapore. They hang 'em high and often. Same goes for other countries like Malaysia and Viet Nam that execute drug slangers. It's kind of ironic too that the same people like the Tom Haydens and the Mike Farrells that were rooting for the other side in Viet Nam aren't saying a word about the drug dealers in Nam waiting to be executed. Go figure.
It would be unfair to say that the authorities in Singapore are completely lacking in compassion. They're letting Tuong's mom have a few extra visits before they hang him.
THIS TIME THEY MEAN IT. NO REALLY.
One of the items I came across while going through the stack was an item in the Daily News from last month. Apparently, the City Council is resurrecting the GANG CZAR concept once again. This time, it's Councilman Tony Cardenas who is reanimating the dead beast. He wants to create a new city division to supervise and coordinate anti-gang efforts. The article wasn't really clear on how this would be done because we suspect that Cardenas himself isn't really clear on how to do it.
Back in the Dick Riordan days, the Mayor and the Council tried to come up with gang czar model and came up with nothing. First they got together to figure out what the full time gang chief would do and where the money to pay him or her and a staff would come from. Then they figured they didn't have the money and decided to make it a part time position. Then they didn't have the money for that either and they couldn't figure out how to make the czar do something that wasn't already being duplicated by any number of other city departments. Then they just packed it up and went home. No gang czar.
While there's always hope, we get the feeling this new effort will end up in the same trash can of half-baked aspirations as the earlier proposal. We've got a few ideas on how to do this, but nobody is asking.
Cardenas wants to lick the gang problem and, at the same time, save the city some money. Famous last words from Cardenas. "I'm sure that we're going to find duplication. I'm sure that we're going to find inefficiency." In government? You think?
One of the items I came across while going through the stack was an item in the Daily News from last month. Apparently, the City Council is resurrecting the GANG CZAR concept once again. This time, it's Councilman Tony Cardenas who is reanimating the dead beast. He wants to create a new city division to supervise and coordinate anti-gang efforts. The article wasn't really clear on how this would be done because we suspect that Cardenas himself isn't really clear on how to do it.
Back in the Dick Riordan days, the Mayor and the Council tried to come up with gang czar model and came up with nothing. First they got together to figure out what the full time gang chief would do and where the money to pay him or her and a staff would come from. Then they figured they didn't have the money and decided to make it a part time position. Then they didn't have the money for that either and they couldn't figure out how to make the czar do something that wasn't already being duplicated by any number of other city departments. Then they just packed it up and went home. No gang czar.
While there's always hope, we get the feeling this new effort will end up in the same trash can of half-baked aspirations as the earlier proposal. We've got a few ideas on how to do this, but nobody is asking.
Cardenas wants to lick the gang problem and, at the same time, save the city some money. Famous last words from Cardenas. "I'm sure that we're going to find duplication. I'm sure that we're going to find inefficiency." In government? You think?
Friday, November 18, 2005
BE BACK ON MONDAY. PROMISE.
It's been a hellacious month. Lots of traveling and launching a few projects that will be revealed in due time.
I finally landed back in town this weekend and by Monday, I should have some new posts up. First I need to catch up the emails and a bunch of news stories that have been piling up.
One thing I did notice while skimming through the various piles of mail and phone messages is the increased presence of the FBI all over the city and county. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of Federal operation. Local beefs like firearms possession are getting hit with Federal prosecutions. One example was the Black P-Stones getting hit with everything the Feds could throw at them two weeks ago. Which means long Federal time someplace far, far away.
More on Monday.
It's been a hellacious month. Lots of traveling and launching a few projects that will be revealed in due time.
I finally landed back in town this weekend and by Monday, I should have some new posts up. First I need to catch up the emails and a bunch of news stories that have been piling up.
One thing I did notice while skimming through the various piles of mail and phone messages is the increased presence of the FBI all over the city and county. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of Federal operation. Local beefs like firearms possession are getting hit with Federal prosecutions. One example was the Black P-Stones getting hit with everything the Feds could throw at them two weeks ago. Which means long Federal time someplace far, far away.
More on Monday.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
SPAM BLOCKER ACTIVATED
This site has apparently been getting a lot of spam from vile marketers posing as legitimate commenters. I know you've seen them. They say stuff like, "I like your blog. If you want to know all about [kitty litter, new car prices, Russian brides etc] here's where to go."
These are mass emails generated by computers. From now on, anyone posting will have to type in the word verification in order for your comments to appear. I know it's a pain, but it only takes a second. Hopefully, the word verification will keep these assbites from clogging up the comments section with useless crap.
Just this morning there were four "comments" from somebody trying to sell a research service. If you see comments like that, please ignore them. Don't click on them because the hits and where they come from are tracked. The more response they get, the more they'll post.
This site has apparently been getting a lot of spam from vile marketers posing as legitimate commenters. I know you've seen them. They say stuff like, "I like your blog. If you want to know all about [kitty litter, new car prices, Russian brides etc] here's where to go."
These are mass emails generated by computers. From now on, anyone posting will have to type in the word verification in order for your comments to appear. I know it's a pain, but it only takes a second. Hopefully, the word verification will keep these assbites from clogging up the comments section with useless crap.
Just this morning there were four "comments" from somebody trying to sell a research service. If you see comments like that, please ignore them. Don't click on them because the hits and where they come from are tracked. The more response they get, the more they'll post.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
GANG WAR IN THE VALLEY
For you guys complaining that I haven't been around enough, here's my way of making it up to you. Most of this came from very reliable information and it's backed up with stories that ran in the Daily News about the dust being kicked up in the north end of San Fer, the Valley, not the gang.
The two duelling factions are Vincent Town and Columbus Street. Vincent Town is primarily a paisa set that in the recent past was happy moving rock and kicking up to the Eme shotcallers in Columbus. Apparently, the arrangement has fallen apart. There's a lot of money being made in the area and the Vincent Town wants to keep it all for themselves. According to one person on the street, "Vincent Town don't want to be a bitch anymore."
The inevitable friction has reached the boiling point in the last few weeks and bodies have fallen. The main resistance operator in VT is a previously deported Mexican National named VICTOR "OCHI" CASTRO. Ochi appears to be a slick operator and occasionally dresses up in drag to move in and out of the neighborhood undetected.
In early October, somebody took a shot at Ochi's brother Beyo and Beyo's wife. They missed Beyo but the wife was hit in the leg.
The next day, Ochie rolls up on two Columbus streeters -- Gerardo "Bad Boy" Fajardo and Deanthony "Anger" Prichard. Both are hit and Bad Boy is killed. Anger survived.
About a week later, Ochi and Beyo jack up a truck, pick up two homies and they roll right into the heart of Columbus Street territory. One of the homies takes along an AK for high caliber firepower.
As the truck rolls north on Memory Park Avenue, an Impala with Sal
Casper" Miranda and three of his homeboys is rolling south. This sets the stage for what the military usually calls a "meeting engagement." It's also a little bit like an old time jousting match. Both parties open up with everything they had.
After they pass each other with bullets flying in both directions, the truck stops and the guy with the AK continues shooting at the Impala. Casper apparently takes one in the head and another in the torso. He died at the scene. An innocent bystander some six blocks away was wounded by one of the stray AK rounds. Fortunately, she'll live.
Ten minutes later, the highjacked truck is found burning at Columbus and Tupper.
Politically, this is bad news for VT. There's no angel of the black hand looking out for them. Just the opposite. Not only did they resist the almighty tax, but did so with extreme prejudice. They took out at the very least an Associate. Which is bad enough. If Casper was a full blown brother (unknown at this time if he is or not), then the blow back is going to be severe. Regardless of his status, the fur's flying and the sky's the limit with regard to retaliation.
This story is all over the Valley right now and every little homie with his ear to the ground has heard it. So let's not beef on line about who's telling stories out of school. It's just another week of life in LA and we're just here to report the news as we hear it. The Daily News is all over this beef right now and you'll probably be seeing stories about it anyway. You're just hearing it here first.
For you guys complaining that I haven't been around enough, here's my way of making it up to you. Most of this came from very reliable information and it's backed up with stories that ran in the Daily News about the dust being kicked up in the north end of San Fer, the Valley, not the gang.
The two duelling factions are Vincent Town and Columbus Street. Vincent Town is primarily a paisa set that in the recent past was happy moving rock and kicking up to the Eme shotcallers in Columbus. Apparently, the arrangement has fallen apart. There's a lot of money being made in the area and the Vincent Town wants to keep it all for themselves. According to one person on the street, "Vincent Town don't want to be a bitch anymore."
The inevitable friction has reached the boiling point in the last few weeks and bodies have fallen. The main resistance operator in VT is a previously deported Mexican National named VICTOR "OCHI" CASTRO. Ochi appears to be a slick operator and occasionally dresses up in drag to move in and out of the neighborhood undetected.
In early October, somebody took a shot at Ochi's brother Beyo and Beyo's wife. They missed Beyo but the wife was hit in the leg.
The next day, Ochie rolls up on two Columbus streeters -- Gerardo "Bad Boy" Fajardo and Deanthony "Anger" Prichard. Both are hit and Bad Boy is killed. Anger survived.
About a week later, Ochi and Beyo jack up a truck, pick up two homies and they roll right into the heart of Columbus Street territory. One of the homies takes along an AK for high caliber firepower.
As the truck rolls north on Memory Park Avenue, an Impala with Sal
Casper" Miranda and three of his homeboys is rolling south. This sets the stage for what the military usually calls a "meeting engagement." It's also a little bit like an old time jousting match. Both parties open up with everything they had.
After they pass each other with bullets flying in both directions, the truck stops and the guy with the AK continues shooting at the Impala. Casper apparently takes one in the head and another in the torso. He died at the scene. An innocent bystander some six blocks away was wounded by one of the stray AK rounds. Fortunately, she'll live.
Ten minutes later, the highjacked truck is found burning at Columbus and Tupper.
Politically, this is bad news for VT. There's no angel of the black hand looking out for them. Just the opposite. Not only did they resist the almighty tax, but did so with extreme prejudice. They took out at the very least an Associate. Which is bad enough. If Casper was a full blown brother (unknown at this time if he is or not), then the blow back is going to be severe. Regardless of his status, the fur's flying and the sky's the limit with regard to retaliation.
This story is all over the Valley right now and every little homie with his ear to the ground has heard it. So let's not beef on line about who's telling stories out of school. It's just another week of life in LA and we're just here to report the news as we hear it. The Daily News is all over this beef right now and you'll probably be seeing stories about it anyway. You're just hearing it here first.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
FAILURE OF THE VICTIM SELECTION PROCESS
Four individuals tried to carjack a vehicle early Friday morning (Sept. 31) but got a big surprise. According to the LA Times, the attempt carjacking happened on the corner of Corbin and Vanowen, a quiet neighborhood way out there in the West SF Valley. Just FYI, this is CPA territory, a neighborhood that has a long, long history in the area but likes to lay low and stay out of politics.
When one of the carjackers pulled a gun on the guys inside the vehicle, one or more of the occupants fired back with their own straps. Turns out the men in the car were FBI agents doing a surveillance detail. The result was one dead carjacker and three in custody. Ooops! It's unknown at this time if the four car boosters are associated with the neighborhood or just some freelancers.
Here's a question for you LEOs out there to help fill in my trivia database. When something like this happens, does it automatically become a Federal beef or does local law enforcement take over? Both agencies obviously have jurisdiction so what's the procedure here? Just curious.
Four individuals tried to carjack a vehicle early Friday morning (Sept. 31) but got a big surprise. According to the LA Times, the attempt carjacking happened on the corner of Corbin and Vanowen, a quiet neighborhood way out there in the West SF Valley. Just FYI, this is CPA territory, a neighborhood that has a long, long history in the area but likes to lay low and stay out of politics.
When one of the carjackers pulled a gun on the guys inside the vehicle, one or more of the occupants fired back with their own straps. Turns out the men in the car were FBI agents doing a surveillance detail. The result was one dead carjacker and three in custody. Ooops! It's unknown at this time if the four car boosters are associated with the neighborhood or just some freelancers.
Here's a question for you LEOs out there to help fill in my trivia database. When something like this happens, does it automatically become a Federal beef or does local law enforcement take over? Both agencies obviously have jurisdiction so what's the procedure here? Just curious.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
HOW TO GET "THE BOOK"
Ever since the post on Mundo Mendoza's book, I've gotten email asking how to get it. It was supposed to be on the convicts and cops website but it's not up there yet. I just got this update from the site operator and I'm passing it on.
Mundo Mendoza's CD book, "Mexican Mafia: From Altar Boy to Hitman" is available for $19.50 + $2.50 for shipping & handling. Orders can be made by sending a cashier's check or money order for $22.00 made out to Ken Whitley & Associates, PO Box 2623, Corona, CA 92878-2623. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. Orders can also be made through Pay Pal by going to http://www.convictsandcops.com/ under products. Web site orders will be available in a few days
Happy reading.
Ever since the post on Mundo Mendoza's book, I've gotten email asking how to get it. It was supposed to be on the convicts and cops website but it's not up there yet. I just got this update from the site operator and I'm passing it on.
Mundo Mendoza's CD book, "Mexican Mafia: From Altar Boy to Hitman" is available for $19.50 + $2.50 for shipping & handling. Orders can be made by sending a cashier's check or money order for $22.00 made out to Ken Whitley & Associates, PO Box 2623, Corona, CA 92878-2623. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. Orders can also be made through Pay Pal by going to http://www.convictsandcops.com/ under products. Web site orders will be available in a few days
Happy reading.
BOXER APPEARS ON THE BBC
A friend just sent me this from the BBC (British Boradcasting Co.) It seems they've been running a series called "I CHALLENGE" that examines individuals who have challenged authority. I'm running the whole story to save you from clicking over and maybe not being able to access it. Nothing most of us didn't already know, but it's worth a read anyway. Especially the part about retaliation on families. You might even call it rat-alietion. Bad joke, I know.
BBC September 27, 2005
As part of the "I Challenge" series looking at individuals who have challenged authority around the world, Rene Enriquez - a former leading member of the Mexican Mafia, a notorious US prison gang - tells the BBC about his experiences as a Mafioso and his decision to quit the organization.
Rene rose to the highest ranks of the Mexican Mafia In an old arrest photograph, Rene Enriquez stands defiantly, his criminal history boldly stamped across his torso.
One tattoo on his chest shouts for attention. It's a black hand, symbol of one of America's most violent gangs, the Mexican Mafia.
Rene, 43, formerly known as Boxer and once ranked as a Mexican Mafia "Godfather", is serving several life sentences for killings committed in the name of the gang.
For nearly 20 years, nothing stopped Rene in his climb from street thug to top leader in the Mexican Mafia.
He killed men and ordered hits, ran elaborate drug rings, laundered money, and mobilized thousands of Latino street gang members for battle.
Remarkably, Rene committed many of these crimes while serving a life sentence in one of America's most fearsome "Supermax" prisons using complex systems of communication and subterfuge.
But after years of this way of life, he began to question what he was doing.
"I was a leading member of the Mexican Mafia until one day, I decided that I'd had enough," he explains. "I decided to defect."
The Mexican Mafia is one of the "big five" prison gangs that turned California's criminal justice system on its head, operating with near-impunity behind bars.
California runs America's largest prison system, with more than 160,000 inmates. For years gangs controlled drug sales, extortion and other criminal networks in prisons.
US prison gangs operate with near impunity behind bars "You were immediately elevated in your position in your neighborhood once you got out of prison," says Rene, who joined the gang in his late teens.
"The girls loved you, the guys respected you and you learned a lot in the joint. It's crazy, but that's the way it is."
He says he became addicted to the violence.
"The more notches you have on your belt, the more ferocity people see you as possessing, and the greater you become."
As tough sentencing laws packed the prisons, the gangs grew larger. So they looked to the streets to increase power and profits.
California responded by confining gang leaders like Rene in harsh isolation. For 13 years he was locked down, alone, in a windowless cell with only an hour of solitary exercise in a concrete pen.
"Killing Boxer off was the hardest part. That's all I ever knew. That's who I was." But instead of being "broken", Rene deepened his commitment to the gang. He learned complex secret codes to communicate with other members and on the streets.
He adopted the gang's punishing exercise routine and plunged into study, reading hundreds of books on philosophy, leadership, modern corporations and military history.
He learned how to harness the power of fear under the most extreme conditions. But life in solitary took its toll. The gang descended into internal strife.
Exhausted, Rene says the final straw came when some members proposed widening the war against rivals by targeting their families.
"That's when I knew it was time to leave," he says. But killing "Boxer" off was the hardest part. That's all I ever knew. That's who I was".
"I was ashamed of leaving the organization, something that I've killed for, dedicated my life to. Twenty years of my adult life, and I'm walking away from it."
In gang culture, defection is the ultimate disloyalty and anyone who leaves risks being killed by other members of the gang.
"[Rene] has become their number one priority. They want him dead for what he's done," says Gang investigator Robert Marquez. To get out of the Supermax, Rene was forced to betray his comrades and reveal the gang's innermost secrets to authorities in a thorough de-briefing process.
Rene's information proved vital in prosecutions of top Mexican Mafia members, in understanding how the gang infiltrated other organizations, and manipulated the prison system's rules.
But it also put him on the gang's hit list.
"He has become their number one priority," says gang investigator Robert Marquez, of the California Department of Corrections. "If ever they get a chance, they want him dead for what he's done."
He now lives in Lancaster State Prison, a special unit north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert designed to protect gang defectors from retaliation.
He runs a prisoner outreach group to educate children about the realities of gang membership and helps the authorities increase their knowledge of the Mexican Mafia.
Rene's hopes are focused on making parole. But redemption is a daunting task, given his bloody history.
"The reality is that I believe that I will die here," he says. "I believe that I will never get out." END OF BBC STORY.
The most interesting thing to me about this article is the reference to killing people's families. Traditionally, my understanding is that's been taboo. I'm not sure if Boxer's statement ushers in a new policy or if it was just talk that never evolved into policy. There have been instances where family members were taken out, but that's been the exception rather than the rule. Thoughts anyone?
A friend just sent me this from the BBC (British Boradcasting Co.) It seems they've been running a series called "I CHALLENGE" that examines individuals who have challenged authority. I'm running the whole story to save you from clicking over and maybe not being able to access it. Nothing most of us didn't already know, but it's worth a read anyway. Especially the part about retaliation on families. You might even call it rat-alietion. Bad joke, I know.
BBC September 27, 2005
As part of the "I Challenge" series looking at individuals who have challenged authority around the world, Rene Enriquez - a former leading member of the Mexican Mafia, a notorious US prison gang - tells the BBC about his experiences as a Mafioso and his decision to quit the organization.
Rene rose to the highest ranks of the Mexican Mafia In an old arrest photograph, Rene Enriquez stands defiantly, his criminal history boldly stamped across his torso.
One tattoo on his chest shouts for attention. It's a black hand, symbol of one of America's most violent gangs, the Mexican Mafia.
Rene, 43, formerly known as Boxer and once ranked as a Mexican Mafia "Godfather", is serving several life sentences for killings committed in the name of the gang.
For nearly 20 years, nothing stopped Rene in his climb from street thug to top leader in the Mexican Mafia.
He killed men and ordered hits, ran elaborate drug rings, laundered money, and mobilized thousands of Latino street gang members for battle.
Remarkably, Rene committed many of these crimes while serving a life sentence in one of America's most fearsome "Supermax" prisons using complex systems of communication and subterfuge.
But after years of this way of life, he began to question what he was doing.
"I was a leading member of the Mexican Mafia until one day, I decided that I'd had enough," he explains. "I decided to defect."
The Mexican Mafia is one of the "big five" prison gangs that turned California's criminal justice system on its head, operating with near-impunity behind bars.
California runs America's largest prison system, with more than 160,000 inmates. For years gangs controlled drug sales, extortion and other criminal networks in prisons.
US prison gangs operate with near impunity behind bars "You were immediately elevated in your position in your neighborhood once you got out of prison," says Rene, who joined the gang in his late teens.
"The girls loved you, the guys respected you and you learned a lot in the joint. It's crazy, but that's the way it is."
He says he became addicted to the violence.
"The more notches you have on your belt, the more ferocity people see you as possessing, and the greater you become."
As tough sentencing laws packed the prisons, the gangs grew larger. So they looked to the streets to increase power and profits.
California responded by confining gang leaders like Rene in harsh isolation. For 13 years he was locked down, alone, in a windowless cell with only an hour of solitary exercise in a concrete pen.
"Killing Boxer off was the hardest part. That's all I ever knew. That's who I was." But instead of being "broken", Rene deepened his commitment to the gang. He learned complex secret codes to communicate with other members and on the streets.
He adopted the gang's punishing exercise routine and plunged into study, reading hundreds of books on philosophy, leadership, modern corporations and military history.
He learned how to harness the power of fear under the most extreme conditions. But life in solitary took its toll. The gang descended into internal strife.
Exhausted, Rene says the final straw came when some members proposed widening the war against rivals by targeting their families.
"That's when I knew it was time to leave," he says. But killing "Boxer" off was the hardest part. That's all I ever knew. That's who I was".
"I was ashamed of leaving the organization, something that I've killed for, dedicated my life to. Twenty years of my adult life, and I'm walking away from it."
In gang culture, defection is the ultimate disloyalty and anyone who leaves risks being killed by other members of the gang.
"[Rene] has become their number one priority. They want him dead for what he's done," says Gang investigator Robert Marquez. To get out of the Supermax, Rene was forced to betray his comrades and reveal the gang's innermost secrets to authorities in a thorough de-briefing process.
Rene's information proved vital in prosecutions of top Mexican Mafia members, in understanding how the gang infiltrated other organizations, and manipulated the prison system's rules.
But it also put him on the gang's hit list.
"He has become their number one priority," says gang investigator Robert Marquez, of the California Department of Corrections. "If ever they get a chance, they want him dead for what he's done."
He now lives in Lancaster State Prison, a special unit north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert designed to protect gang defectors from retaliation.
He runs a prisoner outreach group to educate children about the realities of gang membership and helps the authorities increase their knowledge of the Mexican Mafia.
Rene's hopes are focused on making parole. But redemption is a daunting task, given his bloody history.
"The reality is that I believe that I will die here," he says. "I believe that I will never get out." END OF BBC STORY.
The most interesting thing to me about this article is the reference to killing people's families. Traditionally, my understanding is that's been taboo. I'm not sure if Boxer's statement ushers in a new policy or if it was just talk that never evolved into policy. There have been instances where family members were taken out, but that's been the exception rather than the rule. Thoughts anyone?
Thursday, September 22, 2005
ERROR OF OMISSION
An exchange between TJ Jailer and a commenter at the bottom of the comments section in a previous had me smacking my head. I mentioned the number of reasons dropouts debrief. They were; 1) you want to work off a case, 2) you broke the rules and went in the hat, and 3) politics puts you in the hat. The head smacking was becasue I failed to mention another reason -- the change of heart. As TJ correctly pointed out, Mundo was not working off a case, he was in up status with the brothers and there weren't any weird politics brewing against him. It was purely a matter of turning his back on the life and deciding to go the other way. He's not alone in this course of action. There have been others. By failing to mention that last reason in the post, I was guilty of being incomplete. And I hate when I do that. I just want to set straight my thoughts on that issue.
An exchange between TJ Jailer and a commenter at the bottom of the comments section in a previous had me smacking my head. I mentioned the number of reasons dropouts debrief. They were; 1) you want to work off a case, 2) you broke the rules and went in the hat, and 3) politics puts you in the hat. The head smacking was becasue I failed to mention another reason -- the change of heart. As TJ correctly pointed out, Mundo was not working off a case, he was in up status with the brothers and there weren't any weird politics brewing against him. It was purely a matter of turning his back on the life and deciding to go the other way. He's not alone in this course of action. There have been others. By failing to mention that last reason in the post, I was guilty of being incomplete. And I hate when I do that. I just want to set straight my thoughts on that issue.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
MUNDO BOOK FINALLY OUT
For those of you who don't dig all the way into the comments sections, here's something you're missing. The long-awaited book by Mundo Mendoza is finally available.
The name is, or should be, familiar to a lot of you. Mundo was among the first of the big dropouts. While he wasn't there at the very beginning of the Eme in 1957, he was real close. He came to know and operated with the top echelon of the brotherhood and not only knows where all the skeletons are buried, he was responsible for putting some of them there. If the CD is anything like the original I read, it doesn't pull punches or cops out on anything.
I've seen earlier, hard-copy versions of the book and I can't understand why he never found a publisher. If Monster Cody Scott got his book published, the reluctance to publish this superior memoir is a mystery. But thanks to the new media and the internet we no longer need publishers to act as the filters for information. The days of the gatekeepers are numbered.
For anyone interested in the subject, your library is not complete without a copy of this book. If you're law enforcement, a prosecutor, an educator, journalist, crime reporter, policy maker, researcher, an interested observer or somebody still in the mix and wondering why your world looks the way it does, this CD book is essential reading.
The book is being sold through this website.
http://www.convictsandcops.com/
If you click there now, however, there's no mention of it yet but it will be up on that site sometime this week.
In the meantime, you can send an email to this address and put in your order.
sarge4444@earthlink.net
And just in case this sounds like I'm shilling for this project, my financial interest in this is precisely zero. Unless somebody decides to throw me a freebie, I'm paying full retail for my copy.
I'd like to hear some feedback after you read it and digest that mountain of information contained on the CD.
For those of you who don't dig all the way into the comments sections, here's something you're missing. The long-awaited book by Mundo Mendoza is finally available.
The name is, or should be, familiar to a lot of you. Mundo was among the first of the big dropouts. While he wasn't there at the very beginning of the Eme in 1957, he was real close. He came to know and operated with the top echelon of the brotherhood and not only knows where all the skeletons are buried, he was responsible for putting some of them there. If the CD is anything like the original I read, it doesn't pull punches or cops out on anything.
I've seen earlier, hard-copy versions of the book and I can't understand why he never found a publisher. If Monster Cody Scott got his book published, the reluctance to publish this superior memoir is a mystery. But thanks to the new media and the internet we no longer need publishers to act as the filters for information. The days of the gatekeepers are numbered.
For anyone interested in the subject, your library is not complete without a copy of this book. If you're law enforcement, a prosecutor, an educator, journalist, crime reporter, policy maker, researcher, an interested observer or somebody still in the mix and wondering why your world looks the way it does, this CD book is essential reading.
The book is being sold through this website.
http://www.convictsandcops.com/
If you click there now, however, there's no mention of it yet but it will be up on that site sometime this week.
In the meantime, you can send an email to this address and put in your order.
sarge4444@earthlink.net
And just in case this sounds like I'm shilling for this project, my financial interest in this is precisely zero. Unless somebody decides to throw me a freebie, I'm paying full retail for my copy.
I'd like to hear some feedback after you read it and digest that mountain of information contained on the CD.
Friday, September 16, 2005
POLITICS AND PC
In today's issue of the LA TIMES (9/16) Sam Quinones writes about SNYs, internal Eme/NF politics and what could be the beginning of a new paradigm behind the walls. He touches on so many aspects of this situation that the article could be used as a jumping off platform for a month-long discussion.
The main point of the piece is that Eme/NF internal politics are creating dropouts at historic rates. It's a situation where the prison gangs are basically eating their own.
Let's look at this. There are a number of reasons why carnals and associates drop out. One is they're looking at some long time and decide to catch a break by debriefing and going into PC. The other is that they've broken some reglas and been put in the hat. The last one is the one that should have the big homies rethinking their stand about politics, personal feuds and staking a bigger claim to a pie that seems to be shrinking.
I'm a big believer in studying history. When you know what happened in the past, you might get a clue to what might happen in the future. When Chuco Castro debriefed back in the early nineties, one of the several reasons he gave was that he realized he's taken out more than a few brothers and associates that hadn't done anything wrong. But he went ahead and took care of business anyway because those were the rules. Somebody shows up on a lista and the rules say you got to do what you got to do. Chuco realized that even straight up soldiers who dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's, kicked up, played fair and followed the rules were getting put in ditches because somebody, somewhere, for some unknown reason decided they belonged there.
Chuco came to the realization that if he stayed in the mix long enough, even he could end up on somebody's list for reasons he couldn't even guess at. This is nothing new. But way back then, it was rare that somebody of his stature had to watch his back from the very people that claimed to be his closest allies.
What seems to be happening now is an acceleration of that reality among more and more soldiers. I mentioned a few posts back about the change in the power structure in County. That situation is a straight up power struggle. A "mine's bigger that yours" macho, power move that's only going to create more fault lines and fractures inside the organization. Going back to history, it's a replay on a smaller scale to the insane, self-destructive moves that Nicky Scarfo played in North Jersey. He whacked anybody and everybody, even his own blood family members in an out-of-control demonstration of raw power. The business and the personal got so mixed up in his head that the whole organization imploded from the inside. All the Feds did was find somebody in the mix afraid enough of nutcase Scarfo to tip the scales a little bit. We're seeing a lot of that right now in the Sureno Nation.
What the growth in PC yards is doing is taking away the brothers' power to project their influence beyond the SHUs. They've traditionally had the power because they had access to main yards. As more PC yards coming on line, the power to call shots dimishes. If you play that paradigm out to its logical conclusion, you'll be left with a handful of shot callers thrashing around in their SHUs, isolated from the rest of the inmate population and desperately looking for any willing homie to carry out orders.
PC or SNY yards, as Quinones alludes to, no longer have the negative connotation they used to. It used to be that solid soldiers, North or South, would rather take their chances getting stabbed up in mainline than being PC'd up with chesters, snitches and queens. That's not the case anymore. And you can't blame them. If the very people you grew up with and shed blood for can't be trusted not to turn on you on the say-so of some paranoid carnal in the SHU, then hey, PC sounds like the deal of a lifetime. Better to be a live dropout than bleeding out in a shower or choked out in your cell and not even knowing why the hell you just got hit.
Your thoughts?
In today's issue of the LA TIMES (9/16) Sam Quinones writes about SNYs, internal Eme/NF politics and what could be the beginning of a new paradigm behind the walls. He touches on so many aspects of this situation that the article could be used as a jumping off platform for a month-long discussion.
The main point of the piece is that Eme/NF internal politics are creating dropouts at historic rates. It's a situation where the prison gangs are basically eating their own.
Let's look at this. There are a number of reasons why carnals and associates drop out. One is they're looking at some long time and decide to catch a break by debriefing and going into PC. The other is that they've broken some reglas and been put in the hat. The last one is the one that should have the big homies rethinking their stand about politics, personal feuds and staking a bigger claim to a pie that seems to be shrinking.
I'm a big believer in studying history. When you know what happened in the past, you might get a clue to what might happen in the future. When Chuco Castro debriefed back in the early nineties, one of the several reasons he gave was that he realized he's taken out more than a few brothers and associates that hadn't done anything wrong. But he went ahead and took care of business anyway because those were the rules. Somebody shows up on a lista and the rules say you got to do what you got to do. Chuco realized that even straight up soldiers who dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's, kicked up, played fair and followed the rules were getting put in ditches because somebody, somewhere, for some unknown reason decided they belonged there.
Chuco came to the realization that if he stayed in the mix long enough, even he could end up on somebody's list for reasons he couldn't even guess at. This is nothing new. But way back then, it was rare that somebody of his stature had to watch his back from the very people that claimed to be his closest allies.
What seems to be happening now is an acceleration of that reality among more and more soldiers. I mentioned a few posts back about the change in the power structure in County. That situation is a straight up power struggle. A "mine's bigger that yours" macho, power move that's only going to create more fault lines and fractures inside the organization. Going back to history, it's a replay on a smaller scale to the insane, self-destructive moves that Nicky Scarfo played in North Jersey. He whacked anybody and everybody, even his own blood family members in an out-of-control demonstration of raw power. The business and the personal got so mixed up in his head that the whole organization imploded from the inside. All the Feds did was find somebody in the mix afraid enough of nutcase Scarfo to tip the scales a little bit. We're seeing a lot of that right now in the Sureno Nation.
What the growth in PC yards is doing is taking away the brothers' power to project their influence beyond the SHUs. They've traditionally had the power because they had access to main yards. As more PC yards coming on line, the power to call shots dimishes. If you play that paradigm out to its logical conclusion, you'll be left with a handful of shot callers thrashing around in their SHUs, isolated from the rest of the inmate population and desperately looking for any willing homie to carry out orders.
PC or SNY yards, as Quinones alludes to, no longer have the negative connotation they used to. It used to be that solid soldiers, North or South, would rather take their chances getting stabbed up in mainline than being PC'd up with chesters, snitches and queens. That's not the case anymore. And you can't blame them. If the very people you grew up with and shed blood for can't be trusted not to turn on you on the say-so of some paranoid carnal in the SHU, then hey, PC sounds like the deal of a lifetime. Better to be a live dropout than bleeding out in a shower or choked out in your cell and not even knowing why the hell you just got hit.
Your thoughts?
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Levar Haney Washington and Gregory Vernon Patterson, the two converts to Islam accused of plotting to set off attacks against military and Jewish targets in LA, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Santa Ana Federal court. An old name popped up in connection to Washington. His lawyer is none other than Ellen Barry. For those of you with a long memory and a mind hungry for details, you'll remember Barry as the lawyer that represented Alex "Pee Wee" Aguirre in the first of the three RICO cases back in 1996. Pee Wee, an Avenues shot caller and alleged carnal, was eventually convicted and sentenced to life. He's doing his time in Marion.
During that trial, Barry's contention that all those meetings in hotels videotaped by the LA Task Force were nothing more than paroled convicts getting together to form a support group to help them adjust to life on the outside. Some of the people taped in those meetings include Huero Shy, Randy Cowboy, informant Chuco Castro and Pee Wee. Clearly, her argument didn't convince the jury.
Alex's little brother Richie was recently mentioned in a recent LA WEEKLY article. Story poacher Christine Pelisek wrote about his murder trial but didn't stick around long enough to cover the finale. Richie and co-defendant Scott Gleason were convicted of three homicides. An appeal is likely.
Levar Haney Washington and Gregory Vernon Patterson, the two converts to Islam accused of plotting to set off attacks against military and Jewish targets in LA, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Santa Ana Federal court. An old name popped up in connection to Washington. His lawyer is none other than Ellen Barry. For those of you with a long memory and a mind hungry for details, you'll remember Barry as the lawyer that represented Alex "Pee Wee" Aguirre in the first of the three RICO cases back in 1996. Pee Wee, an Avenues shot caller and alleged carnal, was eventually convicted and sentenced to life. He's doing his time in Marion.
During that trial, Barry's contention that all those meetings in hotels videotaped by the LA Task Force were nothing more than paroled convicts getting together to form a support group to help them adjust to life on the outside. Some of the people taped in those meetings include Huero Shy, Randy Cowboy, informant Chuco Castro and Pee Wee. Clearly, her argument didn't convince the jury.
Alex's little brother Richie was recently mentioned in a recent LA WEEKLY article. Story poacher Christine Pelisek wrote about his murder trial but didn't stick around long enough to cover the finale. Richie and co-defendant Scott Gleason were convicted of three homicides. An appeal is likely.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
MONGOLS PAY TRIBUTE?
I've been sitting on this one for a while because I couldn't verify it. But now it seems every neighborhood I've talked to seems to know about it. It's become common knowledge on the street and there's tacit verification from at least two LE sources. I'll refrain from using names but it seems that at least one brother has made a deal to lift the verde off the Mongols in exchange for a sum of money. The amount I've heard repeatedly is $30,000. Apparently, in exchange for the money, this brother is promising to not tax the Mongols in the future. It's supposed to be a one time deal to bury the hatchet.
But apparently, it's not that simple. There's another brother out there who isn't happy about this. Either because he's not seeing his share of the loot or there's some personal beef in the background that he feels hasn't been settled yet. This brother is also of the opinion that the green should only be lifted if the bikers agree to be taxed on an ongoing basis. Politics, politics.
Okay, so don't shoot the messenger. I'm just telling you what people in the neighborhoods are talking about. The story's out there and I'm just putting it on the air for comment. Don't bother flaming this blog with who has the bigger set of cojones and how down either side is for their clicka. Nobody with a lick of smarts wants to get on the bad side of either of these two warring groups. It's not about that.
I've been sitting on this one for a while because I couldn't verify it. But now it seems every neighborhood I've talked to seems to know about it. It's become common knowledge on the street and there's tacit verification from at least two LE sources. I'll refrain from using names but it seems that at least one brother has made a deal to lift the verde off the Mongols in exchange for a sum of money. The amount I've heard repeatedly is $30,000. Apparently, in exchange for the money, this brother is promising to not tax the Mongols in the future. It's supposed to be a one time deal to bury the hatchet.
But apparently, it's not that simple. There's another brother out there who isn't happy about this. Either because he's not seeing his share of the loot or there's some personal beef in the background that he feels hasn't been settled yet. This brother is also of the opinion that the green should only be lifted if the bikers agree to be taxed on an ongoing basis. Politics, politics.
Okay, so don't shoot the messenger. I'm just telling you what people in the neighborhoods are talking about. The story's out there and I'm just putting it on the air for comment. Don't bother flaming this blog with who has the bigger set of cojones and how down either side is for their clicka. Nobody with a lick of smarts wants to get on the bad side of either of these two warring groups. It's not about that.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
PHONY FLYER OR THE REAL THING?
This flyer has been circulating in neighborhoods. Nobody's sure if it's for real, a fake, COINTELPRO or what. I've seen this on a number of web sites but I think it originated with Eric Leonard, the KFI crime guy. The number on the flyer is registered to a NOI mosque in LA and has apparently been disconnected.
Let's hope this is a big, fat fake. If not, we're in some problems in our fair city.
On another note, we're not going anywhere this weekend for a number of reasons. One, we're way too busy writing. The other is we hate crowds. And the third is we're doing our little bit to save gas. The best way to bring prices down is to create a gas surplus. And the way to do that is to just keep driving down to the essential minimum.
And hey, it didn't take me three weeks to post another item. I ain't lazy. Just effing busy. Have a great weekend. More to come tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
POWER PLAY IN COUNTY
It's nice to see the blog carrying on without much input from me. Reading the debates and discussions in the comments section is like hanging out on the street and listening to the OGs talking. No anger or harsh words. Just strong opinion backed up by experience and tempered by time.
I like the idea expressed by a commenter that this place is like buffet. You don't have to like everything on the table. But there's a lot to choose from. And you'll never go away hungry.
Here's something to munch on. I won't mention names, but some of you are plugged in enough to figure it out. It seems that the balance of power in LA County jail is being upset by a recent arrival -- a shot caller from San Fer. The guy has been kicking up dust, rearranging collection conduits and has put at least one guy we know for sure in the hat over a nothing deal. Prior to his arrival, the center of gravity was located around a couple of EasLos and Northeast brothers who seemed to run County along traditional lines -- low profile, smooth and professional. The money flowed up without too many beefs and the only people who had to watch their backs were the Mayates and tax resistors. This new arrival seems to be brooming the established order, disrespecting some solid camaradas and just throwing muscle around not because he has to but because he can. There's a rumor that a senior resident from the BAY was even sent to County on a bogus subpoena just to check this guy's play. Can't verify that one but it's out there being discussed.
All of this leads me to ponder a notion that was brought up by TJ Jailer in one of his recent comments and then remarked upon by other readers -- the notion that the brotherhood's internal politics will keep it from ever growing into the sort of organization on a par with the LCN, at one time the gold standard of criminal enterprises. There's no denying that the LCN had a great run for a long time and they made a lot of money and achieved a tremendous amount of legitimate and quasi-legitimate power and all of it without putting too many bodies in ditches.
To date, the brothers don't seem able to pull off anything remotely similar to the LCN template. A large part of that, I suspect, has to do with the inability to shake off the street gang mentality and replace it with something more structured. Basically it means that people who don't like being told what to do have to start learning to do what they're told. Which is a big obstacle for people who are essentially anti-authoritarian. To implement that sort of change will probably require a charismatic visionary. A gangster version of Mao, Che or Fidel. Okay, I'll concede that Mao, Che and Fidel are (were) gangsters but you can't deny that they got a lot of people to pull the cart in the same direction. Even if that direction was over a cliff.
The potential is there. There's a huge street organization already in place. What's lacking to push the entire enterprise to the next level is a leadership that's less concerned with back stabbing and politics and more focused on a bigger picture.
It's nice to see the blog carrying on without much input from me. Reading the debates and discussions in the comments section is like hanging out on the street and listening to the OGs talking. No anger or harsh words. Just strong opinion backed up by experience and tempered by time.
I like the idea expressed by a commenter that this place is like buffet. You don't have to like everything on the table. But there's a lot to choose from. And you'll never go away hungry.
Here's something to munch on. I won't mention names, but some of you are plugged in enough to figure it out. It seems that the balance of power in LA County jail is being upset by a recent arrival -- a shot caller from San Fer. The guy has been kicking up dust, rearranging collection conduits and has put at least one guy we know for sure in the hat over a nothing deal. Prior to his arrival, the center of gravity was located around a couple of EasLos and Northeast brothers who seemed to run County along traditional lines -- low profile, smooth and professional. The money flowed up without too many beefs and the only people who had to watch their backs were the Mayates and tax resistors. This new arrival seems to be brooming the established order, disrespecting some solid camaradas and just throwing muscle around not because he has to but because he can. There's a rumor that a senior resident from the BAY was even sent to County on a bogus subpoena just to check this guy's play. Can't verify that one but it's out there being discussed.
All of this leads me to ponder a notion that was brought up by TJ Jailer in one of his recent comments and then remarked upon by other readers -- the notion that the brotherhood's internal politics will keep it from ever growing into the sort of organization on a par with the LCN, at one time the gold standard of criminal enterprises. There's no denying that the LCN had a great run for a long time and they made a lot of money and achieved a tremendous amount of legitimate and quasi-legitimate power and all of it without putting too many bodies in ditches.
To date, the brothers don't seem able to pull off anything remotely similar to the LCN template. A large part of that, I suspect, has to do with the inability to shake off the street gang mentality and replace it with something more structured. Basically it means that people who don't like being told what to do have to start learning to do what they're told. Which is a big obstacle for people who are essentially anti-authoritarian. To implement that sort of change will probably require a charismatic visionary. A gangster version of Mao, Che or Fidel. Okay, I'll concede that Mao, Che and Fidel are (were) gangsters but you can't deny that they got a lot of people to pull the cart in the same direction. Even if that direction was over a cliff.
The potential is there. There's a huge street organization already in place. What's lacking to push the entire enterprise to the next level is a leadership that's less concerned with back stabbing and politics and more focused on a bigger picture.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
CIs, INTEL AND THE CONSENT DECREE
Today's LA TIMES ran a story about a policy change regarding use of informants by LAPD uniformed cops. The story is a little cloudy on the facts. Apparently the LAPD asked the federal monitor Michael Cherkasky for permission to let uniformed gang cops develop informants. The DOJ, Cherkasky and US District Court Judge Gary Feess gave the LAPD permission to do so.
What's not mentioned in the article is whether this permission slip will allow uniformed gang cops to pay CIs for information. The truth is, with or without permision from authorities, uniformed gang cops have never stopped using street informants. It's part of what they do as gang cops. Developing gang intelligence would be next to impossible without informants.
It's no big secret that within hours after a gang-related shooting or a homicide, gang cops usually get strong leads on the shooter(s) and the motive from contact with informants. The key to a filing is whether informants have first-hand knowledge of the incident or whether it's hearsay and thus inadmissible in court. The other obstacle is whether the informant is willing to come forward and testify in court in a case where he or she has first-hand knowledge of the crime.
The LAT article mentions that the ACLU has concerns about this "new" CI policy. The fear is that street informants or cops could put a case on a innocent party out of personal retribution or internal gang squabble. This is a genuine concern. I just witnessed a case where a CI made up a story out of whole cloth and basically framed a defendant in a murder case. It turns out the defendant was guilty anyway and eventually copped a plea in exchange for a reduced sentence. But the fact remains that the CI was lying and will probably be charged with perjury. So the danger is there. You can see where the possibility exists of an innocent guy being set up and framed not necessarily by police, but by his own crimies.
We know how slick some players can get. It's not out of the realm of possibility that three of four criminals conspire to kill somebody, agree to finger some guy they want out of the picture to clean up their books and conspire to put the case on him.
The use of CIs can cut both ways. It can make huge cases like the Aguirre and Detevis federal RICO cases but it can also take cases completely off the rails and make LE look like fools and maybe send innocent defendants to jail. Street cops may not like it, but the solution is to impose rigid guidelines, provide close supervision and evaluate the validity of information at every step of the process right up to a DA's filing. We've seen first-hand how the best intentioned investigations conducted by straight-arrow, ethical cops can go completely sideways based on believable but ultimately bad information. It's rare, or course, but all it takes is one bad case to put the entire issue back on shelf and remove a potentially valuable tool of law enforcement. The Perez case was a once in a lifetime incident and look what it do to the city. We're still paying for it.
Today's LA TIMES ran a story about a policy change regarding use of informants by LAPD uniformed cops. The story is a little cloudy on the facts. Apparently the LAPD asked the federal monitor Michael Cherkasky for permission to let uniformed gang cops develop informants. The DOJ, Cherkasky and US District Court Judge Gary Feess gave the LAPD permission to do so.
What's not mentioned in the article is whether this permission slip will allow uniformed gang cops to pay CIs for information. The truth is, with or without permision from authorities, uniformed gang cops have never stopped using street informants. It's part of what they do as gang cops. Developing gang intelligence would be next to impossible without informants.
It's no big secret that within hours after a gang-related shooting or a homicide, gang cops usually get strong leads on the shooter(s) and the motive from contact with informants. The key to a filing is whether informants have first-hand knowledge of the incident or whether it's hearsay and thus inadmissible in court. The other obstacle is whether the informant is willing to come forward and testify in court in a case where he or she has first-hand knowledge of the crime.
The LAT article mentions that the ACLU has concerns about this "new" CI policy. The fear is that street informants or cops could put a case on a innocent party out of personal retribution or internal gang squabble. This is a genuine concern. I just witnessed a case where a CI made up a story out of whole cloth and basically framed a defendant in a murder case. It turns out the defendant was guilty anyway and eventually copped a plea in exchange for a reduced sentence. But the fact remains that the CI was lying and will probably be charged with perjury. So the danger is there. You can see where the possibility exists of an innocent guy being set up and framed not necessarily by police, but by his own crimies.
We know how slick some players can get. It's not out of the realm of possibility that three of four criminals conspire to kill somebody, agree to finger some guy they want out of the picture to clean up their books and conspire to put the case on him.
The use of CIs can cut both ways. It can make huge cases like the Aguirre and Detevis federal RICO cases but it can also take cases completely off the rails and make LE look like fools and maybe send innocent defendants to jail. Street cops may not like it, but the solution is to impose rigid guidelines, provide close supervision and evaluate the validity of information at every step of the process right up to a DA's filing. We've seen first-hand how the best intentioned investigations conducted by straight-arrow, ethical cops can go completely sideways based on believable but ultimately bad information. It's rare, or course, but all it takes is one bad case to put the entire issue back on shelf and remove a potentially valuable tool of law enforcement. The Perez case was a once in a lifetime incident and look what it do to the city. We're still paying for it.
Friday, August 05, 2005
INSANITY AT THE BORDER
While I was away, a regular reader sent me an item from the July 28 issue of the Tucson Citizen. According to the article, Police Commander Jesus Zamora of San Luis Colorado, a Mexican town just across the border from San Luis, Arizona, will "work with a local gang" in exchange for an "end to what they [the gang] say is police harassment." There are so many things wrong with this that it's tough to know where to start.
According to the Arizona cops, the gang (which goes un-named in the article) is responsible for smuggling drugs and illegal border crossers and committing at least two homicides. Police Commander Zamora's deal is nothing more than a declaration of unconditional surrender. Coming on the heels of the chaos in Nuevo Laredo, this item rates as small potatoes. But it underscores Mexico's freefall into anarchy. Last week the NY TIMES ran a very long and well-researched story on corruption south of the border that claimed the heart of the rot starts right in Vicente Fox's office. It's no surprise then that Commander Zamora, manning a lawless border outpost threw up his hands and basically said, "Whatever."
The concept of coming to some kind of detente between a criminal organization and legitimate authority is a seductive one that pops up regularly and flames out in a death spiral every time it's been tried. It doesn't work. It has never worked. It will never work. We need only to look at the track record of these misguided attempts.
Let's start with the LCN during WWII. After the NORMANDIE was torched in NEW YORK harbor, the US NAVY and the FBI made a deal with mob boss LUCKY LUCIANO. Because the Cosa Nostra controlled the docks, Lucky would make sure the troop ships and cargo heading for Europe would get loaded on time and only a tolerable level of theft would be allowed to happen. In exchange, Lucky would be released from prison at the end of the war and deported to Sicily. Bad deal.
The LCN didn't suddenly become Mother Teresa. The deal gave the LCN total control of the docks and the longshoreman's union and made a lot of wise guys wealthy beyond their dreams. The deal legitimized the LCN in the eyes of a lot of people who should have known better.
With Lucky free to operate in Sicily, he traveled to Cuba with Meyer Lansky and established cordial relations with corrupt president Fulgencio Bautista. The math is simple. LCN + corrupt Bautista = Fidel Castro. Gee, all the government wanted was to make sure the beans and bullets got to the Western front. What we got was the Russian missile crisis and 50 years of the lights going off every night at 8:00 PM in Cuba. Plus the gulags for AIDS patients and firing squads for "counter-revolutionaries."
In post-war Sicily, Mafiosi no longer worked in the shadows as they had to when Mussolini was in power. They ran for office and became mayors, governors and national representatives. LCN controlled everything, legitimate and otherwise.
Fast forward to the Neopolitan Camora in the 1970s. The big money-maker for the Camora wasn't dope. It was cigarettes. In Italy, cigarettes are a state-owned monopoly. That means the government imports and produces all the smokes. There are no private sector cigarette companies. Which means no competition and therefore, the government sets the price.
At a time when smokes sold for 40 cents a pack in the US, Italian smokers paid over a dollar for the same pack with the government tax stamp on the bottom. The Camora saw this as a golden business opportunity. They bought up entire cargo ships of US smokes and parked them 20 miles off the coast of Naples. Every afternoon at 3:00 PM, squadrons of 35-ft power boats would depart from Naples harbor and lash up next to the mother ship to load up on roughly a ton of smokes per trip.
The boats would offload at a thousand little places on the coast. The smokes were ultimately sold on street corners by little old ladies and young kids. The illegal trade cost the government millions of dollars a year in tax revenue. The Finanza (Italian customs dept.) started cracking down on the fast boats. When the Camora felt the heat, they started killing cops and launched a wave of armed robberies, hijackings, assaults and tourist attacks.
To make a very long story short, the Camora made a deal with the cops. Let us run the cigarette business unmolested and we'll stop killing cops, robbing tourists and hijacking cargo trucks. The cops said okay.
When the Corsicans, French and Sicilians found out that the Camora was running in and out of Naples without so much as a raised eyebrow, they started piggybacking heroin, hashish and weed on the cigarette shipments. Naples became a main port of entry for every illegal substance known to dope fiend. The expected spike in murder, overdoses and fat dirty bank accounts ensued. Bad deal.
In the US, we have the examples of the Gangster Disciples. That social experiment, funded with taxpayer dollars, let the Detroit gangs "police" themselves. The end result was a trip to Lybia, a pact with Qadaffi, a rocket launcher, El Rukn assassination squads, more dope on the streets and more dead bodies in alleys. Bad deal.
To a lesser extent, we had the same situation with Project Get Going here in LA. A lot of you old timers remember that one and I'll leave you all to flesh out the details in the comments section.
The historical precedents to what Commander Zamora is doing in San Luis Colorado are clear. You don't legitimize criminal orgs by making deals with them. It's bad policy that will always burn society. Deals with individuals is another story that can bear untainted fruit. But that's a whole other discussion.
While I was away, a regular reader sent me an item from the July 28 issue of the Tucson Citizen. According to the article, Police Commander Jesus Zamora of San Luis Colorado, a Mexican town just across the border from San Luis, Arizona, will "work with a local gang" in exchange for an "end to what they [the gang] say is police harassment." There are so many things wrong with this that it's tough to know where to start.
According to the Arizona cops, the gang (which goes un-named in the article) is responsible for smuggling drugs and illegal border crossers and committing at least two homicides. Police Commander Zamora's deal is nothing more than a declaration of unconditional surrender. Coming on the heels of the chaos in Nuevo Laredo, this item rates as small potatoes. But it underscores Mexico's freefall into anarchy. Last week the NY TIMES ran a very long and well-researched story on corruption south of the border that claimed the heart of the rot starts right in Vicente Fox's office. It's no surprise then that Commander Zamora, manning a lawless border outpost threw up his hands and basically said, "Whatever."
The concept of coming to some kind of detente between a criminal organization and legitimate authority is a seductive one that pops up regularly and flames out in a death spiral every time it's been tried. It doesn't work. It has never worked. It will never work. We need only to look at the track record of these misguided attempts.
Let's start with the LCN during WWII. After the NORMANDIE was torched in NEW YORK harbor, the US NAVY and the FBI made a deal with mob boss LUCKY LUCIANO. Because the Cosa Nostra controlled the docks, Lucky would make sure the troop ships and cargo heading for Europe would get loaded on time and only a tolerable level of theft would be allowed to happen. In exchange, Lucky would be released from prison at the end of the war and deported to Sicily. Bad deal.
The LCN didn't suddenly become Mother Teresa. The deal gave the LCN total control of the docks and the longshoreman's union and made a lot of wise guys wealthy beyond their dreams. The deal legitimized the LCN in the eyes of a lot of people who should have known better.
With Lucky free to operate in Sicily, he traveled to Cuba with Meyer Lansky and established cordial relations with corrupt president Fulgencio Bautista. The math is simple. LCN + corrupt Bautista = Fidel Castro. Gee, all the government wanted was to make sure the beans and bullets got to the Western front. What we got was the Russian missile crisis and 50 years of the lights going off every night at 8:00 PM in Cuba. Plus the gulags for AIDS patients and firing squads for "counter-revolutionaries."
In post-war Sicily, Mafiosi no longer worked in the shadows as they had to when Mussolini was in power. They ran for office and became mayors, governors and national representatives. LCN controlled everything, legitimate and otherwise.
Fast forward to the Neopolitan Camora in the 1970s. The big money-maker for the Camora wasn't dope. It was cigarettes. In Italy, cigarettes are a state-owned monopoly. That means the government imports and produces all the smokes. There are no private sector cigarette companies. Which means no competition and therefore, the government sets the price.
At a time when smokes sold for 40 cents a pack in the US, Italian smokers paid over a dollar for the same pack with the government tax stamp on the bottom. The Camora saw this as a golden business opportunity. They bought up entire cargo ships of US smokes and parked them 20 miles off the coast of Naples. Every afternoon at 3:00 PM, squadrons of 35-ft power boats would depart from Naples harbor and lash up next to the mother ship to load up on roughly a ton of smokes per trip.
The boats would offload at a thousand little places on the coast. The smokes were ultimately sold on street corners by little old ladies and young kids. The illegal trade cost the government millions of dollars a year in tax revenue. The Finanza (Italian customs dept.) started cracking down on the fast boats. When the Camora felt the heat, they started killing cops and launched a wave of armed robberies, hijackings, assaults and tourist attacks.
To make a very long story short, the Camora made a deal with the cops. Let us run the cigarette business unmolested and we'll stop killing cops, robbing tourists and hijacking cargo trucks. The cops said okay.
When the Corsicans, French and Sicilians found out that the Camora was running in and out of Naples without so much as a raised eyebrow, they started piggybacking heroin, hashish and weed on the cigarette shipments. Naples became a main port of entry for every illegal substance known to dope fiend. The expected spike in murder, overdoses and fat dirty bank accounts ensued. Bad deal.
In the US, we have the examples of the Gangster Disciples. That social experiment, funded with taxpayer dollars, let the Detroit gangs "police" themselves. The end result was a trip to Lybia, a pact with Qadaffi, a rocket launcher, El Rukn assassination squads, more dope on the streets and more dead bodies in alleys. Bad deal.
To a lesser extent, we had the same situation with Project Get Going here in LA. A lot of you old timers remember that one and I'll leave you all to flesh out the details in the comments section.
The historical precedents to what Commander Zamora is doing in San Luis Colorado are clear. You don't legitimize criminal orgs by making deals with them. It's bad policy that will always burn society. Deals with individuals is another story that can bear untainted fruit. But that's a whole other discussion.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
BACK FROM VACATION
Before I left for the ultra-montane serenity of the Grand Tetons, I was thinking of asking a guest blogger to carry on. When I got back, I realized you all kept the chatter going at a high pitch. Awesome! I didn't realize so many wise-guys checked in. I got huge laughs from the sniping and I didn't even mind the un-PC jokes. But then again, I've got a thick skin. I did a quick tabulation and it seems like every ethnic and racial group got its turn in the barrel. So I guess that makes it fair.
For those who wondered where I went, the answer is Wyoming. We kayaked, hiked, camped out, got rained on, sunburned, hailed on in Yellowstone, bitten by a zillion bugs, went into lakes cold enough to stop your heart, drifted down the Snake River, and had close encounters with moose, elk, marmots, bison, bald eagles, otters, ospreys, grouse and hawks. And no, we didn't witness or hear about any float-bys.
The biggest crime story in the papers the week we were there involved a streaker at the Jackson Hole demolition derby. Like Mutton Bustin' and greased pig wrestling, streaking the demo derby is some kind of annual tradition. Hey, it's Wyoming. And July is the only month when they don't get snow. This year, there was "huge" controversy when one of the streakers grabbed a fire extinguisher off the firetruck that was hosing down the dirt between demo heats. A Teton County deputy sheriff and a security guard tried to wrangle the naked guy. When it looked like nude boy was getting ready to spray the cop, the copper tased him with 50,000 volts. The crowd went nuts, booed the cop and threw beer cups and trash into the arena.
The streaker was arrested and released and could face a $750 fine for indecent exposure. A lawyer in the crowd volunteered to defend the guy for free. Chances are, that'll be the biggest crime story of the year. Nothing much happens in Wyoming compared to LA. The entire state has less than 500,000 residents. And at last count, there were 1,500 inmates behind bars in the entire prison system, and that includes juvi, half way houses, honor ranches etc. Barely enough to qualify as a decent sized single neighborhood in LA.
Vice President Dick Cheney flew into town the day after we landed. He's a resident and avid fly fisherman. A fishing guide told me that local anglers get bent out of shape when the Veep goes fishing. When he's on the river, Blackhawk choppers do security sweeps and that scares the crap out of the trout, ruining everybody's fishing.
With so much land and so few people, you'd think real estate would be a buyer's market. Think again. Raw land in "desirable" locations can go for a million per acre. A modest house in downtown Jackson will run you half a million to $600,000. Right on the corner of Cache and Broadway in Jackson, Sotheby's has a real estate office where you can look at ranch property on the Snake River that goes from 5 to 10 million dollars. Kinda makes Highland Park look like a bargain.
Gotta go. There's 143 emails I need to read and a pile of mail that needs sorting.
Before I left for the ultra-montane serenity of the Grand Tetons, I was thinking of asking a guest blogger to carry on. When I got back, I realized you all kept the chatter going at a high pitch. Awesome! I didn't realize so many wise-guys checked in. I got huge laughs from the sniping and I didn't even mind the un-PC jokes. But then again, I've got a thick skin. I did a quick tabulation and it seems like every ethnic and racial group got its turn in the barrel. So I guess that makes it fair.
For those who wondered where I went, the answer is Wyoming. We kayaked, hiked, camped out, got rained on, sunburned, hailed on in Yellowstone, bitten by a zillion bugs, went into lakes cold enough to stop your heart, drifted down the Snake River, and had close encounters with moose, elk, marmots, bison, bald eagles, otters, ospreys, grouse and hawks. And no, we didn't witness or hear about any float-bys.
The biggest crime story in the papers the week we were there involved a streaker at the Jackson Hole demolition derby. Like Mutton Bustin' and greased pig wrestling, streaking the demo derby is some kind of annual tradition. Hey, it's Wyoming. And July is the only month when they don't get snow. This year, there was "huge" controversy when one of the streakers grabbed a fire extinguisher off the firetruck that was hosing down the dirt between demo heats. A Teton County deputy sheriff and a security guard tried to wrangle the naked guy. When it looked like nude boy was getting ready to spray the cop, the copper tased him with 50,000 volts. The crowd went nuts, booed the cop and threw beer cups and trash into the arena.
The streaker was arrested and released and could face a $750 fine for indecent exposure. A lawyer in the crowd volunteered to defend the guy for free. Chances are, that'll be the biggest crime story of the year. Nothing much happens in Wyoming compared to LA. The entire state has less than 500,000 residents. And at last count, there were 1,500 inmates behind bars in the entire prison system, and that includes juvi, half way houses, honor ranches etc. Barely enough to qualify as a decent sized single neighborhood in LA.
Vice President Dick Cheney flew into town the day after we landed. He's a resident and avid fly fisherman. A fishing guide told me that local anglers get bent out of shape when the Veep goes fishing. When he's on the river, Blackhawk choppers do security sweeps and that scares the crap out of the trout, ruining everybody's fishing.
With so much land and so few people, you'd think real estate would be a buyer's market. Think again. Raw land in "desirable" locations can go for a million per acre. A modest house in downtown Jackson will run you half a million to $600,000. Right on the corner of Cache and Broadway in Jackson, Sotheby's has a real estate office where you can look at ranch property on the Snake River that goes from 5 to 10 million dollars. Kinda makes Highland Park look like a bargain.
Gotta go. There's 143 emails I need to read and a pile of mail that needs sorting.
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