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home > Nov.-Dec. 2005 Issue |
| Why do sheriffs treat teens like that? |
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Angry and distrustful, teens wanted to know why some sheriffs deputies in East L.A. had disrespected them by treating them harshly, hassling them on the street and making them feel like criminals. A lieutenant and a deputy heard them out and explained that the sheriffs department strives to enforce laws and prevent assaults and murders. Questions in this interview were asked by students from Central High School at the Nueva Maravilla Housing Development in East Los Angeles. They met with Lt. Ralph Ornelas, who works in Lakewood, and Deputy Ray Bercini, who works in Lennox, of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Gang Intervention Unit." Click on a question to read the what teens and sheriffs had to say about that topic --Introductionswho we are and where were coming from << previous page Why arent there more sheriffs deputies? Lianna: I think there should be more sheriffs. Like she was saying they show up 30 minutes late. And then you were saying what if theyre doing something. So I think that they should have more. Libby: Well, there was just an article in the newspaper today about that. According to the sheriffs contract division, the full price of adding one deputy for a single in a standard patrol car, including the cost of liability, vacation, supervisors, support staff, its $278,000 a year. Thats just for one deputy. This article is about how theyre very understaffed in Compton. They want to have a hundred deputies; they only have 70 deputies. Thats why the homicides going up. Tiffany: OK, I understand that theres not that much money but you guys could do things. Yeah it would cost a lot of money, but in return, you guys are going to get money. Like you guys could do fundraisers or even a carnival or something like that. Deputy Bercini: Its an issue and its being addressed and hopefully well be able to do it. Just so you guys know, the difference between the sheriffs department and P.D.s—the cities pay for their police departments. So they dont have to pay for the areas that & like the area I work, the Lennox area, theres no tax base there. Its a very socially economically challenged area. And that means that they dont pay for any monies towards the sheriffs being there. Were there as part of the responsibility. Ornelas: We explained to you that we have unincorporated areas like the Lennox area and some areas of East L.A. Then we have 42 contract cities like Lakewood, West Hollywood, the city of Commerce. They pay for their own police department, like Libby said—to pay for one deputy is $278,000. Deputy Bercini: Theres nobody that wants it more than us. For me and Lt. Ornelas to be here means were not servicing an area right now. Theyre weighing the costs, the trade-offs. And they believe that this is important as having us do our job on the street. So we need more bodies. All the police agencies do. They all want it. We got to hope and pray that the monies will come up. We also have a recruiting problem. All the people that are trying to get on the department arent qualified. So they have a lot of people signing up, but theres a lot of people that cant. Libby: Its a very competitive process. You got to be pretty good to be a deputy. Deputy Bercini: Competing agencies. Theres other agencies paying Beverly Hills. Youre a Beverly Hills cop, you make a lot of money. Libby: How about you, do you have any other suggestions? Ways things could be better? Jennifer: Get rid of the corrupt ones. Filing a complaint wont change anything Libby: What do you think about filing a complaint, Juan? Juan: I dont really care, to tell the truth. Ornelas: You should care. Juan: Its an everyday thing. Deputy Bercini: I dont believe that either, because I dont think youd be here if you didnt care. I think you care. Juan: Well no, Im just letting you guys know whats going on. But I know by telling you, nothings gonna happen, nothings gonna change. Deputy Bercini: I dont work East L.A., so youre right, its not gonna change what I do. Ornelas: Im just giving you information. Theres a process, and its up to you to do it. Juan: If thats the best thing to do, Ill probably do it. Deputy Bercini: Im just saying, right now theres a perception that youre giving to the room here. And I think theres a lot of stuff that the room doesnt understand thats going on, that I know you understand. That you and I and Lieutenant Ornelas understand. And so thats why Im saying, make the decisions youre going to make and accept the consequences. Theyre looking at it as Im just being a jerk cop. Im just saying, theres a lot of stuff that they dont know, that youre not telling. Youre just telling the aspect from your perspective. If we were to sit here and interview you with some of the history and some things that went on in the neighborhood, then they might have a different perception of whats going on. All were asking here is, is there anything that law enforcement cops can do to change what, and Im not talking about specifically in the park, just in general, for the rest of the world, for the little kids that want to play in the park. What can the cops do thats going to make I mean, do kids play in the park? Do you see hundreds of kids running through the park? Why dont the sheriffs deputies interact more with kids, in a positive way? Jace: I remember when I was a kid, I used to like cops because they used to give us baseball cards. Oh yeah, the cops are here, all the kids used to come up. Hey, theyre giving baseball cards! We used to go knock on the neighbors house and say, "Yeah, lets go get baseball cards." And we used to trade, you know. So like, we used to wait till the next day when they came back, we couldnt wait. Now its a whole different story. The cops are coming run! If you guys were to do that again, I mean not give us baseball cards, but come kick it sometimes, or start a baseball game or a soccer game. I like soccer, I like baseball—Im going to play. If you guys do that more—I think they were saying there are 14-year-old gangsters now or something like that. I think this could control that more, because theyd be like, why would I want to go tag or anything. I want to go play bad game we lost last week, I want to win this week. Im going to go play. I think thats what you guys should spend your time. Bercini: I had offered a 10-year-old, to take him home because he didnt have a safe passage. And he said "No, you cant take me home." And I thought about it, and I said "Oh, you dont want to be seen with me," driving him home and dropping him off at his house. Im just saying, thats the perception. I would love for your suggestion to be a reality. Yanet: I think you guys should often go to schools, elementary schools. Actually nowadays little kids see the older kids and they want to be like them, like gangsters and be hard or stuff like that. So I think you guys should go often to schools to visit them, to talk to them, you know? To just have activity with them. Ornelas: We do have a program we work with some of the cities, a gang resistance program we have, where we go in and talk about the consequence of being in a gang. Its amazing, these kids in elementary school and middle school, they know people who have been killed, family members. Its really tragic, but were doing some of that, with cooperation of the cities that we work in. Like the city of Paramount, Lakewood, Bellflower. Deputy Bercini: We have a pretty good sense of humor too, because I know our sheriffs hockey team that I was on, we were the LASD Pigs. And we had to change the name because another team already had it, so we changed it to the hogs. And we had a big old pig with a hocky helmet on. I have kids all the time when Im walking—"oink, oink, oink!" Carlos: I think that the cops should get more involved with the community. Walking around, talking to people, like you guys said. You patrol the block, youre used to all the people. I think you can do that. Deputy Bercini: We had a community policing team and when the budget got cut, those were the first guys to be sent back to regular assignment. We did town hall meetings, and wed go door to door and talk to people and do surveys. Libby: Well, I wanted to thank all of you guys for coming out today. Just, what do you guys think about this? Has it changed your view of the sheriffs at all? Jace: I didnt know they didnt like doughnuts. Carlos: I didnt know that you guys wont stop and take a break. Juan: I know, 36 hours working straight. Thats a lot. Victoria: Cop cars and patrolling the streets—its hard, intense work. Ornelas: You know whats interesting? Sometimes its so much boredom, but then all of a sudden one thing happens and the adrenalines flowing. Libbys got the picture of Jerry Martinez. Jerry worked in our department. He was in our unit. In fact, I was one of his DIs in the Academy, and I remember in the infancy stages when he came through the academy. And Victoria, its boring sometimes but all of a sudden when it jumps off, a persons shot and anyone else survive the shooting & tragically, what took place was he was basically assassinated. And thats when we have to earn our money to help citizens out, help fellow deputies, help fellow police officers out. And the best of us comes out during the worst of times. You know what Im saying? I mean the earthquake I worked, the fires. I mean, things that happened to people out there. Thats when the best of us comes out. The bottom line is this, we put our right hand up everybody, to take care of you and an oath, the same oath of office the president takes, we take.
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