FIND US ONLINE AT INDEPENDENT.COM, FACEBOOK, AND TWITTER
news briefs cont’d race at the London Olympics, becoming the first man to claim the yellow jersey and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
COUNTY The lead project manager for the North County Jail will be getting his job back — at least for the time being — after he was fired last summer under controversial circumstances. Grady Williams sued the county over his termination, claiming he was discriminated against after disclosing he had advanced cancer. The county, however, said he was fired for misconduct and insubordination and has sued its own Civil Service Commission after the commission ruled that Williams committed no wrongdoing and should be reinstated. Williams will resume his post as the matter works its way through courts. The Water Guardians, a new Santa Barbara– based anti-fracking group, has gathered 20,000 signatures for an initiative that would ban fracking, acid well-stimulation treatments, cyclic steam injection, and other “enhanced” oil-extraction techniques for future projects in the unincorporated areas of the county. If 13,201 of the signatures are valid, the initiative will be placed on the November ballot, or the Board of Supervisors could adopt the measure beforehand with a 3-2 vote. The supervisors on Tuesday approved a threeyear contract between the Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services and Traditions Behavioral Health, which can provide up to five full-time psychiatrists for the longunderstaffed department. The contract could cost up to $5.8 million through June 2017; vacant
COU RTESY U CSB PU B LIC AF FAI RS
is working, the toolbox is full, the tools are in working order, and these extraordinary measures are not necessary.” The first witness was Sergeant Dave Henderson, who, along with two other full-time officers, two part-time officers, and two information technology specialists, spent six months investigating whether Santa Barbara needed an injunction. After speaking with 30 current and former gang investigators and poring through reams of police records dating back to 1992, Henderson concluded that Santa Barbara has had 537 “gang members or active participants” over the past 19 years. In that time, the police department has gone through no fewer than three different information-management systems, making data mining difficult. That difficulty was apparent when Henderson was grilled by Haaland-Ford and other defense attorneys about the massive number of dots on the enlarged city map. Henderson acknowledged under cross-examination that the dots didn’t necessarily reflect that one of the 537 city’s gang members actually did anything wrong, just that something wrong happened at that location. In fact, he said, the alleged gang member could have been the victim or witness. Henderson also acknowledged that the dots representing expired warrants, for example, failed to distinguish between walking-a-dog-withouta-leash offenses to more serious violations.
PAU L WELLM AN
Gang Injunction cont’d
education
Crime on Campus Feds Shine Light on College Rapes
Defense attorney Tara Haaland-Ford
Likewise, the dots failed to distinguish between offenses that have nothing to do with gang affiliation — such as domestic violence — and those that clearly do. That information, Henderson insisted, could be had, but it would take time and not on Tuesday. When asked how long, he responded it could take as long as six months or as short as a couple of hours. The challenge confronting Judge Sterne is whether she can divine how solid — or squishy — the city’s gang statistics really are. That determination will weigh heavily upon her decision. The ■ trial is expected to last 10-15 days. positions that would be filled are already budgeted in the next year’s budget. The psychiatrists would be expected to see 6-12 patients daily and perform follow-up evaluations at least once every three months. A measure asking voters to increase the hotel bed tax in the county’s unincorporated regions will head to the November ballot after the supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday, the final step in a months-long discussion on the matter. The increase from 10 percent to 12.5 percent — slightly higher than the 12 percent rate used by most of the cities in the county — would generate an extra $1.9 million in revenue per year. The Goleta City Council could soon institute its own smoking-related ordinances for tobacco retailing and secondhand smoke. The city’s retail ordinance would aim to prevent sales to minors, including vapor products like e-cigarettes; such stores couldn’t employ minors or open within 1,000 feet of schools. Enforcement would be handled by the county. The secondhand-smoke law would ban smoking in public places (restaurants and stores) and recreational areas (parks and hiking trails); signs would display the rules. The council will consider adoption later this month and iron out licensing details. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to take control of the Veterans Memorial Building. The Veteran’s Coordinating Council has run the Cabrillo Boulevard property for 15 years, but after unsatisfactory audits and internal power struggles, the supes directed county staff to draft a new oversight plan. Three county properties — the vets building, courthouse space, and a veterans’ building in Lompoc — will be consolidated into one management plan that will start 7/1 and cost approximately $115,000 each year. ■
S
BY K E L S E Y B R U G G E R exual violence on college campuses jumped into the national spotlight last week as the executive office reminded Americans that the issue is an epidemic. The matter is two-tiered — prevention and response to assaults — and so prevalent that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden created a task force to protect students, which will mandate campus climate surveys, establish new policies that better embody victims’ rights, and create a multipurpose website — notalone.gov — to publicize information. “Schools have a lot of work to do,” said Jill Dunlap, director of UCSB CARE (Campus Advocacy Resources and Education). “But it’s a task they are taking seriously and want to get right.” Last week, Dunlap arranged a visit from the person leading efforts at the national level. Catherine Lhamon, U.S. Department of Education assistant secretary for civil rights, is currently touring 14 universities, including UCSB, which received a $300,000 federal grant. The money funds a CARE full-time victims’ advocate, a half-time coordinator, and awareness campaigns. What’s causing greater concern in higher education are accusations from students across the country that university administrators have swept sexual-assault cases under the rug. The feds promised to investigate 55 universities for alleged inadequate responses. To receive federal funding, universities must uphold Title IX, a law that prohibits gender discrimination and addresses ending rape and sexual harassment on campuses. But the national discussion has questioned the extent to which universities are even equipped to handle serious criminal cases like sexual assault. “I think schools in general have hoped that they didn’t have to go there,” said District Attorney Joyce Dudley. “They need to get more training about violence in general, [including] sexual violence.” At UCSB — which was not one of the 55 schools named — very few forcible rapes are noted each year in the campus’s security report, and recent Sheriff ’s department reports show approximately 20 sexual assaults annually in Isla Vista. But last year, CARE saw 84 sexual assault cases, excluding stalking or domestic-violence incidents. Dunlap explained several reasons for this discrepancy: Her office is confidential, it includes incidents off campus, and there is often lag time in reporting. Judicial Affairs sees more than 100 cases each year — ranging from academic issues like plagiarism to serious crimes like assault — and 16 involved sexual assault in 2012-2013, said Director Stephan Franklin. Judicial Affairs is staffed
STRATEGIZING: Catherine Lhamon,
assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education, visited UCSB last week to discuss efforts to combat sexual violence.
by seven employees and is intended to provide a “sub-criminal” option separate from the superior courts for students who choose not to go to the police. Victims who report sexual assault to the university are not encouraged or discouraged from reporting the incident to the police. It is presented as a mid-range option to students, i.e., for those who do not want to go to law enforcement. (Judicial Affairs does not refer cases to the District Attorney’s Office). In her experience, Dunlap explained, students often opt to report to Judicial Affairs because it’s less intimidating than a formal court process and offers a variety of outcomes. For UCSB senior Myra Crimmel, Judicial Affairs imposed its maximum punishment on the man she accused of raping her: He is suspended from school for two quarters and will be on probation when he returns to campus in the fall. But she argued the system is broken. “They just can’t deal with this level of crime,” asserted Crimmel, who sent a letter to UC President Janet Napolitano, arguing the process was delayed, lacked written documentation and transparency, and failed to offer legal guidance. Franklin said he couldn’t comment on individual proceedings, but UCSB spokesperson George Foulsham confirmed a UC Office of the President official will be reviewing the case. In February, the issue of sexual assault received national attention at UCSB when a brutal gang rape shook the campus community. Chancellor Henry Yang promised five new officers and installed two large surveillance cameras near Isla Vista Theater. Take Back the Night rallied, and the news outlets spread the story. The survivor was the “perfect victim” — she didn’t know the perpetrators, called the police, and immediately provided evidence via a rape kit. But not all rape cases are quite as linear or generate as much attention. Throw in drugs, alcohol, and a party-culture reputation, and a seemingly black-and-white issue becomes gray. More than 40 percent of sexual assaults involve drugs and alcohol, and 85 percent involve people who know each other. But activists contend alcohol and drugs should not dominate discussions. “Student party context should not be used to increase the burden of proof,” said UCSB English professor Chris Newfield. “The dialogue can begin to improve things. … The White House accelerated the process.” ■ may 8, 2014
THE INDEPENDENt
13