So here's the problem with the Sierra Madre Police Department. Nobody seems to like them very much. At first I thought this might be a phenomenon limited to a certain group of easily agitated folks with career authority problems, but apparently I was wrong.
I talk to a fair amount of people, and the folks I am discussing here are the kinds of guys who help coach Little League teams, the parents of kids that my children go to school with, plus friends, acquaintances, and neighbors. And by and large they are people who don't know or care very much about the political affairs of Sierra Madre, and wouldn't know the name of anyone on the City Council if you asked. Family people, folks who get up early and go to work every day, and only return when it is dark. Most of those I'm referring to here don't even know I edit a blog. It's not what they're interested in, and I don't press it. We talk mostly about our kids and family stuff.
But there is one Sierra Madre issue that they all know about, and agree upon. Strongly agree. They're not happy about our cops. Everyone either has a story of being pulled over for what they thought were ridiculous reasons, or knows somebody who was. Often more than once. And these stories are the common coin of the weekend gatherings I go to. They're told in a "can you believe this kind of thing is happening?" sort of way. And it comes from the very people you'd least expect to hear this kind of talk. After all, aren't they supposed to be the people the police are here to protect? Couple this with whatever happened at The Four Seasons Tea Room, the costly Police lawsuit against the City of Sierra Madre over a locker search, and the ongoing mysteries regarding the shooting, and you're going to notice people becoming concerned.
But it took me a while to fully grasp how truly pervasive this all is. It's everywhere.
And there is a definite sense of disconnect here. Many of the people raising families in Sierra Madre truly love this town because of its sense of community. It is a world unto itself, and whatever you do during your weekdays can be put aside for the better things found here. It's not a transit village, or a redeveloped condo block. It's a real town. Which makes feeling that you are being subjected to constant observation by a suspicious and perhaps even hostile police force a jarring contrast to the rest of the town's presentation. A Los Angeles County inner city law enforcement mentality artificially grafted on to Mayberry, and for no easily understood reason. The SMPD is no longer a part of Sierra Madre's sense of community, it has become the antithesis. And it is this sense of otherness that has put the Sierra Madre Police Department in a very tenuous place. They've lost the support of the very people they need to continue on here. They have become a political issue with people who don't care about politics.
Because of the raises they were given last year, the Sierra Madre Police Department will soon account for over 50% of our General Fund budget. The bad deal made under the aegis of then Mayor Joffe has come back to haunt us in what are now truly treacherous fiscal times. The economy lays in ruins, and the nightmare that is Sacramento is affecting towns like ours in serious and unexpected ways. Case in point, the governor of this state is now contemplating "borrowing" from our property taxes to keep his operation afloat. This could result in as much as $300,000 during the upcoming Fiscal Year being taken from us.
And because Sierra Madre's fiscal accounting practices in the fairly recent past were conducted at a hillbilly level of proficiency, a voter approved Utility User Tax hike is now being given a whole new, and very skeptical, reappraisal. The citizens of Sierra Madre voted themselves a tax hike based on apparently unaudited numbers, and as some opponents of the increase feared, those numbers turned out to be wildly inaccurate. And it was this UUT hike that made the SMPD pay increase possible.
Not exactly a time for the Sierra Madre Police Department to recklessly squander its natural base of support. But apparently that is what they have done.
The question that has to be asked is are we talking about something that is being done intentionally? Is it a new and wrongheaded policy? Or is it just a kind of unfiltered resentment that an employee might feel for people whose status they themselves cannot hope to attain?
The Sierra Madre Police Department is represented by the law firm Lackie, Dammeier & McGill. This law firm exercises a strong influence over 120 Police Officers' Associations
throughout California, and it employs some very aggressive tactics to get what they want out of small cities like Sierra Madre. (I wrote about their methods in an article called "How The Police Officer's Association Got Business Done," which can be linked to here.) And their hardball tactics and practices have been noted in the press. I've pulled a couple of examples off the Newsbank Infoweb site to illustrate this.
"Monrovia Police Officers' Association Ramps up the Rhetoric - City Manager calls tactics 'tantamount to extortion' (Monrovia Weekly May 08, 2008): The last week has seen a flurry of activity on the part of the Monrovia Police Officers' Association in their public campaign against the City Council and City Manager's office. But so far City Hall does not seem to be flinching ... 'People are livid at them for talking about their community that way,' says City Manager Scott Ochoa referring to comments he says he has heard from citizens who have allegedly taken offense at the MPOA's tactics and their public statements implying that Monrovia is not a safe place to live and do business ... The MPOA has been active using several billboards on the edge of the city, one reading, 'Caution, You're Approaching Monrovia. Higher Violent Crime. Fewer Officers patrolling.' The billboard tactic was also used in Arcadia last fall during the Arcadia's very public and bitter contract negotiation with the city."
"Police union may be following nasty blueprint (North County Times, Escondido, March 24, 2009): City officials say that they are concerned that last week's provocative police union mailer could be part of a nasty and aggressive negotiating blueprint recommended to unions across the sate by a San bernardino County labor attorney ... The blueprint, which is featured on the Web site of the union's attorney, recommends that police labor unions 'annoy decision makers' and 'chastise them for their lack of concern for public safety.' It also suggests the union act 'like a quiet giant in the position of "do as I ask and don't piss me off"' ... Members of the City Council said some of the union's recent tactics appear to match advice contained on the Web site, which they called 'deplorable' and 'shocking.'"
Now perhaps these kinds of tactics work well when times are good. After all, we have all witnessed City Councils that would rather spend money than risk unpleasant confrontations. But Sierra Madre could very well find itself up against a fiscal wall should the UUT situation play out in a way that would constrict City Hall's cash flow. And even now the costs have become onerous.
The SMPD are by far our largest expense. And as towns like Temple City have shown us, the Los Angeles Sheriff's department not only does a good enough job, it is a shared expense that is far kinder to distressed bottom lines. That many believe they could very well deliver a more professional brand of law enforcement as well only completes the picture.
Change is in the air.
If you are looking for answers why the SMPD has morphed into what it has,one needs to look further into the workings of city hall and their allies on City Council.There was a time when the Police Department was a part of the community and was very much liked.Times has changed,the past is the past.These days we need to look to a professional force to cope with the current trends.
ReplyDeleteI personally like the idea of having our own police force. I think that the real problem is that the officers don't take the time to connect with the folks of this city. Chief Diaz lives here, she has a vested interest. Most of the others don't live here. Bet no one can name more than two officers. They are disconnected!
ReplyDeleteIt never fails that when I'm downtown, I always see an illegal U-turn....you never see an officer. The days when police took pride in their "beat" and cared about the folks they are trying to "protect" are gone...they don't even know our names!
Kate at 7:35 - Agreed that the SMPD is disconnected to a point, however with the general hostility towards them in town you almost can't blame them. Kind of a vicious circle situation. I still don't understand why it seems that so many illegal u-turns go un-noticed. But on the other hand I was glad they showed up on a nice afternoon to take care of a very obnoxious man in Kersting Court. (Mayberry Style) I'm also glad that they seem to put an emphasis on drunk driving. But ticketing a cyclist for speeding? Seems a bit ridiculous. I've met several of the cops at neighborhood block parties and events in town, or just stepping up and saying hello when I've seen them on the street. So maybe the part of the disconnect is the partially responsibility of the residents. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Keith Abbott, Ruben Enriquez, John Ford, that's three.
ReplyDeleteAnon-at 8:32 -
ReplyDeleteI agree it takes two -- I can tell you that I've been pulled over exactly twice in over a dozen years living here - been ticketed twice.
How about pulling over a family on their way to church, with two little kids on Easter morning for not stopping "long enough" at the stop sign? That was a hefty fine...and let me tell you, my friend tried to have a conversation with the officer....that was met with stealth silence.
Yes, I wouldn't want to be an officer, on the other hand, that's what they signed up for. I also know John Ford, a nice guy.
Maybe what needs to happen is that they do some foot patrols downtown...start chatting with the residents. You have to ask yourself if the residents feel slightly burned by the fact that they sued the city regarding Chief Diaz. I agree that something needs to be done so that residents don't feel intimadated by the officers and the officers feel like we want them in our town.
All the above have a point.However, we can't ignore the bind we have gotten into.To get a better qualified,trained and professional security service economically, sounds like a reasonable plan to me.Part of the issues raised regarding police conduct undoubtedly result from less than mediocre candidates.The County is certainly more selective to begin with and with the training provided to their officers you have a better cop.
ReplyDeleteI was a supporter of the police, so was Sir Eric, we both got signatures to get their issue to the voters.
ReplyDeleteI would have never been involved in this had I known about this plot by their union attorneys to strong arm small cities. They're no better than the BIA and the CAR.
I know this issue is dragging us down, I have spoken to city council members about it, and what Sir Eric reports is absolute facts.
We need to take some action.
If any of you folks from the Foothill blog are reading this, how about posting your opinions, you have all had trouble with your local police forces....especially Monrovia, and Arcadia.
I would like to read your opinions.
We need a good debate here.
If the people vote out the UUT in the next election, will it nulify the police contract?
ReplyDeleteThe Foothill Blog has gone into rigor mortis.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Sierra Madre Weekly will print Sir Erics column today.
ReplyDeleteI know several teens who hang out in Sierra Madre and they all say they get hassled by the Sierra Madre police all the time, for dumb, simple things.
ReplyDeleteI just figured it was because Sierra Madre was an uptight town that encouraged its police to keep teenagers on a tight leash,
not that I think this is right or gives teens a good example of the very necessary functions of a police force.
One of the benefits of Sierra Madre is that it offers teens a place to hang out outside of their homes, we can all remember that drive for a bit of independence.
It gives a town some Life to it, to have comfortable open space available for all ages.
So why should teens get hassled?
Virginia?
ReplyDeleteWhy did we spend all the money on a YAC center?
Why don't kids want to hang out there?
Anonymous @10:149,
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent question. I'm afraid if the public voted down the UUT on the 2nd vote, the POA would again sue the City. What percent of our monthly budget are they costing us now? With the litigation costs, I'll bet it is really expensive. I had heard that it was already over 50% of the (monthly)General Budget due to litigation fees.
Maybe if we had personnel who knew their job at manageing the budget,we wouldn't be in this mess.Another reason for housekeeping beginning with an AUDIT...We can not keep going down to one fiasco after another.We have to bite the bullet and CHANGE THINGS!The OLD WAYS are NOT working!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if more down town u-turns were ticketed, maybe there would be less money problems in town.
ReplyDeleteSeems like I see a u-turn almost everytime I am in town, People leaving the Post office do it a lot, they are parked under the no u-turn sign, make the u-turn from the curb and head north on Baldwin....
12:32, at one of the recent budget discussions, the police accounted for 52% of our expenses. 52%.
ReplyDeleteReluctantly I've come to the conclusion that we should go with the sheriff, maybe even in some kind of combo with Arcadia.
ReplyDeleteI think Diaz does a good job, and it would be great if we could have our own force. But the POA overplayed their hand, and probably thanks to the law firm Lackie, Dammeier & McGill, they've turned an old supporter into someone who is willing to give the alternative a try.
The sheriff would take over the offices, and set up a sub-station here, right?
Response time matters. A lot.
Virginia, teens get hassled because they do dumb stuff, that's the cops job, so hopefully the teens will turn into adults and not do "dumb stuff". The OLD WAYS are what got Sierra Madre to be a very desirable place to live in the first place. It's not that the OLD WAYS don't work, rather it's the recent batch of folks that ran the town interpreting the OLD WAYS of doing things to their benefit. AUDITS! what in the hell do we have a treasurer for, isn't that his job as treasurer to oversee money? DO YOUR JOB! I have lived here over 20 years and have never had a bad experience with the police, never pulled over, a couple of parking tickets. Everybody wants to be a critic of the police, until you need them. As far as the training cops go through, the very minimum they all have is P.O.S.T., very extensive training, if they are coming from either LA or Sherrif's they have been trained through those agencies, very extensive. Just like any other profession, ya got your good ones and bad ones. The question is not the quality of the police officers being hired, but rather, the hiring and vetting policies in place here in Sierra Madre, WE HIRE THESE OFFICERS, THEY DON"T HIRE US! Sure their are ways the PD could improve community PR, true in all departments. In regard to Temple City using the Sherrif's Dept. have you seen the size and proximity of the actual facility in relation to TC?, ya, I'd use them to. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water here folks. Careful what we wish for, could be some serious blowback.
ReplyDeletewhen miss alli and i moved here from altadena four years ago we thought "a small town feel, a tight community of friends, and our own police department, how cool!" we were right on one and two. boy, were we wrong on three.
ReplyDeletethe altadena sherrif's department was uniformly professional and responsive. when we asked for traffic control on our street, they were there. when a movie shoot ran late, they shut it down. when we asked to close the street for a block party, they said it would be unlawful without a permit and insurance. while saying this they handed us the barricades and told us to have fun.
in contrast, the kids and fat old guys of the union pretending to be a police department ignore our requests to slow traffic on carter -too busy chasing bikers, skateboarders and giving depositions against the chief. they big time me when i have tried to strike up a conversation. and just for fun, try to imagine that mean lady with the billie jean king haircut who was supposedly splattered with canine feces by the tea room guy letting anyone have a little fun - fuggedaboutit!
no folks, it's time to move on and hire professional law enforcement. according to mr. watts and the not so great triangulator mr. mosca, options are being looked at. i hope they are telling the truth.
by the way virginia, i hope that the sherrif's department runs those creepy, black clad and foul mouthed hoodlums with their cigarettes right the heck out of town. peace out.
Umm, Old Kentucky and Sir Eric are wise beyond their years. The problem with "YOUR" police department starts at the top. Yes, the TOP!
ReplyDeleteChief Diaz came from Pasadena Police Department. The Captain came from Monterey Park Police Department. One of the new Sergeant's came from Pasadena Police Department. The new Detective came from Pasadena Police Department, and the list DOES in fact go on and on......
Old Kentucky & Sir Eric, do you see the pattern here? Monrovia Police and Arcadia Police have ALWAYS promoted from within. YOUR police department is extrememly fragmented. As a matter of fact all of "YOUR" old timers are gone! Either by choice, or by Diaz's autocratic decision.
The bottom line is YOUR above above "so called leaders" have NOT gained the respect from the rank & file.
Your Police Department was once known as on of the BEST in the San Gabriel Valley. What happened? The answer is right in front of you.
I have only one question to Chief Diaz and her followers. Why did you suddenly leave your respected P.D's to come to Sierra Madre?
By the way, that 52%. Yes, that is correct. Umm, never had this problem with Chief Bailey and his LOYAL followers.
Good luck Sierra Madre, or should I say East Pasadena Police Department.
I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.Over development,Cong church,turn coat Mosca,MVN,fraudulent tax hike and now we're stuck with the Keystone Cops..What Next...
ReplyDeleteThe Only Good Cop Is A Local Cop!
ReplyDeleteSierra Madre’s police are the best deal this community will ever get for police services! How do I know? Before my 15 years in Sierra Madre, I lived for 19 years in a remote community like our city with police services provided by the LA County Sheriff. Sierra Madre will long regret the day the community rejects its dedicated police force for the Sheriff or ANY contracted police service provider.
Measured for speed of call response, for specific community knowledge, for individual officer courtesies, or any other metric you like--Sierra Madre’s own Police are a world better than services provided by LA County Sheriff. Certainly, the Sheriff’s department is staffed with well trained, well managed, and highly motivated officers. But those officers will never provide the prompt response, the community familiarity, or individual officer dedication of Sierra Madre’s police.
Sheriffs and other contract police services generally support communities from remote station hubs in other areas, increasing their basic response times for calls by sheer distance. Even when contract police services occupy a local substation, most services beyond phones and coffee machines remain in remote centers, lengthening the response time for most police follow-up services.
Contract officers will never know Sierra Madre the way our own officers do. For example, the Sheriff’s entire training, their accumulated experience, and their future career paths are generalized to address the entire county of Los Angeles. By the time a contract officer gets to know a community like Sierra Madre (presuming he or she is sufficiently motivated to do so), they are invariably rotated to facilities elsewhere in the contract provider’s operations.
As for costs, Sierra Madre residents would be wise to support our dedicated police department—even at a premium. Undedicated police services are of no real value when they too often arrive late, are comparatively unfamiliar with the community in which they operate, and are anonymous to the citizens they serve.
And if you think Sierra Madre’s officers might occasionally be abrupt or insensitive to residents in the pursuit of their duties, then please consider how a Sheriff’s Deputy unfamiliar with this town and more accustom to dealing with armed gang members might have finessed the situation.
If you have a problem with the police, do what best suits interested citizens in a small city like ours—stand up and talk to the Chief. In my experience, Chief Diaz has been a gracious and accessible head of our city’s police, notwithstanding any internal friction rumored within police ranks.
when a dispatcher gets promoted and now carries a gun, that's downright scary - nepotism reeks
ReplyDeletewhen cops are pulling guns on 11 year old kids, in Sierra Madre, it's time to get the heads of the cops examined
These are great comments, you guys.
ReplyDeletePlease keep expressing your views.
I for one, am sort of on the fence here.
I want to know the truth and need all the facts.
Most of the posters on this board are very sharp people, and I respect their opinion, no matter if I agree with them or not.
Again, I ask you to tell any of your pals who live in Monrovia or elsewhere to jump in here and opine. Of course we need Sierra Madreans opinions.
I know you guys have an opinion.
Talk to us!
Thanks in advance.
Hear the the number of law suits facing the City will be the excuse given to forestall a a new vote on the illegal UUT hike .Never fails-the government will NEVER give money back !
ReplyDeleteThis is why it's such a difficult issue.
ReplyDeleteWe all need to do our best thinking here.
3:53, I appreciate your defense of our police, and would have made it myself, before they sued us. That changed everything. We've been bullied into pay raises that make it too hard on the ordinary working citizens.
ReplyDeleteAnon @3:53, response times are extremely important to me as well. I have had the good fortune to be helped by our officers more than once, and was impressed with the speed with which they arrived. However, the contracted officers would be using the same facilities, perhaps for Sierra Madre and portions of Arcadia, and therefore would be just as close. If response times remain the same, and we can have well qualified officers who won't take such a chunk of money for a relatively easy job, wouldn't that be a good change? I don't require the police to know who I am, or even be friendly; I just want them to come when I call.
ReplyDeleteI think there is something that has been ignored here. The issues as I see it are can we afford to pay this police force, and are we getting what we pay for. These are rather extraordinary times, and I would hope that everything can be put on the table and made available for discussion.
ReplyDeleteI recall a police force, under the direction of interim chief Christensen, under whom served Wayne Bailey, Enriquez, Doyle, the "other" Wayne (sorry, my brain...), Abernathy (not a big fan of this one, but at least he was local). This was a time when the police did know who lived here (pretty important for this small town), cultivating a community-based enforcement and engaging the residents peacefully and respectfully. They were given, in turn, the respect they offered us. Christensen even came to and spoke at a memorial service for a canyon resident who shot herself some years ago, and did so in an effort to offer comfort to both the kids and the adults who were grieving this loss to their community. Who on this particular force would do that today? Volpe would come and ticket everyone for loitering.
ReplyDeleteThis is a small town in which officers should not expect to make the kinds of salaries awarded to cops working in larger towns taking greater risks, and yet this is what they demanded. And now the community is faced with ever greater economic crisis and we fork over 52% of the city's budget into the POA coffers and get nothing for our pains but resentment and pretty poor treatment of the community as a whole. The vein of ugliness that currently runs through this department has taken a few years to develop into a mighty river of hatred for the community and I, for one, don't know why we don't just let that river dry up.
How many POA initiated lawsuits are there currently? And what are they costing us?
ReplyDelete3:53 opined ingenuously: "Contract officers will never know Sierra Madre the way our own officers do."
ReplyDeleteCorrection: "our own officers" are actually outside hires, and therefore little different from "contract officers."
Can a small town of 10,000 or so population afford to continue to have it own police force, especially at 52% of the budget? Competence or response time???. If officers cannot perform professionally and physically upon arrival then what level of arrival speed differences are we talking about? It is appealing to have our own police force, but at what costs to other services. Would our city council form an exploratory committee to weigh in the affects an out-sourced police office/service would have on our town’s safety and budget? Thank you, Eric for your good insight.
ReplyDeleteSome teens are hassled because they do dumb stuff. Others are hassled because the police hassle them. My personal favorite is skateboarding in the downtown business district (which just happened to be the sidewalk adjacent to Memorial Park) an offense which is NOT an infraction (like a speeding ticket or U-turn in the business district) but a misdemeanor. This entailed hiring an attorney to go to court and defend the charge. Fortunately, the District Attorney saw it for what it was--harassment and dismissed the charge.
ReplyDeleteCome on, a town which won't let kids skateboard in the park?
ReplyDeleteTeens are too hassled in Sierra Madre, stop fearing them, they are just kids (mine and yours).
Amen to that. One of our friends calls it the War on Children
ReplyDeletelet's not forget that our "quick response" cops were told that "kids were seen sneaking into the Nursing Facility...which is directly across from the police station and the cops who went in did so with guns drawn and put all the kids down on the ground...Sierra Madre kids! they used the excuse of danger etc but that was bs. look what happened - a SM cop point blank shoots an unarmed suspect or at worst, a suspect with a knife like recently happened
ReplyDeleteonly the SMPD brings a loaded gun to a knife fight...if the knife exists
in my opinion, ala pompus Steve Tobia, we should get rid of 70% of our police force and contract out 70% because we receive better quality law enforcement
SMPD may be able to respond to minor issues, but anything that requires tatical or complicated responses, SMPD calls Pasadena or Arcadia
I don't care what the SMPD claims as "response" time, because the fact remains it's SMPD that is responding and you don't want the SMPD responding with guns drawn
I wondering why our crime stats, mainly arrests have gone up in the past few years, it's because the SMPD is arresting anybody for anything to get the fine revenue
and they are or were patrolling outside of Sierra Madre and making routine traffic stops or DUI stops deep into Pasadena or Arcadia
used to be if somebody had to much to drink or was over .08 and "walked" out a local place, the cops would get them home and warn them for the next time, but now the person is "arrested and taken to Pasadena Jail for remand"
for walking buzzed - please what a joke the SMPD has made of itself in the last 6 or so years
50% of the general fund budget going to the police is a deal based on the percentages paid by other SG Valley cities. Contracting with the Sheriff would probably get that number down to 35-40%.
ReplyDeleteAs for the poor performance of the existing force, well that problem has to be laid at the feet of the Chief. The Chief is the person charged with managing a department that combats crime, but more importantly they manage the forces interaction with the citizens they represent. If the officer's are handling their interactions with the public poorly.....that means Chief Diaz isn't doing her job. She may be nice, but that isn't what she was hired to do.
As for the Sheriff, I reside in an area serviced by the Sheriff and I have nothing but good things to say about their service and professionalism.
All just food for thought.
I can't believe "Diaz" is still the Chief of Police. She will be the DOWN-FALL of one of the BEST Police Departments in the San Gabriel Valley.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that behind the political scenes she is very supportive of the POA agressive pursuit to salary equality. Then suddenly turns another side to the local politicians. What a hypocrit.
Wake up Sierra Madre! Why isn't DIAZ promoting the Police Department? Because she's to busy promoting herself. Diaz is self-absorbed. Diaz lacks compassion to be a competent Police Chief.
Yes, the majority of the City Budget remains with the Police Department. I guerantee that 52% with be climbing soon with all the law-suits Diaz is responsible for.
I think the city council needs to do some serious investigating into the current status of the Police Department. Interview all the Officers and ask why they feel the way they do towards Diaz. Then interview a few Pasadena Officers and ask what they thought of Diaz. Afterall, where there's smoke there's fire. Just my opinion.
Now that diaz has fired or intimidated the local officers that lived in town or had connnected to the community and how special it was to work here we are left with outsiders. And how will that benefit Diaz. Well management will stay and we will be forced to concede to contracting out which than removes are community from being connected to our police force and knowing what is going on. If we farm out police and fire department that leaves the citizens with less information on what is going on in our community and less we are involve more wool can be put over our eyes. When Gillison was the city manager he taught a course on how to contract out services in a city. So if the big build-out had happened we would have had contacted services, a council that was not represented that people who elected them. More Crime, traffic, smog,& declined property values but evidently some individuals who would have taken the money and run. Diaz is not working for the citizens...who was in power when she was brought in??? That will give you a hint.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Anon 6/16/09@4:35pm, might be on to something. You are correct! ALL of your existing officers live outside the city and have absolutely no ties to Sierra Madre. This includes YOUR Chief, S.M. resident, however outsider Pasadena Police. The Captain, non-resident, Monterey Park P.D. To name a few....
ReplyDeleteWhen is Sierra Madre going to wake up from their coma and realize DIAZ can care less about the city, residents, let alone the rank & file. She has a bigger agenda for the future. If (and that is a BIG if) she LOVED Sierra Madre so much (as she claims) why didn't she lateral over here from pasadena years ago? Ummm, thats because she was hired from an OUTSIDER (Dave Hinig) who also could care less about Sierra Madre.
The current Police Department could not hold a candle to the "old" police department prior to Diaz & Hinig. The current rank & file could care less about the city ....let alone the residents.
Yes, Gillison wanted Sierra madre to go to County Services; Fire and Police. Yes, Gillison was an outsider and tried to make a name for himself at Sierra Madre's expense.
So, in conclusion. Gillison was (outsider) brought in and hired Hinig (outsider) who in return hired Diaz (another outsider) who continues to hire people from the outside who can care less about Sierra Madre, and YOUR police department.
If you don't believe this is true just ask a few "older" officers (are there any left) about the current situation of the police department.
Yes, the PD voted "NO CONFIDENCE" on Diaz leadership abilities. However, if you look closely, Diaz has voted "NO CONFIDENCE" on her officers as she continues to promote from the outside. Why?
I was recently reading the Pasadena Star News and could not understand why the police chief was "walking the beat". Is she that self absorbed? The only thing she spoke of was herself! My God, what about her officers? What type of leadership is the council promoting,,,let alone permitting.
ReplyDeleteThe Sierra Madra Police Dept is no longer one of the most respected. Under Diaz's autocratic "strong-arm", the department is flat broke. And I don't mean financially. When I was a kid growin up in Sierra Madra, I liked our PD. I remember when the officers would come over for dinner and sit back and talk about the events within the city and department. That was mainly Christensen and Bailey. Wake up Diaz, if it aint broke, don't go messin with it!
The bottom line is this chief lacks the necessary skills to lead our city. I recently spoke to one of our fine officers and I was told no one within the PD trust Diaz or her Captain. Imagine that. The rank & file do not trust their current chief and captain. What a shame.
It seems to me the only loyalty she has is to Pasadena Police Dept and herself,,,,oh yeah, and the few she brought over from Pasadena PD.
Diaz do the right thing and LEAVE! I hear change is in the air....
Chief Diaz IS the problem with S.M.P.D. Many people in this blog seem to know of or have heard of how her peers in Pasadena felt about her. She is totally disrespected by all that have worked with her. She is totally unprofessional and cares only about promoting herself. For goodness sake she hired her own P.R. firm! She has spent her time in S.M. systematically trying to eliminate her own police officers and hoping we residents don't notice her hiring practice of bringing in unqualified croonies from Pasadena to replace them. Between her and her very questionable choice in a Captain... we should be worried.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the police officers of S.M. that are our problem, it's our mistake in allowing this particular Chief and Captain to remain as representatives of our city.
Hey Diaz, I heard Los Angeles PD is looking for a chief. Take your "cronies" with ya!
ReplyDeleteHey Anon August 5, 2009 @ 2:34pm, might be on to something. I love the pic of Diaz on the cover (again) of the Sierra Madre Weekly for national night out. Does she even have a department or is she a one woman department?
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke. We constantly see Diaz in the paper and her infamous captain is no where to be found.
I totally agree, the department failed at the hands of an outsider named Marylin Diaz. Our city council can only ignore this problem for so long until something really serious happens.
Let's be honest here, have we ever had these problems before?
Is Diaz even aware of how many lawsuits are pending against her?? No, not the P.D..... just her.
ReplyDeleteHey Anon August 7, 2009 9:32,
ReplyDeleteNot a clue! What is really a shame is Diaz cost the city of Pasadena a couple of million dollars in a "not so long ago" unlawful termination case involving a police officer.
I believe her name was Karen White. Im sure the tattler research team could find more on this issue.