latimes--2020-07-17--Coronavirus now spreading faster in suburbs like Orange County than in L.A. County

In the first months of the pandemic , Orange County leaders looked at the frightening coronavirus outbreaks and rising death toll to the north in Los Angeles County and felt their communities were doing pretty well in comparison .
“ Orange County has the lowest rate of confirmed cases in comparison to our neighboring counties , ” Michelle Steel , chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors , said on May 21 , just two days before the county was cleared by the state to reopen restaurants for indoor dining .
“ Orange County is in good condition.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conditions have changed dramatically .
Over the last week , Orange County as well as two other suburban counties to the east of L.A. — Riverside and San Bernardino — are reporting worse coronavirus case rates per capita than L.A. County , according to a Times analysis .
The shift is all the more dramatic because Los Angeles County — long the epicenter of the coronavirus in California — continues to see huge spikes in cases .
On Thursday , it reported more than 4,000 new cases , shattering a one-day record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been particularly painful for suburban counties that were eager to reopen their economies after months of stay-at-home orders and where political battles raged about whether the government should require residents to wear masks in public settings .
The three counties opened many businesses a week before Los Angeles County .
And along with the decisions by all three counties to rescind local mask-wearing orders , some experts said that sent an unintended message to some residents that they could go back to old routines .
“ What it does do is send @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : ‘ Hey , maybe things are getting better .
Maybe I don ’ t have to worry anymore , or ...
I don ’ t have to be as judicious with my activity and social distancing and masking and hygiene , ’ ” said Dr. Shruti Gohil , associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine and a professor of infectious diseases .
On July 1 , Orange County had the lowest coronavirus case rate of the four counties , reporting 165 new cases over the preceding seven days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported 222 ; Riverside County , 256 ; and L.A. County , 281 .
But by Wednesday , the trio of suburban counties now fared worse : San Bernardino County has 408 new cases over the preceding seven days per 100,000 residents ; Orange , 399 ; Riverside , 391 ; and Los Angeles , 372 .
The community spread has brought other grim consequences .
Orange and Riverside counties have seen the numbers of its hospitalized patients with confirmed coronavirus infection nearly triple in the last two months ; in San Bernardino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quadrupled .
By contrast , counties that kept local mask-wearing orders without interruption reported a smaller increase in hospitalizations .
In L.A. County , hospitalizations have increased by 29 % ; in San Diego County , by 23 % .
Health experts are particularly concerned about the backlash about wearing masks , which has been especially pronounced in Orange County , where educators proposed a plan to reopen schools without masks or social distancing .
In Huntington Beach on Thursday , as the sun burned down on the shoreline , almost no one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Neither were the people walking on the streets outside the restaurants , which were open only for outside dining .
The beach was full of towels and people , and the ocean was dotted with surfers and swimmers .
Robert Hurtado , 58 , sprawled out on the steps by the city ’ s pier .
He had nothing better to do , he said , because everything was closed and he couldn ’ t find work during the pandemic — a pandemic he doesn ’ t really believe in .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of these cases are people eating bad seafood and drinking contaminated water , ” said the maskless Hurtado , an Orange resident .
He did , however , say he believed the virus was bad in “ Third World countries .
We ’ re not able to do nothing… I can ’ t even go the the gymnasium , can ’ t go to the movie theaters , can ’ t go to the restaurants — they ’ re playing games.
” Up the road , Lisa Campbell , a 27-year-old Huntington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restaurant , to-go bag in hand .
“ I think it ’ s all bull— , ” Campbell said .
In her opinion , the numbers look bad because “ everyone is getting tested for coronavirus ” and “ they ’ re giving a lot of false positives.
” She wasn ’ t wearing a face covering .
“ Wearing a mask is kind of outrageous to me .
Think about all of the other illnesses , ” Campbell said .
She worried that her daughter , who will be heading to kindergarten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wear a face covering to class .
“ I ’ d hate to send my child to school with a mask on her face , and when she ’ s 18 she ’ s afraid of society ’ cause she has to wear a mask all the time , ” Campbell said .
In fact , the coronavirus pandemic is the world ’ s worst public health crisis in more than a century , and the mainstream medical establishment is virtually unanimous in now saying that masks are essential to controlling the spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The fact that hospitalizations are surging is proof that coronavirus disease transmission is worsening , experts say .
“ The data is clearly there : that masking works , ” Dr. Robert Redfield , the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , said in a webcast with the Journal of the American Medical Assn .
on Tuesday .
“ If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now , I really do think that in the next four , six , eight weeks , we could bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resistance remains strong .
Orange County ’ s former health officer , who issued a mandatory mask order , resigned after receiving a death threat ; it was her replacement who rescinded the order .
The rescission was reversed a week later by Gov .
Gavin Newsom , who on June 18 issued a statewide mandatory mask order .
In recent weeks , some Orange County elected officials , including Steel , have urged residents to wear masks in public settings , and some people are heeding the advice .
In the face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitalizations statewide , Newsom two weeks ago ordered bars and indoor restaurant dining in most of the state to be shut .
This week , he ordered the rest of the state to also close bars and indoor dining rooms .
And in the hardest-hit counties that are home to more than 88 % of the state ’ s population , he also ordered the shutdown of businesses such as gyms , malls , nail salons and hair salons .
“ With Orange , it ’ s all about defiance ... defiance about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chin-Hong , a professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco .
“ When you look at places that enforce masks , in general , by state , they tend to do better.
” A recent study found that mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate , and such mandates may have averted up to 450,000 deaths .
The Orange County executive officer , Frank Kim , said Thursday that he did not think Orange County ’ s case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighbors .
“ Obviously , there are some days where one county is higher than another , but I did not see us as an outlier within the large urban counties in Southern California , ” Kim said .
A spokeswoman for Riverside County , Brooke Federico , said Thursday that officials believe the increase in cases dates to Memorial Day , with the main drivers being increased social gatherings and residents moving about in the community , attending protests and visiting businesses .
“ Now is not the time to go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their household , ” Federico said .
Federico wrote that the rescission of the mask order in early May in Riverside County “ was to be in alignment with the state.
” At that time , counties were given the authority to decide on their own whether to institute a mandatory mask order .
“ The county has always maintained that wearing face coverings is important to slowing the spread of the disease , ” Federico said .
Corwin Porter , interim public health director for San Bernardino County , said he believes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of “ an increase in private gatherings brought on by recent holidays and the onset of summer , the reopening of businesses , protests during June , and less vigilance by individuals and businesses in physical distancing and wearing of face coverings.
” “ We have intensified our efforts to urge safe practices and we believe that will make a difference in the long run , ” Porter wrote in an email .
He said the message he will continue putting out there is for people to not gather ; to practice physical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coverings , which is mandated , to reduce the viral spread .
”

Rong-Gong Lin II, Sean Greene, Jake Sheridan, Luke Money

In the first months of the pandemic, Orange County leaders looked at the frightening coronavirus outbreaks and rising death toll to the north in Los Angeles County and felt their communities were doing pretty well in comparison.
“Orange County has the lowest rate of confirmed cases in comparison to our neighboring counties,” Michelle Steel, chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said on May 21, just two days before the county was cleared by the state to reopen restaurants for indoor dining. “Orange County is in good condition.”
For the record: An earlier version of this story said suburban counties surpassed L.A. County in growth of coronavirus cases over the last week. It was actually over the last two weeks.
But less than two months later, the conditions have changed dramatically. Over the last two weeks, Orange County as well as two other suburban counties to the east of L.A. — Riverside and San Bernardino — are reporting worse coronavirus case rates per capita than L.A. County, according to a Times analysis.
The shift is all the more dramatic because Los Angeles County — long the epicenter of the coronavirus in California — continues to see huge spikes in cases. On Thursday, it reported more than 4,000 new cases, shattering a one-day record. But the new surge in COVID-19 has been particularly painful for suburban counties that were eager to reopen their economies after months of stay-at-home orders and where political battles raged about whether the government should require residents to wear masks in public settings.
The three counties opened many businesses a week before Los Angeles County. And along with the decisions by all three counties to rescind local mask-wearing orders, some experts said that sent an unintended message to some residents that they could go back to old routines.
Advertisement
“What it does do is send you a psychological message to the community: ‘Hey, maybe things are getting better. Maybe I don’t have to worry anymore, or ... I don’t have to be as judicious with my activity and social distancing and masking and hygiene,’” said Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine and a professor of infectious diseases.
On July 1, Orange County had the lowest coronavirus case rate of the four counties, reporting 165 new cases over the preceding 14 days per 100,000 residents. San Bernardino County reported 222; Riverside County, 256; and L.A. County, 281. But by Wednesday, the trio of suburban counties now fared worse: San Bernardino County has 408 new cases over the preceding 14 days per 100,000 residents; Orange, 399; Riverside, 391; and Los Angeles, 372.
The community spread has brought other grim consequences. Orange and Riverside counties have seen the numbers of its hospitalized patients with confirmed coronavirus infection nearly triple in the last two months; in San Bernardino County, the number has more than quadrupled.
By contrast, counties that kept local mask-wearing orders without interruption reported a smaller increase in hospitalizations. In L.A. County, hospitalizations have increased by 29%; in San Diego County, by 23%.
Health experts are particularly concerned about the backlash about wearing masks, which has been especially pronounced in Orange County, where educators proposed a plan to reopen schools without masks or social distancing.
Advertisement
In Huntington Beach on Thursday, as the sun burned down on the shoreline, almost no one on the beach was wearing a mask. Neither were the people walking on the streets outside the restaurants, which were open only for outside dining. The beach was full of towels and people, and the ocean was dotted with surfers and swimmers.
Robert Hurtado, 58, sprawled out on the steps by the city’s pier. He had nothing better to do, he said, because everything was closed and he couldn’t find work during the pandemic — a pandemic he doesn’t really believe in.
“It’s a hoax. A lot of these cases are people eating bad seafood and drinking contaminated water,” said the maskless Hurtado, an Orange resident. He did, however, say he believed the virus was bad in “Third World countries. We’re not able to do nothing… I can’t even go the the gymnasium, can’t go to the movie theaters, can’t go to the restaurants — they’re playing games.”
Up the road, Lisa Campbell, a 27-year-old Huntington Beach resident, walked out of a restaurant, to-go bag in hand. “I think it’s all bull—,” Campbell said.
In her opinion, the numbers look bad because “everyone is getting tested for coronavirus” and “they’re giving a lot of false positives.” She wasn’t wearing a face covering. “Wearing a mask is kind of outrageous to me. Think about all of the other illnesses,” Campbell said.
She worried that her daughter, who will be heading to kindergarten in the fall, will have to wear a face covering to class. “I’d hate to send my child to school with a mask on her face, and when she’s 18 she’s afraid of society ’cause she has to wear a mask all the time,” Campbell said.
Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
In fact, the coronavirus pandemic is the world’s worst public health crisis in more than a century, and the mainstream medical establishment is virtually unanimous in now saying that masks are essential to controlling the spread of disease and reopening the economy. The fact that hospitalizations are surging is proof that coronavirus disease transmission is worsening, experts say.
“The data is clearly there: that masking works,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a webcast with the Journal of the American Medical Assn. on Tuesday. “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think that in the next four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control.”
But mask resistance remains strong. Orange County’s former health officer, who issued a mandatory mask order, resigned after receiving a death threat; it was her replacement who rescinded the order. The rescission was reversed a week later by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who on June 18 issued a statewide mandatory mask order.
In recent weeks, some Orange County elected officials, including Steel, have urged residents to wear masks in public settings, and some people are heeding the advice.
In the face of alarming increases in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations statewide, Newsom two weeks ago ordered bars and indoor restaurant dining in most of the state to be shut. This week, he ordered the rest of the state to also close bars and indoor dining rooms. And in the hardest-hit counties that are home to more than 88% of the state’s population, he also ordered the shutdown of businesses such as gyms, malls, nail salons and hair salons.
“With Orange, it’s all about defiance ... defiance about personal protection,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco. “When you look at places that enforce masks, in general, by state, they tend to do better.” A recent study found that mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate, and such mandates may have averted up to 450,000 deaths.
The Orange County executive officer, Frank Kim, said Thursday that he did not think Orange County’s case rate was out of line with its neighbors. “Obviously, there are some days where one county is higher than another, but I did not see us as an outlier within the large urban counties in Southern California,” Kim said.
A spokeswoman for Riverside County, Brooke Federico, said Thursday that officials believe the increase in cases dates to Memorial Day, with the main drivers being increased social gatherings and residents moving about in the community, attending protests and visiting businesses. “Now is not the time to go to parties or visit with people outside of their household,” Federico said.
Federico wrote that the rescission of the mask order in early May in Riverside County “was to be in alignment with the state.” At that time, counties were given the authority to decide on their own whether to institute a mandatory mask order. “The county has always maintained that wearing face coverings is important to slowing the spread of the disease,” Federico said.
Corwin Porter, interim public health director for San Bernardino County, said he believes the county is seeing more cases because of “an increase in private gatherings brought on by recent holidays and the onset of summer, the reopening of businesses, protests during June, and less vigilance by individuals and businesses in physical distancing and wearing of face coverings.”
“We have intensified our efforts to urge safe practices and we believe that will make a difference in the long run,” Porter wrote in an email. He said the message he will continue putting out there is for people to not gather; to practice physical distancing; and to “wear face coverings, which is mandated, to reduce the viral spread.”


latimes--2020-07-17--This CHP officer sought sex from women who needed his help inspecting their cars, records show

Nicole remembers feeling grateful that Officer Morgan McGrew agreed to meet her so early in the morning .
The 7:30 a.m. appointment would let her verify her car ’ s vehicle identification number and still make it to work on time .
But when she met McGrew in the parking lot of the West Valley California Highway Patrol Office in Woodland Hills , the officer said he was having trouble finding the VIN sticker on her car door .
Then the conversation abruptly shifted .
“ ‘ I ’ ll pass this car , and you ’ ll be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go out on a date with me , ’ ” she remembers McGrew saying .
“ I kind of froze , ” she says .
Nicole , who spoke on condition that her full name not be published to respect her privacy , was one of 21 women McGrew propositioned and harassed during VIN verification appointments , according to records from a 2016 internal investigation obtained by KQED and the California Reporting Project .
Four women said McGrew offered to pass their vehicles if they would go on a date or to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McGrew sent them text messages soliciting sex after he took down their phone numbers during a VIN appointment .
Fifteen described McGrew making comments that ranged from proposing sex to asking intrusive personal questions .
McGrew resigned in 2017 when the California Highway Patrol notified him that it planned to fire him for a variety of misconduct , including improperly trying to foster relationships with members of the public , making inappropriate sexual comments and propositioning women for sex while on duty , the documents show .
The records provide details about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that remained secret for decades in California until a landmark transparency law required agencies last year to publicly disclose a variety of documents , including investigations of officers found to have committed sexual assault while on duty .
The Right to Know Act has exposed repeated instances of abuse , ranging from correctional officers in prison and jail who assaulted women under their guard to an officer fired for soliciting sex from an arrestee and one accused of beating and raping his girlfriend .
In McGrew ’ s case , the CHP did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County district attorney ’ s office to decide if criminal charges were warranted .
A CHP spokeswoman wrote in an email that “ had there been sufficient evidence that a crime had occurred , it would have been investigated and potentially referred to the district attorney ’ s office.
” The district attorney ’ s office declined to comment on the case .
The California Assn .
of Highway Patrolmen , which represented McGrew , also did not respond to requests for comment .
Efforts to reach McGrew were unsuccessful .
The CHP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during VIN inspections but argued that termination was an excessive punishment after his 14 years of service .
“ While I do not dispute that I made inexcusable comments to members of the public , the remarks were never mean-spirited , ” he wrote in a letter to internal affairs .
Former U.S. Attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello , who reviewed the internal affairs files , described McGrew ’ s conduct as “ a wanton abuse of his badge ” and said he was shocked the CHP did not refer McGrew to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to show that it ’ s serious about rejecting this kind of behavior , ” Russoniello said .
“ And the serious way to do that is a criminal referral.
” Phil Stinson , a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio who has studied police crime , said officers like McGrew are often dismissed as “ bad apples , ” but that such behavior is normalized in many U.S. police departments .
Victims are often in a vulnerable position , and McGrew held particular sway as a result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often key to a person ’ s mobility , employment and family life .
Without proper registration people can face fines , or even lose their car .
“ You ’ re dealing with a law enforcement officer who has a gun and a badge .
They ’ re a person in a position of authority , ” Stinson said .
“ And it ’ s very threatening for a woman to find themselves in that situation where the officer ’ s suggesting that they engage in a sex act .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times the CHP has disciplined an officer for sexual misconduct in the past five years is still unknown .
A coalition of news organizations including KQED and The Los Angeles Times requested such records on Jan. 1 , 2019 , but the agency stalled for over a year before providing a single case file .
In May , KQED filed a lawsuit against the CHP to force disclosure .
The agency produced the internal investigation of former Officer McGrew shortly thereafter .
The agency has also released its investigation into former CHP Officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a female confidential informant compromised an interagency narcotics operation and endangered the woman .
Larios retired when the CHP notified him it was moving to fire him , the records show .
A third file details the agency ’ s probe into former Officer John Frizzell , who was fired in 2014 for fondling a woman ’ s breasts during a traffic stop and asking another female motorist to lift her shirt .
In both cases , the documents give no indication that the CHP referred the officers for prosecution .
Records show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman made a complaint in 2016 .
Like Nicole , this woman made an appointment with McGrew to get her VIN verified so she could get her car registered with the DMV .
She had her son with her .
McGrew gave the child a CHP sticker and looked at the vehicle .
McGrew then told the woman he would pass her car if she went to a nearby motel with him , according to the documents .
The woman , who spoke Spanish , didn ’ t immediately understand what McGrew was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twice .
The woman went inside the office to complain about McGrew ’ s behavior .
A sergeant asked her if she misunderstood McGrew due to the language barrier and if she ’ d been drinking or taking drugs .
She said there was no misunderstanding and that she wasn ’ t under the influence .
“ She could not explain the expression on Officer McGrew ’ s face , but she said he was smiling when he asked the question about getting a motel room , ” the documents say .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CHP sent three rounds of surveys to about 150 women ages 18-40 who ’ d made appointments with McGrew during his time as an inspection officer .
The CHP improperly redacted dates showing the length of the investigation and time span of McGrew ’ s abuse .
But it is clear that the agency ’ s investigation did not include anything in the officer ’ s career before he was assigned to vehicle inspections .
By limiting the scope of the investigation to those over 18 , investigators may well have missed more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 16- or 17-year-old driver that may own a car that he had come into contact with ?
” Stinson said .
One woman who said she felt violated after her experience at the CHP office told investigators that McGrew asked her what she would do for him if he passed her car .
“ Officer McGrew asked her what she was going to do for him if he passed her car .
She said she tried to laugh it off , but believed it was inappropriate , ” according to the records .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about ‘ handcuffing ’ her and getting her in the ‘ back seat of her car.
’ ” The woman said McGrew “ mentioned taking her to a motel at the end or up the street.
” McGrew admitted to investigators that he had made inappropriate comments to women while on duty , but said he never intended to act on them .
When asked why he propositioned the women , McGrew replied ; “ Just to see if they ’ ll say yes , ” according to interview transcripts in the investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date at least one woman he harassed on the job , he told investigators , and he repeatedly texted another for a few months .
Both said they cut off contact with him after his explicit messages made them uncomfortable .
McGrew solicited two other women for sex via text message after their appointments .
Documents show that McGrew got rid of that untraceable prepaid cell phone before investigators could look at it .
Many of the women told investigators they didn ’ t file complaints about McGrew because they were afraid of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his office .
One reported being scared to come back to the CHP for her follow-up appointment because she would have to see McGrew again .
Nicole recalled the moment when McGrew told her he would pass her car if she went out with him .
She said she was suddenly hyper-aware of her surroundings — alone in a deserted parking lot with a man who was sitting in the front seat of her car .
At first , she said , she tried to laugh off his proposition .
She needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s VIN .
But McGrew didn ’ t drop it ; he kept asking .
Twice more , she says , he offered to pass her car in exchange for a date .
“ At that point I just shut down completely , and just kind of gave him this look like , ‘ I ’ m so uncomfortable , ’ ” she says .
“ And then he got more awkward and finally just kind of stepped out of my car , handed me paperwork and said I was good to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Nicole said she was contacted by CHP investigators months later and told them what had happened .
She said the CHP never got back to her to let her know what happened with McGrew .
She says she would also have expected the agency to make some changes as a result of the investigation .
They have not .
“ No changes to CHP policy were necessary because the behavior was against policy then and is today , ” a CHP spokeswoman wrote via email .
“ The employee ’ s conduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disciplined.
” In the three years since this happened , Nicole says she has thought about it a lot .
Her father was a police officer and before this experience , Nicole says she felt really positively about police .
She doesn ’ t anymore .
She says she would have liked the CHP to do more intensive screening of potential officers to weed out people like McGrew .
“ How does someone like that even get that far ?
” she asked .
This story is an edited version of an article @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the California Reporting Project , a across the state including The Times to obtain and report on police misconduct and serious use-of-force records made public in 2019 .

Newly disclosed records show a California Highway Patrol officer resigned after more than a dozen women accused him of propositioning them for sex or dates while he was on duty.
Nicole remembers feeling grateful that Officer Morgan McGrew agreed to meet her so early in the morning. The 7:30 a.m. appointment would let her verify her car’s vehicle identification number and still make it to work on time.
But when she met McGrew in the parking lot of the West Valley California Highway Patrol Office in Woodland Hills, the officer said he was having trouble finding the VIN sticker on her car door. Then the conversation abruptly shifted.
“‘I’ll pass this car, and you’ll be able to get your registration, if you go out on a date with me,’” she remembers McGrew saying. “I kind of froze,” she says.
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Nicole, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published to respect her privacy, was one of 21 women McGrew propositioned and harassed during VIN verification appointments, according to records from a 2016 internal investigation obtained by KQED and the California Reporting Project. Four women said McGrew offered to pass their vehicles if they would go on a date or to a nearby motel with him. Two said McGrew sent them text messages soliciting sex after he took down their phone numbers during a VIN appointment. Fifteen described McGrew making comments that ranged from proposing sex to asking intrusive personal questions.
McGrew resigned in 2017 when the California Highway Patrol notified him that it planned to fire him for a variety of misconduct, including improperly trying to foster relationships with members of the public, making inappropriate sexual comments and propositioning women for sex while on duty, the documents show.
The records provide details about the type of sexual misconduct by law enforcement that remained secret for decades in California until a landmark transparency law required agencies last year to publicly disclose a variety of documents, including investigations of officers found to have committed sexual assault while on duty. The Right to Know Act has exposed repeated instances of abuse, ranging from correctional officers in prison and jail who assaulted women under their guard to an officer fired for soliciting sex from an arrestee and one accused of beating and raping his girlfriend.
In McGrew’s case, the CHP did not refer him to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to decide if criminal charges were warranted. A CHP spokeswoman wrote in an email that “had there been sufficient evidence that a crime had occurred, it would have been investigated and potentially referred to the district attorney’s office.”
The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the case. The California Assn. of Highway Patrolmen, which represented McGrew, also did not respond to requests for comment.
Efforts to reach McGrew were unsuccessful. The CHP records show he admitted making the comments during VIN inspections but argued that termination was an excessive punishment after his 14 years of service.
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“While I do not dispute that I made inexcusable comments to members of the public, the remarks were never mean-spirited,” he wrote in a letter to internal affairs.
Former U.S. Attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello, who reviewed the internal affairs files, described McGrew’s conduct as “a wanton abuse of his badge” and said he was shocked the CHP did not refer McGrew to the DA.
“An agency needs to show that it’s serious about rejecting this kind of behavior,” Russoniello said. “And the serious way to do that is a criminal referral.”
Phil Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio who has studied police crime, said officers like McGrew are often dismissed as “bad apples,” but that such behavior is normalized in many U.S. police departments.
Victims are often in a vulnerable position, and McGrew held particular sway as a result of his work. A registered vehicle is often key to a person’s mobility, employment and family life. Without proper registration people can face fines, or even lose their car.
“You’re dealing with a law enforcement officer who has a gun and a badge. They’re a person in a position of authority,” Stinson said. “And it’s very threatening for a woman to find themselves in that situation where the officer’s suggesting that they engage in a sex act. It’s absolutely terrifying.”
The number of times the CHP has disciplined an officer for sexual misconduct in the past five years is still unknown. A coalition of news organizations including KQED and The Los Angeles Times requested such records on Jan. 1, 2019, but the agency stalled for over a year before providing a single case file. In May, KQED filed a lawsuit against the CHP to force disclosure. The agency produced the internal investigation of former Officer McGrew shortly thereafter.
The agency has also released its investigation into former CHP Officer Timothy Larios, whose romantic relationship with a female confidential informant compromised an interagency narcotics operation and endangered the woman. Larios retired when the CHP notified him it was moving to fire him, the records show. A third file details the agency’s probe into former Officer John Frizzell, who was fired in 2014 for fondling a woman’s breasts during a traffic stop and asking another female motorist to lift her shirt.
In both cases, the documents give no indication that the CHP referred the officers for prosecution.
Records show the CHP began investigating McGrew after a woman made a complaint in 2016. Like Nicole, this woman made an appointment with McGrew to get her VIN verified so she could get her car registered with the DMV. She had her son with her.
McGrew gave the child a CHP sticker and looked at the vehicle.
McGrew then told the woman he would pass her car if she went to a nearby motel with him, according to the documents. The woman, who spoke Spanish, didn’t immediately understand what McGrew was asking. So McGrew repeated the proposition twice.
The woman went inside the office to complain about McGrew’s behavior. A sergeant asked her if she misunderstood McGrew due to the language barrier and if she’d been drinking or taking drugs. She said there was no misunderstanding and that she wasn’t under the influence.
“She could not explain the expression on Officer McGrew’s face, but she said he was smiling when he asked the question about getting a motel room,” the documents say.
As part of the internal investigation, the CHP sent three rounds of surveys to about 150 women ages 18-40 who’d made appointments with McGrew during his time as an inspection officer.
The CHP improperly redacted dates showing the length of the investigation and time span of McGrew’s abuse. But it is clear that the agency’s investigation did not include anything in the officer’s career before he was assigned to vehicle inspections.
By limiting the scope of the investigation to those over 18, investigators may well have missed more vulnerable victims.
“What about the 16- or 17-year-old driver that may own a car that he had come into contact with?” Stinson said.
One woman who said she felt violated after her experience at the CHP office told investigators that McGrew asked her what she would do for him if he passed her car.
“Officer McGrew asked her what she was going to do for him if he passed her car. She said she tried to laugh it off, but believed it was inappropriate,” according to the records. “She said he then made comments about ‘handcuffing’ her and getting her in the ‘back seat of her car.’”
The woman said McGrew “mentioned taking her to a motel at the end or up the street.”
McGrew admitted to investigators that he had made inappropriate comments to women while on duty, but said he never intended to act on them. When asked why he propositioned the women, McGrew replied; “Just to see if they’ll say yes,” according to interview transcripts in the investigation file.
McGrew, however, did date at least one woman he harassed on the job, he told investigators, and he repeatedly texted another for a few months. Both said they cut off contact with him after his explicit messages made them uncomfortable.
McGrew solicited two other women for sex via text message after their appointments. Documents show that McGrew got rid of that untraceable prepaid cell phone before investigators could look at it.
Many of the women told investigators they didn’t file complaints about McGrew because they were afraid of what he might do with the power of his office. One reported being scared to come back to the CHP for her follow-up appointment because she would have to see McGrew again.
California Women say they were groped, violated by police during L.A. curfew arrests Among the ranks of protesters who have filed complaints, joined lawsuits and pushed back against tactics used by area police agencies are women who say they were groped, sexually harassed or inappropriately searched.
Nicole recalled the moment when McGrew told her he would pass her car if she went out with him. She said she was suddenly hyper-aware of her surroundings — alone in a deserted parking lot with a man who was sitting in the front seat of her car.
At first, she said, she tried to laugh off his proposition. She needed him to sign off on her car’s VIN. But McGrew didn’t drop it; he kept asking. Twice more, she says, he offered to pass her car in exchange for a date.
“At that point I just shut down completely, and just kind of gave him this look like, ‘I’m so uncomfortable,’” she says. “And then he got more awkward and finally just kind of stepped out of my car, handed me paperwork and said I was good to go. And then I drove off.”
Nicole said she was contacted by CHP investigators months later and told them what had happened. She said the CHP never got back to her to let her know what happened with McGrew. She says she would also have expected the agency to make some changes as a result of the investigation. They have not.
“No changes to CHP policy were necessary because the behavior was against policy then and is today,” a CHP spokeswoman wrote via email. “The employee’s conduct was investigated and the employee was appropriately disciplined.”
In the three years since this happened, Nicole says she has thought about it a lot. Her father was a police officer and before this experience, Nicole says she felt really positively about police. She doesn’t anymore.
She says she would have liked the CHP to do more intensive screening of potential officers to weed out people like McGrew.
“How does someone like that even get that far?” she asked.
This article was reported by KQED and produced as part of the California Reporting Project, a collaboration of 40 newsrooms across the state, including The Times, to obtain and report on police misconduct and serious use-of-force records made public in 2019.


latimes--2020-07-17--Yuki Llewellyn, a child of Manzanar whose image touched America, dies at 81

Sitting on a suitcase in Union Station , waiting to be hauled off to Manzanar with her mom , Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa was the very picture of uncertainty .
The look on the 2-year-old ’ s face is difficult to read , though dread comes to mind .
She clutches a tiny purse in one hand , and a half-eaten apple in the other .
Ahead were years behind barbed wire fencing in the Owens Valley along with thousands of other people of Japanese descent as America was pulled into World War II .
The photograph is hard to miss @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Historic Site and seems to beg the same questions from visitors : Who was this child ?
What happened to her ?
Yuki and her mother were among the first to arrive and the last to leave Manzanar when the war ended , and moved to Cleveland to start anew .
She was taunted and subjected to racial slurs at school , but remained remarkably buoyant .
She won a college scholarship , earned a bachelor ’ s degree and ultimately a master ’ s in fine arts .
She married , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dean , wrote a cookbook and developed a dry sense of humor with spot-on timing when she told a joke , which was frequently .
Though the photo of her sitting in the train station became iconic — appearing on book covers , billboards and displayed at exhibits — her death on March 8 went little noticed .
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented her family from having a memorial , and no public announcement was made .
She was 81 and had been ill for some time , her friend Carol Norcross said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ uprooted , imprisoned and left with uncertain futures , the memories of Manzanar were seared into Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa Llewellyn ’ s soul .
She did research on the relocation camp , wrestled with what it meant to be a Japanese American and shuddered at the thought that such a thing might someday happen again .
“ People you elect into power are the ones that are able to do things like that , ” she told author and photographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. in his book “ Behind Barbed Wire.
” But I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the young people are voting , and that saddens me .
That ’ s the only way you can control what ’ s going to happen.
” In 2005 , Llewellyn returned to Manzanar for the first time since childhood .
For years the internment camp had been left to the elements and the scavengers , until all that was left were a pair of sentry towers and a cemetery .
Manzanar was eventually proclaimed a national historic site and a visitor ’ s center and other features were added .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enduring emblem of racial hysteria .
Llewellyn was initial torn about reopening the old wounds of Manzanar , said Norcross , who drove her friend up Highway 395 for the visit .
But when she got there , there was little left of what she remembered .
“ There was nothing for her to really hang her thoughts or emotions on , ” Norcross said .
“ There was nothing to say ‘ I was here.
’ ” In a commentary published in the Pacific Citizen in 2005 , Llewellyn said she gathered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the barracks and a random piece of bamboo as mementos , tucking them carefully into a sandwich bag .
As she stood there , she said she finally understood why he mother had no interest in revisiting Manzanar .
“ As an adult , it would have been hell on Earth , ” she wrote .
“ I was lucky to have been a child — a young child at that — I didn ’ t know what it was like not to be incarcerated.
” Her son David said as word got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people began coming up to her and apologizing from what the country had done .
Some hugged her .
“ Many were probably just kids like her at the time who couldn ’ t believe that we had done such a shameful thing , ” he said .
Llewellyn met her husband , Don , while working on her thesis at Tulane University in New Orleans .
The two later worked together on a theatrical production of Akira Kurosawa ’ s psychological thriller “ Rashomon.
” They later divorced , but remained friends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Urbana-Champaign , where she rose from being a secretary to assistant dean of students , Llewellyn explored her ancestry and her own past .
She brought noted Japanese Americans to speak at the university , celebrated when the campus opened an Asian American cultural center and spoke out about Manzanar and Executive Order 9066 , which set the wheels in motion for the creation of the internment camps following the bombing at Pearl Harbor .
In her research , Llewellyn discovered that her father , who had left her mother before the two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also detained at the camp .
Among the thousands of other prisoners at the camp , she had never seen him .
Later , when she tried to find him , she discovered he was already dead .
At Manzanar , Llewellyn gazed at the childhood photo and the memories came tumbling back .
“ The happiest moment is the fact that I did discover something that I have been looking for all my life , ” she wrote in the commentary .
“ The closure will be if I can write about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ son and three grandchildren .

Two-year-old Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa waits at Union Station for a train that will take her and her mother to Manzanar.
Sitting on a suitcase in Union Station, waiting to be hauled off to Manzanar with her mom, Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa was the very picture of uncertainty.
The look on the 2-year-old’s face is difficult to read, though dread comes to mind. She clutches a tiny purse in one hand and a half-eaten apple in the other. Ahead lay years behind barbed wire fencing in the Owens Valley along with thousands of other people of Japanese descent as America was pulled into World War II.
The photograph is hard to miss in the visitors center at the Manzanar National Historic Site and seems to beg the same questions from visitors: Who was this child? What happened to her?
Yuki and her mother were among the first to arrive and the last to leave Manzanar when the war ended, when they moved to Cleveland to start anew. She was taunted and subjected to racial slurs at school but remained remarkably buoyant. She won a college scholarship, earned a bachelor’s degree and ultimately a master’s in fine arts. She married, had a son, became a college administrator, wrote a cookbook and developed a dry sense of humor with spot-on timing when she told a joke, which was frequently.
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Though the photo of her sitting in the train station became iconic — appearing on book covers, billboards and displayed at exhibits — her death on March 8 was little noticed. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented her family from having a memorial, and no public announcement was made. Unwilling to let her death go unrecognized, a family friend from Long Beach reached out to the Los Angeles Times.
Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa Llewellyn was 80 and had been ill for some time, her friend Carol Norcross said.
As with many Japanese Americans who were uprooted, imprisoned and left with an uncertain future, the memories of Manzanar were seared into Llewellyn’s soul. She did research on the incarceration camp, wrestled with what it meant to be a Japanese American and shuddered at the thought that such a thing might someday happen again.
“People you elect into power are the ones that are able to do things like that,” she told author and photographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. in his book “Behind Barbed Wire.” “But I don’t see the numbers showing that the young people are voting, and that saddens me. That’s the only way you can control what’s going to happen.”
Yuki Llewellyn visits Manzanar in 2005. (Paul Kitagaki Jr.)
In 2005, Llewellyn returned to Manzanar for the first time since she was a child. For years the prison camp had been left to the elements and the scavengers, until all that remained were a pair of sentry towers and a cemetery. Manzanar was eventually proclaimed a national historic site, and a visitors center and other features were added. It is now both a destination and an enduring emblem of racial hysteria.
Llewellyn was initially torn about reopening the old wounds of Manzanar, said Norcross, who drove her friend up Highway 395 for the visit. But when she got there, there was little left of what she remembered.
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“There was nothing for her to really hang her thoughts or emotions on,” Norcross said. “There was nothing to say, ‘I was here.’”
In a commentary published in the Pacific Citizen in 2005, Llewellyn said she gathered some sand, an old nail from the barracks and a random piece of bamboo as mementos, tucking them carefully into a sandwich bag. As she stood there, she said she finally understood why her mother had no interest in revisiting Manzanar.
“As an adult, it would have been hell on Earth,” she wrote. “I was lucky to have been a child — a young child at that — I didn’t know what it was like not to be incarcerated.”
Her son David said as word got out that she was visiting Manzanar, people began coming up to her and apologizing for what the country had done. Some hugged her.
“Many were probably just kids like her at the time who couldn’t believe that we had done such a shameful thing,” he said.
Llewellyn met her husband, Don, while working on her thesis at Tulane University in New Orleans. The two later worked together on a theatrical production of Akira Kurosawa’s psychological thriller “Rashomon.” They later divorced but remained friends.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she rose from being a secretary to assistant dean of students, Llewellyn explored her ancestry and her own past. She brought noted Japanese Americans to speak at the university, celebrated when the campus opened an Asian American cultural center, and spoke out about Manzanar and Executive Order 9066, which set the wheels in motion for the creation of the camps following the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
The Manzanar War Relocation Center officially closed Nov. 21, 1945. (Los Angeles Public Library)
In her research, Llewellyn discovered that her father, who had left her mother before the two were hurried off to Manzanar, was also detained at the camp. Among the thousands of other prisoners at the camp, she had never seen him.
Later in life, when she tried to find him, she discovered he was already dead.
At Manzanar, Llewellyn gazed at the childhood photo and the memories came tumbling back.
“The happiest moment is the fact that I did discover something that I have been looking for all my life,” she wrote in the commentary. “The closure will be if I can write about it.”
Llewellyn is survived by her son, her daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.


latimes--2020-07-16--Protesters and the LAPD have different stories about how a peaceful march turned violent

A group of protesters was marching on South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon when they came across a couple of women who were being taken into custody by two officers .
The group stopped to keep watch and chanted , “ Let them go , let them go !
” Suddenly , a man — whom the protesters say they did not know and was not in their group — sprayed water from a bottle onto the Los Angeles Police Department officers .
“ That ’ s when things escalated .
The batons came out right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 22-year-old protester .
After a chaotic scene unfolded , police arrested three people : 30-year-old Mario Chacon of Glendora was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer ; 33-year-old Joshua Wilson of Los Angeles was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm ; and 53-year-old David Dixon , also of Los Angeles , was arrested on a felony warrant .
LAPD spokesman Mike Lopez had reported that four people were arrested Tuesday , but the official count was later corrected .
According to the LAPD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who were aggressive toward officers from the beginning .
Four officers were treated for minor injuries .
But protesters say that after 44 straight days of demonstrating against police brutality in downtown L.A. , it was the LAPD officers who used excessive force that left one disabled man out of his wheelchair and an asthmatic teenager convulsing on the street .
“ The fact that the violence is still happening is barbaric , ” said Tyson Suzuki , the head of the organization Active Advocate , which has been leading daily protests starting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force used against the disabled man and the teenager , LAPD spokesman Joshua Rubenstein said Thursday that the details of those encounters are under investigation .
Cailin O ’ Brien , a 25-year-old protester , said police in riot gear and SWAT vehicles appeared seemingly out of nowhere to surround the group of about 15 protesters , far outnumbering them , after the man with the water bottle sprayed officers .
Morachnick described the group of protesters as “ fiercely nonviolent , ” and she did not understand why they had been targeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We were holding signs .
We were saying chants .
And we were met with riot gear , batons and forceful shoving ” from police officers , Morachnick said .
Video shows Wilson in a wheelchair pushing officers away .
He fell to the ground and slid himself off his wheelchair , still pushing the officers away .
In the video , officers shoved protesters with batons as the protesters attempted to help the man in the wheelchair .
The officers pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him .
One officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tossed it , causing a wheel to fall off , video shows .
Wilson had been out on the streets protesting for several days , fellow protesters said .
The video never showed Wilson reaching for a firearm or his bag .
The officers “ showed no remorse after tossing a man in a wheelchair onto the ground and after slamming this young man with a baton , sending him onto the floor with a seizure , ” O ’ Brien said .
In another part of the street , video shows 17-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and crying .
In an interview , Sanchez said an officer was asking protesters to clear the streets and was walking toward him as Sanchez stepped backward .
Sanchez asked the officer for his badge number , and said he was hit with a baton in the chest and neck , causing him to fall to the ground and suffer an asthma attack and a seizure .
The crowd pleaded for an ambulance as more officers arrived on the scene , protesters said .
“ Why did you bring so much military but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... medic ?
” a man can be heard saying through a megaphone .
“ We just need a medic.
” Sanchez said he was taken into custody after being treated at the hospital and given a citation for resisting arrest .
“ I don ’ t understand how they were considering me resisting arrest if I was having a seizure , ” he said Wednesday as he went out to protest again downtown .
Rubenstein contradicted the teenager ’ s account .
He said that although Sanchez was pushed , he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was he arrested .
He could not confirm whether Sanchez was given a citation because he is a minor , Rubenstein said .
“ There was a use of force , and I believe he was pushed back , but I don ’ t know the details behind it , ” he said .
“ That ’ s under investigation .
The investigators say it was not a swinging baton strike.
” Suzuki described the police activity Tuesday afternoon as militarized and inhumane .
“ They were ready to go , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were in some sort of game mode , like this is them playing ... ‘ Call of Duty.
’ To them it just seemed like a drop in the bucket.
” On Thursday , the LAPD gave its version of what had unfolded .
According to the police statement , officers were conducting an investigation involving two women who appeared to be “ in the midst of a mental health crisis.
” The officers planned to take the women to a hospital for evaluation .
During that investigation , they saw Dixon yelling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officers were “ preparing to leave the area ” with Dixon and the two women , a group of about 50 protesters surrounded the officers and began chanting , the police statement said .
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that “ there was some dispute ” between the officers and the protesters , and that the protesters began “ forcefully attacking the officers.
” According to the LAPD ’ s statement , Wilson “ punched an officer in the face and a use of force occurred between the officers and Wilson.
” Investigators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s backpack , which had been hanging on his wheelchair , according to the police statement .
“ He battered the officers , punched an officer , tried to take the baton away from the officer , ” Moore said .
“ And so that is what happened with that protest .
It was largely peaceful , but not in that episode of violence.
” Meanwhile , according to the LAPD , Chacon tried to grab one of the officers ’ “ equipment ” and another “ use of force occurred.
” Police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from one officer and pushed another .
Rubenstein said the incident is still under investigation and detectives will review body camera and surveillance footage from the area .

According to video, Joshua Wilson was pushed off his wheelchair and arrested Tuesday afternoon after a peaceful protest turned violent. Wilson had been protesting racism and police brutality for several days in downtown Los Angeles.
A group of protesters was marching on South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon when they came across a couple of women who were being taken into custody by two officers.
The group stopped to keep watch and chanted, “Let them go, let them go!” Suddenly, a man — whom the protesters say they did not know and was not in their group — sprayed water from a bottle onto the Los Angeles Police Department officers.
“That’s when things escalated. The batons came out right away,” said Charli Morachnick, a 22-year-old protester.
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After a chaotic scene unfolded, police arrested three people: 30-year-old Mario Chacon of Glendora was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer; 33-year-old Joshua Wilson of Los Angeles was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm; and 53-year-old David Dixon, also of Los Angeles, was arrested on a felony warrant.
LAPD spokesman Mike Lopez had reported that four people were arrested Tuesday, but the official count was later corrected.
According to the LAPD, the incident was sparked by protesters who were aggressive toward officers from the beginning. Four officers were treated for minor injuries.
But protesters say that after 44 straight days of demonstrating against police brutality in downtown L.A., it was the LAPD officers who used excessive force that left one disabled man out of his wheelchair and an asthmatic teenager convulsing on the street.
“The fact that the violence is still happening is barbaric,” said Tyson Suzuki, the head of the organization Active Advocate, which has been leading daily protests starting outside City Hall.
Asked about the force used against the disabled man and the teenager, LAPD spokesman Joshua Rubenstein said Thursday that the details of those encounters are under investigation.
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Cailin O’Brien, a 25-year-old protester, said police in riot gear and SWAT vehicles appeared seemingly out of nowhere to surround the group of about 15 protesters, far outnumbering them, after the man with the water bottle sprayed officers. Morachnick described the group of protesters as “fiercely nonviolent,” and she did not understand why they had been targeted by officers.
“We were unarmed. We were holding signs. We were saying chants. And we were met with riot gear, batons and forceful shoving” from police officers, Morachnick said.
Video shows Wilson in a wheelchair pushing officers away. He fell to the ground and slid himself off his wheelchair, still pushing the officers away.
In the video, officers shoved protesters with batons as the protesters attempted to help the man in the wheelchair. The officers pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him. One officer grabbed the man’s wheelchair and tossed it, causing a wheel to fall off, video shows.
Wilson had been out on the streets protesting for several days, fellow protesters said. The video never showed Wilson reaching for a firearm or his bag.
The officers “showed no remorse after tossing a man in a wheelchair onto the ground and after slamming this young man with a baton, sending him onto the floor with a seizure,” O’Brien said.
In another part of the street, video shows 17-year-old Elliot Sanchez on the ground, convulsing and crying.
In an interview, Sanchez said an officer was asking protesters to clear the streets and was walking toward him as Sanchez stepped backward. Sanchez asked the officer for his badge number, and said he was hit with a baton in the chest and neck, causing him to fall to the ground and suffer an asthma attack and a seizure.
The crowd pleaded for an ambulance as more officers arrived on the scene, protesters said.
“Why did you bring so much military but you can’t even bring a ... medic?” a man can be heard saying through a megaphone. “We just need a medic.”
Sanchez said he was taken into custody after being treated at the hospital and given a citation for resisting arrest.
“I don’t understand how they were considering me resisting arrest if I was having a seizure,” he said Wednesday as he went out to protest again downtown.
Rubenstein contradicted the teenager’s account. He said that although Sanchez was pushed, he was not struck with a baton, nor was he arrested. He could not confirm whether Sanchez was given a citation because he is a minor, Rubenstein said.
“There was a use of force, and I believe he was pushed back, but I don’t know the details behind it,” he said. “That’s under investigation. The investigators say it was not a swinging baton strike.”
Suzuki described the police activity Tuesday afternoon as militarized and inhumane.
“They were ready to go,” he said. “They looked like they were in some sort of game mode, like this is them playing ... ‘Call of Duty.’ To them it just seemed like a drop in the bucket.”
On Thursday, the LAPD gave its version of what had unfolded. According to the police statement, officers were conducting an investigation involving two women who appeared to be “in the midst of a mental health crisis.” The officers planned to take the women to a hospital for evaluation.
During that investigation, they saw Dixon yelling at and pushing another man. While officers were “preparing to leave the area” with Dixon and the two women, a group of about 50 protesters surrounded the officers and began chanting, the police statement said.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that “there was some dispute” between the officers and the protesters, and that the protesters began “forcefully attacking the officers.”
According to the LAPD’s statement, Wilson “punched an officer in the face and a use of force occurred between the officers and Wilson.” Investigators found a loaded gun in Wilson’s backpack, which had been hanging on his wheelchair, according to the police statement.
“He battered the officers, punched an officer, tried to take the baton away from the officer,” Moore said. “And so that is what happened with that protest. It was largely peaceful, but not in that episode of violence.”
Meanwhile, according to the LAPD, Chacon tried to grab one of the officers’ “equipment” and another “use of force occurred.” Police said Chacon tried to take a baton from one officer and pushed another.
Rubenstein said the incident is still under investigation and detectives will review body camera and surveillance footage from the area.
Times staff writer Cindy Chang contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-07-16--Judge largely upholds California ban on private prisons in tentative ruling

A federal judge in San Diego issued a tentative ruling Thursday that largely upholds California ’ s ban on private prison contracts .
GEO Group , a Florida-based private prison corporation , filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Diego days before Assembly Bill 32 took effect on Jan. 1 .
The law prohibits new for-profit detention contracts and changes to current contracts , and phases out existing facilities entirely by 2028 .
The lawsuit challenges Gov .
Gavin Newsom and Atty .
Gen. Xavier Becerra .
It alleges that AB 32 is a “ transparent attempt by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s detention efforts within California ’ s borders ” and asks the court to forbid the state from enforcing the statute .
A month after the lawsuit was filed , the Trump administration followed with its own lawsuit making claims similar to those of GEO Group .
U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino consolidated the two lawsuits during a virtual hearing Thursday attended by more than 100 people .
She called the lawsuits “ fascinating and complex.
” Sammartino suggested she was likely to dismiss most of the case against California , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspend enforcement of the law while the case continues in court .
She said she was inclined to conclude that “ AB 32 does not unconstitutionally discriminate against the federal government or its contractors.
” Sammartino referenced the case challenging Senate Bill 54 , California ’ s “ sanctuary ” law , and similarly recognized that state leaders have authority to ensure the health and welfare of inmates and detainees within their borders .
But she suggested she would uphold the case as applied to facilities used by the U.S Marshals Service , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigration offenses , such as entering the country illegally or reentering after a deportation .
Immigrant rights advocates said Sammartino ’ s tentative ruling was just the beginning of what they anticipate to be a long court process including appeals .
According to the lawsuit , AB 32 affects 10 privately managed prison and immigrant detention facilities in California with nearly 11,000 total beds — the vast majority of federal detention capacity in the state .
GEO Group manages seven of those facilities , including the Adelanto and Mesa Verde immigration facilities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including substandard medical care and documented safety violations , inside facilities run by GEO and other private prison companies .
They called the lawsuit an “ illicit scheme by ICE and prison corporations to evade accountability.
” Jordan Wells , an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California , called the ruling remarkable .
“ The ruling is as much about ICE ’ s private prison enterprise across the country as it is about the ban on it here in California , ” he said .
“ Because if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states can as well.
” GEO officials have said that while they play no role in immigration laws and take no positions on immigration policies , it is unconstitutional for a state to regulate the actions of the federal government and its contractors .
GEO Group attorney Charles Cooper — who has represented former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former national security advisor John Bolton — argued that because private contractors operate on behalf of the federal government , “ This prohibition , even though it focuses on the person operating the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the entire government.
” Michael Kirk , who also represented GEO , said Congress grants the federal government the discretion to choose the “ most efficient and best ” option for American taxpayers .
“ The history is critically important here , ” he said .
“ Going back to the mid-1980s , it ’ s been well known ... to everyone that ICE has been using private facilities to carry out its detention obligation.
” But Deputy Atty .
Gen. Gabrielle Boutin argued that Congress did not grant the federal government blanket @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She said AB 32 was enacted to protect the health and welfare of inmates and detainees in California .
“ It was made after widespread findings that private detention facilities have safety problems , ” she said .
GEO ’ s lawsuit was filed in December , days after totaling nearly $ 6.5 billion with GEO and the two other companies that run California ’ s four private immigrant detention centers .
The contracts have terms of 15 years , inclusive of two five-year extensions , ending in 2034 .
If AB 32 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California , the company said , it would lose an average of $ 250 million a year in revenue over the next 15 years , plus the $ 300 million invested in acquiring and setting up those buildings .
If no privately operated detention facilities were permitted in California , there would in effect be one facility in the state that ICE could use to hold detainees : Yuba County Jail , which has 220 beds .
The agency has argued that the closures would force detainees to be transferred out of state @ @ @ @ @ @ @

A federal judge in San Diego issued a tentative ruling Thursday that largely upholds California’s ban on private prison contracts.
GEO Group, a Florida-based private prison corporation, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Diego days before Assembly Bill 32 took effect on Jan. 1. The law prohibits new for-profit detention contracts and changes to current contracts, and phases out existing facilities entirely by 2028.
The lawsuit challenges Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. It alleges that AB 32 is a “transparent attempt by the state to shut down the federal government’s detention efforts within California’s borders” and asks the court to forbid the state from enforcing the statute. A month after the lawsuit was filed, the Trump administration followed with its own lawsuit making claims similar to those of GEO Group.
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U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino consolidated the two lawsuits during a virtual hearing Thursday attended by more than 100 people. She called the lawsuits “fascinating and complex.”
Sammartino suggested she was likely to dismiss most of the case against California, as well as a request to temporarily suspend enforcement of the law while the case continues in court.
She said she was inclined to conclude that “AB 32 does not unconstitutionally discriminate against the federal government or its contractors.”
Sammartino referenced the case challenging Senate Bill 54, California’s “sanctuary” law, and similarly recognized that state leaders have authority to ensure the health and welfare of inmates and detainees within their borders. But she suggested she would uphold the case as applied to facilities used by the U.S Marshals Service, which holds federal inmates charged with criminal immigration offenses, such as entering the country illegally or reentering after a deportation.
Immigrant rights advocates said Sammartino’s tentative ruling was just the beginning of what they anticipate to be a long court process including appeals.
According to the lawsuit, AB 32 affects 10 privately managed prison and immigrant detention facilities in California with nearly 11,000 total beds — the vast majority of federal detention capacity in the state. GEO Group manages seven of those facilities, including the Adelanto and Mesa Verde immigration facilities.
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Pro-immigration activists have long alleged poor conditions, including substandard medical care and documented safety violations, inside facilities run by GEO and other private prison companies. They called the lawsuit an “illicit scheme by ICE and prison corporations to evade accountability.”
Jordan Wells, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called the ruling remarkable.
“The ruling is as much about ICE’s private prison enterprise across the country as it is about the ban on it here in California,” he said. “Because if California can do it, then other states can as well.”
GEO officials have said that while they play no role in immigration laws and take no positions on immigration policies, it is unconstitutional for a state to regulate the actions of the federal government and its contractors.
GEO Group attorney Charles Cooper — who has represented former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former national security advisor John Bolton — argued that because private contractors operate on behalf of the federal government, “This prohibition, even though it focuses on the person operating the facility, is nonetheless a prohibition on the entire government.”
Michael Kirk, who also represented GEO, said Congress grants the federal government the discretion to choose the “most efficient and best” option for American taxpayers.
“The history is critically important here,” he said. “Going back to the mid-1980s, it’s been well known ... to everyone that ICE has been using private facilities to carry out its detention obligation.”
But Deputy Atty. Gen. Gabrielle Boutin argued that Congress did not grant the federal government blanket authority to detain people without guidance. She said AB 32 was enacted to protect the health and welfare of inmates and detainees in California.
“It was made after widespread findings that private detention facilities have safety problems,” she said.
GEO’s lawsuit was filed in December, days after federal officials signed contracts totaling nearly $6.5 billion with GEO and the two other companies that run California’s four private immigrant detention centers. The contracts have terms of 15 years, inclusive of two five-year extensions, ending in 2034.
If AB 32 forces GEO to close its facilities in California, the company said, it would lose an average of $250 million a year in revenue over the next 15 years, plus the $300 million invested in acquiring and setting up those buildings.
If no privately operated detention facilities were permitted in California, there would in effect be one facility in the state that ICE could use to hold detainees: Yuba County Jail, which has 220 beds. The agency has argued that the closures would force detainees to be transferred out of state, away from family and lawyers.


latimes--2020-07-16--LAPD Chief Michel Moore wants more power to fire officers

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore wants to concentrate the power to fire officers in his own hands , saying the board that reviews his disciplinary decisions is overly lenient .
Bypassing the Board of Rights would require changing the city charter and would essentially undo a major reworking of police discipline that was approved by L.A. voters three years ago .
At a meeting Thursday with The Times editorial board that focused on police reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing , Moore said the current system “ always seems to default in favor of the officer.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ be fired , whether for a fatal shooting or for driving drunk off-duty or some other misconduct , the case goes to a three-member Board of Rights .
The police chief can downgrade the discipline recommended by the board but can not increase it .
Moore pointed to other police agencies where the chief can quickly fire an officer and the decision is final unless overturned by a city manager or a court .
“ I recently referred an officer who was out of policy in a shooting to a Board of Rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guilty , ” he said .
“ And that , you know , pre-empts me , and that was the only means in which I can remove that officer .
And so that is , in my view , terrible.
” Craig Lally , president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League , the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers , said the Board of Rights system is working well and that checks on the chief ’ s power are needed .
“ Every chief wants the power to do whatever they want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Lally said .
“ Most people out there think due process is the fair thing to do .
It ’ s not that the chief gets to have an investigation , and then the officer is terminated.
” Despite the Board of Rights , Moore has still been able to fire a number of officers , Lally said .
Moore told the editorial board that he fired 18 officers last year .
Prior to the passage of Charter Amendment C in May 2017 , Board of Rights panels were made up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the LAPD command staff .
The amendment , which was supported by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council , gave officers the option of an all-civilian panel .
The LAPPL spent at least $ 839,000 to campaign for its passage .
Perhaps counterintuitively , civilians are generally considered more sympathetic to police officers than their commanders .
Some groups that favor greater police accountability , including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles , opposed the amendment , saying it was deceptive and developed behind closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California , said Thursday that it is important to have checks on a chief ’ s power to fire officers .
Police chiefs should not be able to abuse their power by firing whistleblowers or targeting racial minorities , Ochoa said .
But she agrees with Moore that the Board of Rights is too lax on problem officers .
“ The way the Board of Rights has operated is not just to protect against nefarious aims , ” Ochoa said .
“ It has operated to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been speaking with Garcetti about his proposal and how to bring it about .
A spokesman from Garcetti ’ s office did not respond to a request for comment .
Moore said he also wants to seize a moment when policing is being reimagined to change the state law that prevents him from speaking about individual disciplinary cases .
“ I think the public should have a clear view of when I call balls balls and when I call strikes strikes , the actions I take , and I should be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defense of why I think that that decision was right , ” he told the editorial board .

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore wants to concentrate the power to fire officers in his own hands, saying the board that reviews his disciplinary decisions is overly lenient.
Bypassing the Board of Rights would require changing the city charter and would essentially undo a major reworking of police discipline that was approved by L.A. voters three years ago.
At a meeting Thursday with The Times editorial board that focused on police reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing, Moore said the current system “always seems to default in favor of the officer.”
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When Moore recommends that an officer be fired, whether for a fatal shooting or for driving drunk off-duty or some other misconduct, the case goes to a three-member Board of Rights.
The police chief can downgrade the discipline recommended by the board but cannot increase it.
Moore pointed to other police agencies where the chief can quickly fire an officer and the decision is final unless overturned by a city manager or a court.
“I recently referred an officer who was out of policy in a shooting to a Board of Rights, and that officer is found not guilty,” he said. “And that, you know, pre-empts me, and that was the only means in which I can remove that officer. And so that is, in my view, terrible.”
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, said the Board of Rights system is working well and that checks on the chief’s power are needed.
“Every chief wants the power to do whatever they want, but officers are afforded due process,” Lally said. “Most people out there think due process is the fair thing to do. It’s not that the chief gets to have an investigation, and then the officer is terminated.”
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Despite the Board of Rights, Moore has still been able to fire a number of officers, Lally said. Moore told the editorial board that he fired 18 officers last year.
Prior to the passage of Charter Amendment C in May 2017, Board of Rights panels were made up of one civilian and two members of the LAPD command staff.
The amendment, which was supported by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council, gave officers the option of an all-civilian panel. The LAPPL spent at least $839,000 to campaign for its passage.
Perhaps counterintuitively, civilians are generally considered more sympathetic to police officers than their commanders.
Some groups that favor greater police accountability, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, opposed the amendment, saying it was deceptive and developed behind closed doors.
Melanie Ochoa, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, said Thursday that it is important to have checks on a chief’s power to fire officers.
Police chiefs should not be able to abuse their power by firing whistleblowers or targeting racial minorities, Ochoa said. But she agrees with Moore that the Board of Rights is too lax on problem officers.
“The way the Board of Rights has operated is not just to protect against nefarious aims,” Ochoa said. “It has operated to eliminate accountability altogether.”
Moore said he has been speaking with Garcetti about his proposal and how to bring it about. A spokesman from Garcetti’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Moore said he also wants to seize a moment when policing is being reimagined to change the state law that prevents him from speaking about individual disciplinary cases.
“I think the public should have a clear view of when I call balls balls and when I call strikes strikes, the actions I take, and I should be able to speak freely about it, in defense of why I think that that decision was right,” he told the editorial board.


latimes--2020-07-16--California sets remote bar exam for October, lowers passing score

The California Supreme Court , citing the coronavirus pandemic , decided Thursday to permanently lower the passing score for the bar exam and allow aspiring lawyers to take it remotely in October , or obtain temporary provisional licenses and practice under supervision .
“ The changing circumstances surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in California , and throughout the country , have had an unprecedented impact on professional licensure testing for graduates seeking admission to many professions , ” the court wrote to the State Bar .
“ Many law school graduates are being substantially affected by the resulting disruption.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with law school deans and graduates .
Plans for a July exam had been canceled due to the pandemic and rescheduled for September , which the court on Thursday moved to Oct. 5 and 6 .
Graduates told the court they were losing job offers , could not find work to make ends meet and feared they would be unable to pay student loan bills due in November without a law license .
“ The court has sought the safest , most humane and practical options for licensing law graduates by encouraging and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the option of administering the California Bar Examination online as a remote test , to avoid the need for , and dangers posed by , mass in-person testing , ” the court wrote in a letter signed by its clerk and Chief Executive Officer Jorge E. Navarrete .
California ’ s bar exam has been considered one of the most rigorous in the nation , and the court decided to drop the passing score from 1440 to 1390 .
The letter said the court based its decision on bar exam studies .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law graduates might be unable to prepare for the October examination and directed the State Bar of California to create and oversee a temporary , supervised licensing program , which would end no later than June 1 , 2022 .
Graduates would be required to work under the supervision of licensed attorneys .
“ This time frame will afford the 2020 graduates several opportunities to take the exam of their choosing through February 2022 and await the exam results , ” said the letter to the president of the bar board of trustees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to move their bar exam online .
The court encouraged law schools to help graduates who lacked internet access at home or whose home situations were not amenable to two days of uninterrupted examination .

The California Supreme Court, citing the coronavirus pandemic, decided Thursday to permanently lower the passing score for the bar exam and allow aspiring lawyers to take it remotely in October, or obtain temporary provisional licenses and practice under supervision.
“The changing circumstances surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in California, and throughout the country, have had an unprecedented impact on professional licensure testing for graduates seeking admission to many professions,” the court wrote to the State Bar. “Many law school graduates are being substantially affected by the resulting disruption.”
The court met over videoconference this month with law school deans and graduates. Plans for a July exam had been canceled due to the pandemic and rescheduled for September, which the court on Thursday moved to Oct. 5 and 6.
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Graduates told the court they were losing job offers, could not find work to make ends meet and feared they would be unable to pay student loan bills due in November without a law license.
“The court has sought the safest, most humane and practical options for licensing law graduates by encouraging and working with the State Bar to pursue the option of administering the California Bar Examination online as a remote test, to avoid the need for, and dangers posed by, mass in-person testing,” the court wrote in a letter signed by its clerk and Chief Executive Officer Jorge E. Navarrete.
California’s bar exam has been considered one of the most rigorous in the nation, and the court decided to drop the passing score from 1440 to 1390. The letter said the court based its decision on bar exam studies.
The court said it recognized that some 2020 law graduates might be unable to prepare for the October examination and directed the State Bar of California to create and oversee a temporary, supervised licensing program, which would end no later than June 1, 2022. Graduates would be required to work under the supervision of licensed attorneys.
“This time frame will afford the 2020 graduates several opportunities to take the exam of their choosing through February 2022 and await the exam results,” said the letter to the president of the bar board of trustees.
California is one of 16 states to move their bar exam online.
The court encouraged law schools to help graduates who lacked internet access at home or whose home situations were not amenable to two days of uninterrupted examination.


latimes--2020-07-17--Former director of L.A. charter schools admits to embezzling $3.1 million in funds

The former executive director of a Los Angeles charter school operator on Friday agreed to plead guilty to embezzling $ 3.1 million in school funds that she spent on her personal use , including Disney cruises and theme park admissions , according to the U.S. Department of Justice .
Janis Bucknor , 52 , who formerly ran the for-profit Community Preparatory Academy , pleaded guilty to criminal theft and tax fraud in an agreement with federal prosecutors filed in U.S. District Court , authorities said .
CPA ’ s charter schools in Carson and South Los Angeles closed in 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decided not to renew the company ’ s charter .
Bucknor , a resident of Baldwin Hills , faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison when she formally enters her plea in court , authorities said .
A hearing has not yet been scheduled in the case .
Bucknor admitted using stolen funds to pay for personal travel , restaurants , Amazon and Etsy purchases and private school tuition for her children , the U.S. attorney ’ s office for the Central District of California said in a statement .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Disney-related expenses , including cruise line vacations and theme park admissions .
The total $ 3.1 million in stolen funds made up nearly a third of all federal and state funding that went to CPA from early 2014 to November 2019 , the U.S. attorney ’ s office said .
Bucknor has agreed to plead guilty to one count of theft , embezzlement and intentional misapplication of funds from an organization receiving federal funds and one count of tax evasion , admitting her failure to pay the IRS $ 299,639 in taxes from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not report from 2015 to 2018 .
She has also forfeited to the government her interest in three residential properties in South L.A. that were paid for using stolen funds .
Attempts to reach Bucknor and her husband on Friday were unsuccessful .
According to the plea agreement , the embezzlement scheme first to light in February 2018 when t L.A. Unified ’ s Charter School Division conducted a routine audit of CPA that revealed unauthorized payments made by Bucknor to Disney , Louis Vuitton , the Girl Scouts , Ticketmaster , National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools are privately managed public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern campuses run by a traditional school district .
Charters are authorized by a local districts , the county or state , typically under agreements that must be renewed every five years .
Allegations of financial mismanagement plagued CPA over its five-year run .
In one report to the Los Angeles Board of Education , L.A. Unified maintained that “ the school is not consistently adhering to its fiscal policies and procedures and has significant and recurring fiscal-related issues.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues such as minimally qualified teachers , inadequate teacher training , misassignment of teachers outside their subject areas and a high ratio of substitutes , the report stated .
A review by the district ’ s charter division Director José Cole-Gutiérrez raised questions about whether the charter had inflated its student enrollment to qualify for more state funding .
The report also found that the charter division had rung up more than $ 180,000 in expenses it could not properly account for or document .
The L.A. Unified charter division also noted more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ learning center incorporated by Bucknor and to her husband Philip A. Bucknor .
The district concluded those payments signaled an inappropriate conflict of interest .
The school defended the payments , saying that they were authorized properly by CPA ’ s board of directors and that Philip Bucknor had been paid for legal services .
In 2019 , federal law enforcement agents seized records from Janis Bucknor ’ s home in a raid conducted by the U.S. Department of Education ’ s Office of Inspector General , the U.S .
Postal Service and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FBI .

The former executive director of a Los Angeles charter school operator on Friday agreed to plead guilty to embezzling $3.1 million in school funds that she spent on her personal use, including Disney cruises and theme park admissions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Janis Bucknor, 52, who formerly ran the for-profit Community Preparatory Academy, pleaded guilty to criminal theft and tax fraud in an agreement with federal prosecutors filed in U.S. District Court, authorities said. CPA’s charter schools in Carson and South Los Angeles closed in 2019 after the Los Angeles Unified School District decided not to renew the company’s charter.
Bucknor, a resident of Baldwin Hills, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison when she formally enters her plea in court, authorities said. A hearing has not yet been scheduled in the case.
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Bucknor admitted using stolen funds to pay for personal travel, restaurants, Amazon and Etsy purchases and private school tuition for her children, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California said in a statement. More than $220,000 was spent on Disney-related expenses, including cruise line vacations and theme park admissions.
The total $3.1 million in stolen funds made up nearly a third of all federal and state funding that went to CPA from early 2014 to November 2019, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Bucknor has agreed to plead guilty to one count of theft, embezzlement and intentional misapplication of funds from an organization receiving federal funds and one count of tax evasion, admitting her failure to pay the IRS $299,639 in taxes from $1,322,254 in income that she did not report from 2015 to 2018.
She has also forfeited to the government her interest in three residential properties in South L.A. that were paid for using stolen funds.
Attempts to reach Bucknor and her husband on Friday were unsuccessful.
According to the plea agreement, the embezzlement scheme first to light in February 2018 when L.A. Unified’s Charter School Division conducted a routine audit of CPA that revealed unauthorized payments made by Bucknor to Disney, Louis Vuitton, the Girl Scouts, Ticketmaster, National American Miss pageants and others.
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Charter schools are privately managed public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern campuses run by a traditional school district. Charters are authorized by a local districts, the county or state, typically under agreements that must be renewed every five years.
Allegations of financial mismanagement plagued CPA over its five-year run. In one report to the Los Angeles Board of Education, L.A. Unified maintained that “the school is not consistently adhering to its fiscal policies and procedures and has significant and recurring fiscal-related issues.”
The district repeatedly sent warning notices over issues such as minimally qualified teachers, inadequate teacher training, misassignment of teachers outside their subject areas and a high ratio of substitutes, the report stated.
A review by the district’s charter division Director José Cole-Gutiérrez raised questions about whether the charter had inflated its student enrollment to qualify for more state funding. The report also found that the charter school had rung up more than $180,000 in expenses it could not properly account for or document.
The L.A. Unified charter division also noted more than $76,000 in payments to another learning center incorporated by Bucknor and to her husband Philip A. Bucknor. The district concluded those payments signaled an inappropriate conflict of interest.
The school defended the payments, saying that they were authorized properly by CPA’s board of directors and that Philip Bucknor had been paid for legal services.
In 2019, federal law enforcement agents seized records from Janis Bucknor’s home in a raid conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from the FBI.
Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.