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View and news of things I care about… or just think about…
Also see my Justice, writing and journalism news links
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Crime, trauma and reporting
Last modified on 2010-01-28 02:47:20 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Here is Nieman Reports‘ coverage of our Aftermath trauma conference at Harvard — for those who couldn’t be there!
The whole conference was incredibly moving, and I had the honor of joining this esteemed panel:
“When Crime is Just the Beginning of the Story”
For more Aftermath panels and stories, see my Press page.
FBI target in Nuestra Familia case now a witness
Last modified on 2009-11-22 06:02:29 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Seems like years since I first reported on this case (actually, it has been), but here’s some big news:
Musician Convicted in Nuestra Familia Case
Nuestra Familia Case: Monterey County’s Connection
Radio interview on Ceasefire in Salinas
Last modified on 2009-10-14 21:22:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Got to do a radio interview today with some excellent guests who know all about gang violence.
Sandip Roy interviewed Prof. Victor Rios of UC Santa Barbara, Stockton Peacekeepers Jose Gomez and Ralph Womack, and me on San Francisco’s KALW 91.7 fm show “Your Call.” The show was about Project Ceasefire and other strategies to deal with gang and youth violence.
The Salinas Miracle? Ceasefire comes to California
Last modified on 2009-09-15 00:56:03 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
Well, my series on the Boston Ceasefire program and how it’s coming to Salinas and other California cities finally ran in the Monterey County Herald.
Here’s the main story, others are linked on the right side of the page:
Ceasefire: A two-day series on the innovative program to stop gang shootings
The Alex Sanchez Debacle
Last modified on 2009-09-01 18:41:45 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I was as shocked as anyone to learn that Alex Sanchez, former-gangster-turned-outreach-worker and head of Homies Unidos, was indicted this summer in a federal RICO case for allegedly still calling shots with MS-13 gang members.
I was even more shocked to read Tom Hayden’s unbridled defense of Sanchez in several articles for The Nation, and his comparison of the case to the Sleepy Lagoon murder scandal that set the sour tone for LAPD-Latino relations for decades to come.
I was mainly shocked because Hayden wrote the pieces before he even read the wiretap transcripts used to indict Sanchez.
Surely he’s read them by now? No comment?
Not that I know for sure one way or another whether Sanchez is guilty or not of plotting the murder of some guy called Camarón in El Salvador. But I did read the prosecutors’ translated transcripts of Sanchez’s phone conversations with his homies.
Yep, there’s enough fudge room in the translation of street-slang Spanish to raise doubts about whether Sanchez and friends were seriously trying to have the guy killed. And there’s also enough there to see it the feds’ way: Sanchez definitely had some hard-core problems with this dude and was not seeking the path of peace.
So to read Hayden’s critique of the feds’ view of the conversations before he had all the facts was surprising. But it shouldn’t be. Hayden and I once clashed, and the topic was gangs.
We were on a panel in Los Angeles, where Hayden and the beloved Father Greg Boyle both “ganged up” on me, if you will. I was trying to explain the family-oriented nature of our rural Norteño gangs when they accused me of being a typical reporter by sensationalizing the “anomoly” of a boy who was raised to be a Norteño.
Well, I of course adore Father Greg (didn’t care either way about Hayden) and so left not only broken-hearted but bewildered and angry. The entire panel revolved around LA’s interpretation of what street gangs are and how they work — while our little Northern Cali backwoods gangsters didn’t even rate a place at the gang-discussion table.
In fact, we, the supposed grown-ups, were acting just like gang kids. Defending our turf. Or maybe we were more like the mothers and fathers of gang members, the parents all of us in this field meet every day. You know, the ones in complete denial. My son a gang member? Never!
Denial is how this Alex Sanchez thing smells to me, an automatic defense of turf before the facts are in. Granted, I am a few hundred miles away. Some people I really respect really respect him. I want him to be innocent. I’d surely jump to the defense of one of my colleagues if he were indicted by the feds, especially if it was someone I truly believed had changed.
I also know more than a few people who paradoxically do good work to keep kids away from gangs but still keep a toe in the mix themselves — so it’s not at all far-fetched that Sanchez could be doing the same.
I wish I had enough faith in our federal courts to believe the truth will come out in trial. But that’s not how RICO cases work. In gang conspiracy trials, “vague” is too often the name of the game. I also believe (and have amassed some evidence for a future story) that the FBI has consistently over-hyped the threat posed by MS-13 to near hysteria levels.
And so we may never know whether Sanchez wanted to have Camarón killed.
I do know enough from reading his vindictive words that I probably wouldn’t want him to mentor a troubled kid I care about. He may or may not be guilty of conspiring to commit murder, but we should all acknowledge that — at least in those conversations he thought private — he spewed hate and vengeance and was no peacemaker. It’s hard not to sense he was disingenuous at best.
I hope in the big picture that I’m wrong, that this was a momentary lapse of judgment in otherwise radiant turnaround. If I am, I’ll send Hayden a bunch of flowers. Hell, an olive branch.
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PS. The language police want Hayden and The Nation’s copy desk to note that the dead guy’s street name is Camarón (Spanish for shrimp) and not “Cameron.”
Folsom Prison Blues
Last modified on 2009-08-14 17:01:34 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Good story on NPR this week giving background about California’s Folsom prison, and our state’s prison problems in general: Folsom Embodies California’s Prison Blues | by Laura Sullivan.
I spent a day inside Folsom in 2003, and it’s amazing how much has changed for the worse even since then, when inmates were already doubled up in cells designed for one. Back then, the vocational programs were impressive and the gardens around the old prison were quite beautiful. The inmates took pride in them, but according to this story, they’re gone now, too.
Salinas gang murders
Last modified on 2009-08-14 16:57:02 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
An ignoble distinction… Salinas just matched San Jose’s murder total for the year: 18. Except San Jose is a city of nearly 1 million and Salinas is 150,000 on a good day.
And it’s barely August.
I’ve spent the last week covering shootings, four dead and four wounded, including a 14-year-old boy. I know I’m supposed to be the dispassionate journalist, but there are days when I just feel sick… and sad.
Today’s one of them.
Edit: Sad to say, late last night we added one more. So we’ve passed San Jo now.
Homeland security and kickin’ it with judges
Last modified on 2009-08-14 16:58:39 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Got to hang out at the Ninth Circuit Judiciary Conference this week and caught Janet Napolitano’s opening talk:
Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano says U.S. faces an eventful fall
Kind of unfortunate headline, though. I don’t think she was actually predicting the total collapse of the United States. Yet.
If so, well, you read it here first, folks.
And, by the way, we reporters don’t write the headlines.
New “old” stories: whistleblowers and a wild investment scandal
Last modified on 2009-08-14 17:01:00 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I just added two articles to my “Stories” page:
One is an interview with Daniel Ellsberg (remember the Pentagon Papers?) on the role of whistleblowers today.
The other is an investigation I did in 2002 about a freewheeling investment adviser from the high-tech boom days. His tale was kind of a preamble to today’s financial meltdown. The man in question, Frank J. Garza, Jr., has since been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and has been ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution to people he bilked.
Scroll down my Stories page to read these articles, or click the links above.
Gang and drug crime intiative unveiled
Last modified on 2009-08-27 18:38:26 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
And here is the just-out brochure describing the National Network for Safe Communities, the (very) innovative gang and drug crime initiative unveiled Monday at the US mayors’ conference in Providence. Looks like 30 cities (and counting) are on board so far, including Stockton and Sacramento from my fair state. And Salinas? Not yet, anyway. Hmmm…
Just click this link to download the PDF: nationalnetwork
Here’s more about the program and the cities that are on board: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/2666.php
Bold plan to fight gang and drug crime unveils today
Last modified on 2009-08-27 18:37:35 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
According to The New Yorker’s News Desk, the Obama administration is paying attention to the “Boston Miracle” approach of David Kennedy, who is set to unveil bold plans later today for fighting gang and drug crime in US cities.
Check back for more on today’s meeting of US mayors, to be attended by Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder.
Ceasefire: Proven programs to lower rates of gang violence
Last modified on 2009-08-27 18:36:18 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Chicago’s Ceasefire Program is Looking Good: Read here
People often ask me if we can ever stop gang violence. Here’s the short answer: it takes a lot of work, but it can be done.
I’ve been tracking evidence-based programs such as the city of Chicago’s Ceasefire with a lot of interest. Proponents say these intensive, multi-pronged public-health approaches are the only proven way to lower murder rates.
Chicago is one of several cities using a model that basically treats youth violence as a public health issue and not just a law enforcement problem. The idea is to follow the example of epidemiologists and public health experts by adopting the same kind of successful approaches that have gotten people to stop smoking or use seat beats or condoms.
This kind of program has gotten results in Boston and other cities (Stockton, California being one close to home), and it’s one of things I’ve been studying during my fellowship at Harvard. In fact, one of the early pioneers of the violence-as-a-public-health concept is Harvard’s own Deborah Prothrow-Stith.
More than anything, I’m hoping to see the city of Salinas emulate some of this success.
Here’s an excerpt from the new report, describing a few of Ceasefire’s five key components (the bolding is mine):
“CeaseFire focused on changing the behavior of a small number of carefully selected members of the community, those with a high chance of either ‘being shot or being a shooter’ in the immediate future.
Violence interrupters worked on the street, mediating conflicts between gangs and intervening to stem the cycle of retaliatory violence that threatens to break out following a shooting.
Outreach workers counseled young clients and connected them to a range of services.”
The five core components, by the way, are:
- Street-level outreach
- Public education
- Community mobilization
- Faith leader involvement
- Police participation
Download the full report: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/227181.pdf
The Chicago Ceasefire Web site: http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/
The Boston Gun Project and Boston’s Operation Ceasefire: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/criminaljustice/research/bgp.htm
Covering crime and justice – a guide
Last modified on 2009-06-09 13:40:26 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Great resource for crime/justice reporters
This site is THE resource for anyone new to the beat …and even for veterans. Now if we could just keep a few reporters’ jobs, it’d be nice!
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Last modified on 2009-08-27 18:39:47 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Here’s a new documentary about the other red vs. blue rivalry that is ripping communities and families apart. I haven’t seen it yet, but it looks good:
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Well, whaddya know? Prison reform
Last modified on 2009-03-27 20:49:21 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Senators seek overhaul of US prison system
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Calling the US criminal justice system “a national disgrace,” US Senators urged for a top-to-bottom review with an eye on reforms aimed at reducing America’s massive prison population.
Democratic Senator Jim Webb, backed by Republican Senator Arlen Specter, introduced legislation to create a blue-ribbon panel that would conduct an 18-month assessment and offer concrete recommendations for reform.
“America’s criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace,” Webb said, noting that the United States has five percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.
The Virginia lawmaker noted soaring numbers of drug offenders in prison, and charged that four times more mentally ill people are incarcerated than housed in mental health hospitals.
Read the rest of this story here.
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On another note, does the above link mean that Google is PAYING for news content? Hmmm… we must investigate…
New federal gang prevention laws
Last modified on 2009-03-27 16:06:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The name keeps changing… from the Youth Promise Act of 2007 to the PRECAUTION Act of 2009 (Prevention Resources for Eliminating Criminal Activity Using Tailored Interventions in Our Neighborhoods Act of 2009)
Phew, what a mouthful!
Anyway, for those who care to follow this legislation, it was recently re-introduced as H.R. 1064. The Senate version is S. 435.
Track them both (and any other federal bills) at this awesome site: OpenCongress.org.
The description from the Senate bill is:
A bill to provide for evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention to help build individual, family, and community strength and resiliency to ensure that youth lead productive, safe, health, gang-free, and law-abiding lives.
As always, read the fine print. Just as with other “gang prevention” legislation in the past, the devil is in the details.
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What’s really happening with newspapers
Last modified on 2009-08-27 18:41:44 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Well, I am a reporter, so like everyone else, I’m following the shrinkage of newspapers with great interest. This essay by Clay Shirky is making the rounds, and says it all (almost):
Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
A few quotes that resonate:
- “You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone!” has never been much of a business model.
- Now is the time for experiments, lots and lots of experiments, each of which will seem as minor at launch as craigslist did, as Wikipedia did, as octavo volumes did.
- Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism. For a century, the imperatives to strengthen journalism and to strengthen newspapers have been so tightly wound as to be indistinguishable. That’s been a fine accident to have, but when that accident stops, as it is stopping before our eyes, we’re going to need lots of other ways to strengthen journalism instead.
- When we shift our attention from ’save newspapers’ to ’save society’, the imperative changes from ‘preserve the current institutions’ to ‘do whatever works.’
As a long-time Internet geek who’s also a long-time reporter, I found this essay reassured me about journalism in ways most ‘Net fanatics haven’t been able to (As in, no, citizen journalism is not going to save us).