Oakland Cop Was ‘Like a Pimp’

Only 1 trial. One cop committed suicide. 11 were “disciplined” and 4 were fired. Judge Orders Oakland Cop to Trial; Says He Was ‘Like a Pimp’ to Exploited Teen – Hit & Run : Reason.com

On the “Cops Behaving Badly” scale, this one is pretty bad. (The entire litany of who did what is after the break.)

Known as Celeste Guap in initial media reports, the girl was just 17 years old when Oakland cops started passing her between them—a few paying customers, most extorting sex in exchange for helping her avoid arrest—according to her testimony and a good deal of corroborating evidence

These cops in Greater Oakland, California figured that the law didn’t apply to them. A couple plead to misdemeanors and one guy killed himself after all this came to light. So if a dozen or so cops were involved with this one girl, exactly how often does stuff like this happen?

Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0

He suffered a breakdown of the victim-selection process. Fairfield Police: Would-Be Robber Shot by Store Clerk | FOX40. Even in the People’s Republic of California, self-defense works.

What you can’t see or hear in the video are shots fired. Fairfield police say one of the clerks, fearing for his safety, opened fire at the would-be robber, sending him to the hospital.

Oh, and it being California, neighbors customers were shocked.

“Everybody’s kind of shocked a little bit,” said Williams.

Williams is the clerk’s close friend and a loyal customer. She’s disturbed by what happened to her friend.

“What if I woud have been here? Just a lot of thoughts,” Williams said

Because apparently she thought that she lived and her friend worked in Pleasantville, where such things don’t happen. She didn’t realize that she lived in the Real World™ where crime can and often does happen. And not just to “other kinds of people” in “other kinds of places.”

The Right to Keep and Bear Cameras

So they broke into a home (or tried) and ran smack into an armed homeowner. Who also had a cellphone with a camera. Chino Hills Homeowner Holds Alleged Attempted Burglars at Gunpoint; 5 Arrested | KTLA

2 of the 5 would be bad-guys got away, the other 3 were held until police arrived.

the homeowner held them at gunpoint, and while they were lying on the ground he took a photo. (It is the 21st Century after all; we take photos of everything.)

Pictures Tran said were posted by Zhang on Chinese social media appear to show the suspects down on the ground as the family waited for authorities to arrive.

It shous that even in the People’s Republic of California, self-defense works.

Crime is Up and Arrests Down in LA Since 2013, and the LA Times Doesn’t Know Why

It couldn’t be that there is a witch hunt against cops, now could it? Police arrests are plummeting across California, fueling alarm and questions – LA Times

Police officers began making fewer arrests. The following year, the Los Angeles Police Department’s arrest numbers dipped even lower and continued to fall, dropping by 25% from 2013 to 2015.

You have dig pretty deep into the article before the mention Michael Brown and Ferguson, Mo. That was in 2014, though it looks like the decline started before that.

Some in the city counsel are amazed that arrests are going down while crime is not. But really, what do you expect cops to do?

In a nationwide survey conducted in 2016 by the Pew Research Center, 72% of the law enforcement officers questioned said their colleagues were less likely to stop and question suspicious people.

So there’s that.

Armed Self-defense in California?

Wouldn’t have thought that was possible. UPDATE: Man shoots, kills another in apparent self-defense, police say

9:15 PM, a CCW permit holder is stopped in his car. A would-be bad-guy (apparently) approaches on a bicycle.

When police get there, the car has a broken window, and the bicyclist is dead from a gunshot wound. Administered by the driver of the car.

The police don’t determine who gets charged, that is up to the DA, but they didn’t arrest this guy, so that says they believe his version of events.

Self-defense is a human-right. Even in the People’s Republic of California.

$1.9 billion error in California’s version of Medicaid.

As one of the commenters on the story said, no one expects Progressives to be good at math. $1.9 billion error adds to California deficit projection

The administration discovered accounting mistakes last fall, but it did not notify lawmakers until the administration included adjustments to make up for the errors in Brown’s budget proposal last week.

Expanding Medicaid was a cornerstone of Obamacare. Said to be working smoothly in California. 1.9 billion dollars discovered in the fall. Before or after the election, I wonder. (Not that a few billion dollars would have changed voting habits on the Left Coast – where it is all about FEELINGS.) No one will lose their job over this error.

The 1.9 billion error is compounding the problem that CA is not collecting taxes at the rate they expected. Total budget shortfall is closer to $3 billion. [Hat tip to Small Dead Animals]

Feeling Safe Versus Being Safe

The stabbing death of the USC professor is certainly a tragedy. But it doesn’t have a material impact on campus safety. That is, nothing has changed. Grad Student Held in Stabbing Death of USC Professor Bosco Tjan – Higher Education

The campus is mourning; colleagues are remembering, etc.

But the snowflakes are waking up to the fact that they are not safe in the ivory tower.

While those killings raised concerns about the safety of international students, this new killing has some on the USC campus wondering about their own general safety.

Zhongtang Li, a teaching assistant and fourth-year doctoral student in chemical engineering from Shanxi, China, told the Los Angeles Times he does not feel as safe as before.

I have news for your, cupcake, you are exactly as safe as you have ever been. Which is to say, you are and have always been, at risk. You do not live in Pleasantville, but in the Real World™ where bad things can happen.

(Side note: has there been a call universal knife control in the wake of this killing, and I just haven’t heard it? Background checks and waiting periods before you can buy those steak knives?)