LA Opinion, the Spanish language newspaper has been covering the recent events in Monrovia. I found and translated two articles that may be of interest.
Additionally, I uncovered a report from Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa outlining some history and again giving the city’s take on the ongoing situation.
Frank, did you translate these? The general drift is there, but it’s a hoot! However, I’ll take this instead of Dick Singer’s Rumor Mill!
It never seems to fail that when a life is lost through violence (drunken driving/speeding/drugs/bullets) that we take note of what’s going on around us…her life came to end through acts of violence (and this goes for all the other recent losses)..hopefully as we look back on these deaths we will always remember how they became the catalysts in awakening us from a sleep in which we rubbed our eyes but chose not to open them wide. May we remember them as the force which caused unification rather than division and forced the hand of our law enforcement to work diligently in weeding out the poison….Joy and Sorrow have a way of bringing us together. I hope we all have more celebrations as the seeds are planted to nourish the young minds with hope and goals and pray for the strayed minds to find their way back home…
Thanks for posting a link to the City Manager’s report! The report was released on January 18, before the wave of violence peaked, so it’s interesting to review.
One thing’s for certain, I got a chuckle at the end of the report when it concluded with “Have a great weekend!” Because that salutation should translate to mean “because we have no life… we’re here 24/7 taking care of trash, building permits, gang violence, zoning codes…” So yeah, it’s obvious these Town folk have their plates full!
Personally I am not offended by what is blogged here. Sad but true, I live in the real world not in a bubble and we should understand it is not directed directly at one person but out of anger overall.
While I dont think they should be able to say what they want and use profanity, we can’t just erase their comments. It is reality, it is our community. I say let their posts stand. If you disagree go ahead and respond. Or ingnore it…
The truth is there are so many victims in this. Not just Day Day, not just Samantha EVERYONE! We all are, do you feel safe, are you adjusting your life in some way? I am…I now drop my kids off at school when before they walked. I now pick them up everyday. Which means I AM LEAVING work to do so. I am not going out at night unless I have to. I have not taken a walk since New Years. There was shootings on my street that never made the paper that week. We all are victims in some way. And hopefully this will be over soon so no parents have to suffer the way they have. But just remember, when we think it’s over…IT ONLY HAS MOVED ON TO ANOTHER BACKYARD.. gangs have been going on for decades, they will not crack the wonder code this time. It will move on, but atleast our police force will have had a chance to train for this when it comes back.
The Monrovia city manager must be a fool or uninformed. The wave of violence started last year with many shootings, in which the victims were not killed. This gang violence has been going on for months and it took the three most recent murders for the police and local politicians to take some real action.
The Monrovia police also need to visit the Elephant Bar and 4th Dimension Bar on the weekends, the 4th Dimension bar is becoming a gang hangout. There was person killed at the 4th Dimension bar, only a block from the Monrovia Police Dept. The Monrovia PD should have been arresting gang members for drug sales, fights and many other criminal activities years ago.
Hi Anonymous, I can relate with your post. I live in the heart of Old Town, in between the High School and Library Park, and on my block, a family had to move out of town because their teenaged son was assaulted by a Duroc gang last year while walking home after the school’s football game…
Neighbors got together in response to the random beating of our teen youth by holding a Neighborhood Watch Meeting which was attended by police and fire department representatives, and from this gathering, we learned that a number of other assaults targeting teens had occurred, plus got very good information about disaster preparedness. Every block should have an active Neighborhood Watch gathering. It’s available, free, and all it takes is a few phone calls to make the requests (plus a little bit of work with organizing neighbor schedules… but that’s easy to do, and it’s a great way to get to know everybody better… you’ll probably even go home with a plate of homemade cookies). Anyone can start up a Neighborhood Watch group. Just call the police department at 256-8000, and also consider inviting the Fire Department to attend because it’s all about safety as we live in earthquake and fire zones. The fire department’s number is 256-8181. You can also ask for their contact who specializes in Disaster Preparedness to attend and bring her gear– she’s got loads of advice on how to make preparedness kits for the home, car and workplace.
Also, I’d like to address another issue… for folks who think the gang activity is exclusive to the Unincorporated area of Peck and Duarte, think again… it’s throughout Monrovia, and this is why the Town Hall meetings are being offered in “closed” small groups, in addition to the larger public gatherings. I feel it’s important for residents to understand that there’s been some misreporting about City officials shutting out the community by holding “secret” (unannounced) meetings… there are MANY meetings happening lately, but to better manage the overwhelming load of needs and give every resident a chance to participate in problem solving, the core group of peacemakers have taken a smart approach by holding both small and large meetings. The small groups are part of the Monrovia Area Partnership. And here is a link with some information about MAP:
http://cityofmonrovia.org/index.cfm/307910/Gang-Violence.cfm
For FX, please contact City Hall to find out when your area is scheduled for a MAP meeting, as you have important information the police will find useful. And, consider coordinating a Neighborhood Watch group for your block. My neighbors have greatly benefitted… with our efforts, we were able to pass pertinent information on to the police about a troublesome house that had a lot of drug trafficking, and after a year’s worth of calls to our Neighborhood Watch police contact, the troublesome home was shut down and the peace has been restored… so the results will be achieved, it just takes individual effort.
Best regards.
Horton Hear makes more sense than any of the idoits at CITY HALL!
FIRE DICK SINGER!!!! REPLACE HIM WITH HORTON HEARS!!!!
amen to MonroviaMan.
Oh dear… I don’t know who Dick Singer is. I’m new to all this politic stuff but I will tell you that when I first tried to get involved with the community, it was through the Fire Safe Counsel and I had a very bad experience… things became VERY mean during the election season when a few residents running for office decided to exploit the forum with their hostile takeover… as a result, the Fire Department’s involvement was pushed out and non-Monrovian participants were asked to leave the group…. and a lot of these members were professional firefighters and disaster relief experts, but as they lived in the neighboring community and were not Monrovian residents, they were asked to leave… Talk about ignorant! That was a bad call because when fires hit our hillsides, flames don’t care about jurisdiction… which is sort of like with what’s going on with our Unincorporated Area… some folks are presuming that because the incidents are happening within Monrovia that it’s then a Monrovia problem… but it’s not exclusive to Monrovia… it’s all around Los Angeles…. America…. the World… Yet!
What if… what if this curse is actually a strange gift?
Like if we can somehow achieve peace, we’ll then be able to offer the blueprint for other cities…
Maybe the world wants to know peace… maybe in some odd divine way our town is being presented with this problem because it’s small enough to manage. This doesn’t mean we don’t have big problems, it just means that we have all the right personnel and resources at hand to achieve a positive end result. And if we can find our way out of this mess, maybe then we may pass on the wisdom to the rest of the world…
Take care.
I’m chuckling now… I just Googled “Dick Singer” and learned that he’s the City Manager’s assistant. Well, that’s a bit enlightening for me, but I’m not going to jump to conclusions and form an opinion as I’ve not had any dealings with him… whenever I’ve had a concern about our town, I’ve made direct calls to Scott Ochoa, and the guy is great! So, because I know Mr Ochoa through personal experience, I have only respect for him and trust that he would not hire on a dunderhead to help manage his office. Not to minimize your sentiments, but if you’ve formed views based on matters of personality, like maybe Mr Singer rubbed you the wrong way on certain occasions and left a bad impression, would it be possible at all that it was just “one of those days” for either one of you? Even so… know what? While Mr Ochoa’s office is overwhelmed of late, he’s the kind of guy who will personally attend to whatever concern you have, so if you hold an issue with his assistant, you can bypass the friction and go directly to Mr Ochoa. All you need to do is ask for his email… he’s answered every one of mine, plus he’s returned phone calls and has conversed with me at length.
Best to you.
recently it is being said that sammantha salas, and her friend was not shot by black gang members but by latinos, because one of the girls were dating a black guy. If this is true, and if the young girl who was with ms. salas have awoken from her coma why have this not yet been reported. please let the concerned citzens of monrovia and duarte learn the truth, and if in fact they were not targeted by a black gang i think that should be reported. thank you in advance for your help.
The candidates running for our highest office are talking about “CHANGE”! Seems to me that it’s becoming a positive & contagious energy in all walks of our lives. Yes, even this horrible violence may offer a change if those in office will be honest with themselves, first, and then be willing to correct their mistakes and work at making a diffence. The community in its outrage has learned an awful lot about their own neglect and so we must all be accountable! Having lived in Monrovia at one time and knowing the city for over 43 years, I KNOW that it is small enough in size and large enough in pride that it will be used as a guide and reference for other towns to copy as they rid their own areas of violence. Your official are merely a mirror of yourself; if they neglect to provide you with the type of community that you want to live in then you must fight for the representative that’ll do it for you..I live not too far away, and we all know that these acts of violence are not just unique to Monrovia….what I do know is that if I can help support those in Monrovia I am also helping my own community. The actions by law enforcers, the news of the sweeps, the communities anger all help to let THEM (Gangs) be the ones to look over THEIR back…and that’s the way I prefer that it stays! This is the CHANGE and it can’t be temporary. Raising a family, providing love and care and values is neve temporary. You reap what you sow….Peace…
ouch…sorry for the duplications š
Everyone wants good things for Monrovia and our children…We all want to live somewhere that is safe.
Getting the actual facts (non-opinion based happenings) is very important. It is human nature to continue with daily life UNTIL something affects us personally. Now this seems to be more real for people.
Meetings may not be secret, but there has been much confusion over what can be attended by the general public. Perhaps this was just because there has been so much going on…Point being, do not wait to hear about “it”…call, They will tell you what where when. Money controls the resources we get, and elected officials decide where it goes and how to get more. Be civil be considerate be persistent.
Know what your kids are doing. When violence like this happens, the spin and speeches must happen…Remember the line from the movie “Men in Black”? A person is smart, but people in large groups can be stupid…panic and anger and fear set in and create mass craziness…
At the same time you need to know the truth. Write, call, learn, and remember that complaining doesn’t really help, make some solutions and show up, take action.
So monrovia pd puts out the press release of getting out in force and arresting 7 after hitting 44 locations.
Lets get the truth out for once newspaper smarty pants.
They did not do this because of the recent problems. They did this because they were included in normal, ongoing parole checks with many other police depts, parole people and even child protective services.
You guys in the paper show us these sweeps often enough splattered all over the front pages, don’t you.
these types of sweeps come by very often and are just part of police special units, so the chief is not pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, at least not me.
For the Monrovia police chief to insinuate that the sweep was done to get tough on crime, the recent crime in our city, he is lying straight to the faces of all in the community.
How dare a man of integrity, or supposed integrity, claim to do something for the community when in fact it was done just as another routine sweep of area parolees.
If they hit 44 locations and got only 7 people, that is not such a good percentage.
The names and ages of the people taken into custody (pas star news article) show that these were probably long-time criminals who are older (late 20s to 30s) and most likely were busted for having drugs or weapons in their possesion while on parole and not for actual criminal activity in MONROVIA.
When you are on parole, an agent can check your place of residence at any time he pleases, and thus, these sweeps that usually net people for having drugs or weapons around where they live.
Chief, can you tell us the specifics for each arrest on those 7 supposed criminals you took off our streets? Are those 7, or any of them, connected with the gang activity plaguing our town and are they even from Monrovia?
I do wait for your response chief.
Maybe it is time that Monrovia starting praying together. The power of prayer is greater then anything in this world. Maybe gang members need to go to church and find god. God loves everyone and forgive us for are sins. It never to late to turn yours lifes around and walk with lord. Amen
Hitting 44 locations for a parole sweep is hardly “routine” for a SGV city. The goal of that action was not to find an arrest at every house, or take a weapon out of the hand of each parolee, but rather to disrupt their related world and possibly gather workable intelligence related to the rash of violence. That sweep falls on the heals of several warrant services.
So I would say that it was more of a shearing of some wool off the back of the sheep…there is no cover up. Chief Johnson, his Department and all LE involved are working toward the goal of bringing calm back to the community. It does not happen overnight.
Tom
Amen you are right !!!!
This sweep was due to the rise in gang violence regardless of what Anonymous says. You can’t measure the results based only on how many people end up in jail.
Like Tom said this was not only a way to disrupt the operations of criminals and gang members but also their associates. This was to put them on notice that resources were in place and were going to be used to do whatever necessary to end the violence.
Local Boy
If you rely on NEWS either T.V or the papers, you are going to get opinion. Good, bad, or in the middle, you will get bias. Nothing will change this.
Find out, attend meetings, ask questions, and talk to neighbors and talk face to face with your police and city officials…you can form your own opinion, and even better you can become involved. Write a letter, show up at the schools ask what they need…CALL AND WRITE ANTONOVICH…a lot of these people posting write well and have strong opinions…send them to people who HAVE to listen…the people who want votes.
The sweeps were not just because of the recent violence, I know you want to have faith and believe what you read in print. There is a qupte “Americans are stupid they believe everything in print”. But anonymous hit it right on. These sweeps occur in waves, netting 7 of older- drugs, cash and weapons, ranging from Covina to Pomona hardly makes a statement. One of these Since the MPD has been truly embaressed in this, if one of those persons were connected to one of the shootings they would be screaming victory! (I REALLY HOPE THEY DO)
Everyone on here, keeps saying watch your kids, know what they are doing… That is common sense to those that come here to post..(your preaching to the wrong audience). Since there are no suspects, we do not know the ages of those doing the crimes. So if you walk the talk get out and go door to door and tell that to the community. I do. I work in a dept for SS. I report abuse, I take statements. I see it everyday. I is not the kids, it is their parents, their uncles, kids want to do good it is inate.
To all of you who have the wool over your eyes, remove the veil and open them up. Sweeps are routine and you can ask anyone at any newspaper. These are done, like I said, every so often as part of the parole procedure. Nothing to do with recent wave of violence. MPD was just a small part of many depts. who come together because for each house, a battery of some 15 officers, PD, parole, Shriff and Fam services are needed.
Parole sweeps have been done for years and will continue to be done for a long time as part of the parole agreement.
Where is the chief right now with the information about who and what they found that is connected to the recent shootings?
He did say that there “may be” some connection, but what is that connection. It has been three days and counting since the sweeps and they should have come out with a press conference to beat their chest if anything had come out of it.
All the chief is doing is smoke and mirrors like the great Hoodini!
Do us a favor chief:
Get out and arrest the gang member you know are gang members in our cities. Because, as police, you know who the criminals are and where they live. We need a lot more action and less talking and chest beating.
Have your councilmembers pass a law making being in a gang illegal and take them out of the city.
Instead of giving us your spin on things, Chief, you are in charge and if you can’t enforce the law, move over and let someone else who can do it take over.
Last thing: parents and family members know who the bad see is. TURN THEM IN. You will not only be doing that person a favor, but you will be doing your community a favor. There is help out there but only for those who look for it. Your drug money will get you nice things now, btu it will ultimately get you and your familes killed.
Yep, it’s true…this audience may not need the “know what your kids are doing” prompt. I say it because guess how many “good kids” with no gang affiliations surprised their parents when Mom/Dad or nosy Aunt went on line and looked at myspace and facebook? SO many…click on their “friends pages” and there you can see gang stuff aplenty. Check it out, you may see that cute little kid you made cookies for when your kid played with them ‘in the day’…A very together and informed MHS principal said it best. Most parents have no idea..it’s everybody elses’ kid…this is not Mayberry. If this does not include you, great. But if you recognize a few faces during your research, say something. Even if these kids are just “playing gangsta” they are playing with people who are for real and mean to prove it. People do know who the perps are. They do. Now we just gotta get them to report it and the folks in charge to LISTEN. Write call SPEAK OUT. These folks want to keep their jobs/be re-elected.
Knowing who’s responsible for a crime and having the evidence to arrest them and prosecute them and get a conviction are two different things.
Believe what you want but knowing many of the officers who took part in the sweep I know it was conducted at this time based on the recent violence. Keep thinking everything is smoke and mirrors but you’re just not right. Many departments took part in these sweeps because of the extent of the violence. FSET, LA IMPACT,ICE, DA”S OFFICE,PROBATION AND PAROLE do not usually do sweeps together. DCS is called in if they are needed.
Where guns were seized it takes a little bit of time to see if they can be connected to any particular crime. If people can be charged they will, to charge with a weak case is stupid and law enforcement and the D.A.’s office knows that. There are time limits they have to work with when defendants are in custody. Due to blogs like this agencies know their moves are being watched by many and any mistake they make will be magnified.
They made mistakes by not working this harder for the past many years and hopefully have learned their lesson. If not, they need to replaced with new people and fresh ideas.
I like their approach at this time.
Local Boy