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Archive for the 'Public safety' Category

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U.S. to fired air marshal: You should have known better, kid

November 19th, 2009, 6:00 am by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

airplane(Vote: Should Robert MacLean get his job back?)

The inciting incident came during a bitter tussle between federal air marshals and management - when the government required air marshals to have buzz cuts and wear business suits and hustle past lines at airport security checkpoints. (This essentially screamed to would-be terrorists: AIR MARSHAL! AIM HERE! many air marshals felt.)

It was in the thick of such management-employee conflict that OC air marshal Robert MacLean appeared on NBC news in 2005, in his role as vice president of the air marshals’ professional organization (it’s not a union). That appearance, the agency soon concluded, required prior approval. It launched an investigation. And in the course of that investigation, it asked MacLean if he was a source for an NBC story a few years back, about how air marshals’ overnight missions were to be cancelled to save money on hotel bills (even in the midst of an unprecedented suicide hijacking alert).

It’s, er, a crime to lie to federal investigators.

MacLean was axed from his cop-in-the-sky job and has been fighting to get it back ever since. This big-picture context is part of the closing arguments that have been filed by the federal government (government-closing-arguments) and MacLean (maclean-closing-arguments), nicely summarizing each side’s stance. The judge is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.

The government’s last word: MacLean’s 14 years of solid service as a Border Patrol agent and air marshal didn’t matter in the end. MacLean knew, or should have known, that information he disclosed to the media in 2003 was sensitive security information, and MacLean’s protestation that he did not know “is not believable,” the Homeland Security Administration says. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Federal government • Justice • Public safety | 27 Comments »

Vote! Should fired air marshal get his job back?

November 19th, 2009, 5:59 am by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

maclean(Read the latest here)

Robert MacLean of Ladera Ranch was axed from his cop-in-the-sky job after letting the world know about an ill-conceived plan to remove federal air marshals from long distance flights in 2003 - just days after a terrifying suicide hijacking alert. (This to save money on hotel bills.)

There was a huge outcry; the plan was scrapped; and missions went on as per usual. But MacLean was fired for disclosing “sensitive security information” (even though the message wasn’t marked as such, and went to his non-secure cell phone, rather than his secure PDA). Then he was denied whistleblower status. 

His appeal is now pending before a federal administrative law judge. What do you think?

Should Robert MacLean get back his job as a federal air marshal?
  • Add an Answer
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Posted in: Federal government • Justice • Polls • Public safety | 13 Comments »

Three Mile Island’s license renewed for 20 years

November 11th, 2009, 5:00 am by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

chinasyndrome01Readers of a certain level of maturity will find it interesting that Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station’s operating license has been extended for 20 years.

In 1979, a reactor at Three Mile Island suffered a partial core meltdown - the most serious accident in the history of American commercial nuclear power. Radioactive gases were released into the atmosphere, including the particularly dangerous iodine-131. Officials say  it wasn’t enough to cause additional cancers, but at least one rigorous scientific study says the impact was much greater.

That accident, however, was in reactor Unit 2. The license has been extended for  reactor Unit 1. It will expire in 2034, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says.

Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island accident essentially halted the construction of nuclear power plants in America for a generation. It happened just days after the release of the thriller ”The China Syndrome,” which tells the story of a reporter and cameraman who uncover serious safety cover-ups at a nuclear power plant. An accident, whispers a character in the film, could render “an area the size of Pennsylvania” permanently uninhabitable; a core meltdown could essentially burn clear through the Earth to, well, China.

When actor Michael Douglas appeared on ”The Tonight Show“ after the accident, Johnny Carson quipped, ”Boy, you sure have one hell of a publicity agent.”

The NRC anticipated such reminiscences.  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Federal government • Nuclear stuff • Public health • Public safety | 5 Comments »

California’s three strikes law is nation’s toughest, and out of whack, series concludes

November 10th, 2009, 1:10 pm by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

chemerinskyYou’ve heard that California’s prison system is reeling under the weight of the nation’s toughest Three Strikes law - which its employee union fervently backed, and which has swelled California prisons to their breaking point.

More than 15 years after voters approved it, California’s three strikes law continues to be highly controversial, and its fault lines were recently explored in a three-part series by National Public Radio.

Erwin Chemerinsky (pictured right), dean of UC Irvine’snew law school, is featured in the series. Chemerinsky was the attorney for Leandro Andrade, who was put away for 50 years to life after stealing videotapes from two different Kmart stores. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that a sentence of 50 years to life for shoplifting was cruel and unusual punishment; but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on a 5-to-4 vote, concluding that Andrade’s sentence was not disproportionate because there was still the possibility of parole (though not until he’s 87).

Posted in: Justice • Public safety • State government • watchdog roundup | 26 Comments »

Deep flaws haunt state’s system for attacking elder abuse, report says

November 6th, 2009, 5:00 am by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

elder-abuseThere are deep flaws in California’s approach to detecting and responding to elder abuse and neglect - flaws that prevent serious cases from ever coming to light, according to a new report form the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.

California has more than 9,000 nursing and residential care facilities for the elderly, and 290,000 licensed beds, according to federal statistics. Riding herd on them are about 1,000 “long-term care ombudsmen” - people originally meant to be watchdog/mediators, doing spot checks of facilities, following up on complaints, and helping make life better for residents by serving as intermediates, and advocates, with management.

But something else has happened entirely, according to the report.

Because of laws California has adopted, these watchdog/mediators have morphed into the front line for investigating serious reports of elder abuse and neglect. That gives rise to several problems - the least of which may be that there’s no time for the routine spot checks and patient advocacy that was originally envisioned.

Ombudsmen - now legally tasked with very serious investigations of suspected abuse and neglect - can only tell law enforcement about problems if the complaining parties agree to release their names and complaints.

Only one-quarter agree to this. Which means 75 percent of complaints essentially disappear.

What precisely are we talking about here? Assault, sexual  harassment, financial exploitation, physical neglect…. grim stuff.

Why won’t people sign their names to complaints? Well, if you had to keep living in the place you were complaining about - or have your most basic and intimate needs attended to by someone you were complaining about - you might be a bit frightened of attaching your name to the complaint, too. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Federal spending • Public health • Public safety • State government | 17 Comments »

‘Safety culture’ at San Onofre to be examined Thursday

November 4th, 2009, 12:20 pm by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

san-onofre-beachgoersThe results of an “independent safety culture assessment” at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will be presented to Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Dana Point, and the public is invited.

The NRC has been cracking down on people-related performance issues at San Onofre, and the nuclear plant has vowed to improve.  San Onofre  is run by Southern California Edison.

 The NRC has taken a tougher-than-usual tone with SanO this year (read colleague Vik Jolly’s story on a packed May meeting here).

Posted in: Nuclear stuff • Public safety | 3 Comments »

Bicycle ticket could cost Santa Ana student $400

November 4th, 2009, 5:00 am by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

sapdThe new semester had just begun. Oswald Muniz Sanchez was riding his bike to biology class at Santa Ana College, earphones in both ears, listening to the dulcet tones of National Public Radio.

Sanchez saw no cars at the intersection of Washington and Freeman streets, so he buzzed through the stop sign, as cyclists so often do. That’s when he saw the Santa Ana policeman, half-way up the side street.

Moments later, sirens blaring and lights flashing, Sanchez was pulled over. Santa Ana police Officer Berg told him to sit on the curb. How are you going to hear someone honking at you with earphones on? the officer asked. I heard you, Sanchez said. What music were you listening to?  the officer asked. It was just the news, Sanchez said. If you were in your car, would you have stopped? Yes, Sanchez said. Are you going to give me a warning? No, the offficer said. I’m going to cite you for running a stop sign.

The ticket was yellow, just like you’d get while driving a car. “Schwinn,” it says in the spot for “Year of Vehicle” and “Make.” And Sanchez was cited for violating two parts of the California Vehicle Code:

  • Section 22450(a): Failure to stop at stop sign;
  • and Section 27400: Wearing head set or earplugs.

Infraction, the ticket said. So when the courtesy notice landed in his mailbox from the Orange County Superior Court, Sanchez nearly choked: “Bail amount: $397.”

For riding his bike?! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cities • Consumer stuff • Public safety • Traffic | 151 Comments »

Bitter fight erupts between 9/11 bikers and Laguna Woods city manager (Updated with Video)

October 21st, 2009, 12:18 pm by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

ride2

(UPDATES: City manager apologizes; read Claire Webb’s story here, and watch video of contentious meeting here, or below)

On 9/11, we at The Watchdog were transporting our dear 94-year-old neighbor to the DMV in Laguna Hills so he could renew his driver’s license. We didn’t have much time. (Because the DMV was going to close, we mean.)

Traffic ground to a near-halt as a wave of rumbling thunder rolled over us, shaking our little car and rattling our little eardrums. Our 5-year-old cowered in her booster seat as hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of motorcycles roared by on their sojourn from Cook’s Corner to Long Beach, in a singular SoCal commemoration of the tragedies that befell our nation that day.

Participants, and many spectators, love the ritual ride  honoring the victims of 9/11, which has grown and grown and grown. That has led to some traffic-related woes - and Laguna Woods City Manager Leslie Keane will face some angry (and very patriotic) motorcyclists at today’s 2 p.m. city council meeting.

ride

Keane, they say, is conspiring to stop the ride by forbidding it to come through her city - and is “un-American” to boot.

Keane says she wants to work with these folks, but that they must obey traffic laws. Her primary concern is public safety, she said.

Right now, TV cameras from KCAL are setting up, ready to film a confrontation.

So what the heck’s going on? Here’s what things look like from the seat of ride organizer Gary Biggerstaff of the Long Beach Fire Department:

“Last week on Oct. 7 I was contacted by the O.C. Sheriff who had launched a investigation into the 9-11 ride at the incessant urging of Leslie Keane. She has been screaming mad for the last month at the fact that one of the 9-11 riders held her street light for the bikes to clear the intersection at Moulton and El Toro. That light is monitored by a red light camera. Oddly enough the camera images were blurry thanks to the handy work of a patriotic bird (probably a bald eagle) clouding the lens. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cities • Public safety • Sheriff's department • Traffic | 133 Comments »

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