SEE PAGE 2 FOR you love that i’m not your wife
Pasadena Press
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 - OCTOBER 5, 2014
pasadenapress.com
Friends In Deed: Hope for Pasadena’s homeless since 1894 by jennifer schlueter
Two visitors finding comfort in The Women’s Room of Friends In Deed. -Photo by Terry Miller
In celebration of their upcoming anniversary, we were invited to visit Friends In Deed in Pasadena. For 120 years, the organization has helped the lowincome and homeless population of the city. Started by pastors who recognized the need of the less fortunate, Friends In
Deed has made it its mission to work together on what they can’t do alone, and keep as many people as possible off the streets, as Director Donna Byrns explained. Friends In Deed offers a food pantry, a bad weather shelter during cold winter months,
and a women’s room, where all women can come to and find a homelike atmosphere. Additionally, the organization provides a laundry facility, showers, and homeless prevention. “When you’re homeless, Please see page 4
Six current and former Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies sentenced to federal prison for obstructing federal Civil Rights investigation Six sworn deputies who were working in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department each were sentenced today to federal prison terms for interfering with a federal civil rights investigation into misconduct at the Men’s Central Jail. The six defendants received prison terms of up to 41 months
from a federal judge who said they all lacked “courage to do what is right” and then failed to show “even the slightest remorse.” United States District Judge Percy Anderson issued the sentences after a federal jury determined that the defendants, including two lieutenants, attempted to
influence witnesses, threatened an FBI agent with arrest and concealed an FBI informant who should have been turned over to federal authorities. All six of the defendants were convicted of participating in a Please see page 2
SEE PAGE 3 for body worn camera pilot program VOLUME 1, NO. 22
Rep. Schiff calls U.S. military strikes against ISIL ‘significant’ Tuesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a senior Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after the President ordered strikes against ISIL and the Khorasan group in Syria Monday night: “Last night’s airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria represent a significant expansion of the Administration’s efforts to degrade and ultimately defeat this new terrorist ‘state.’ The participation of Arab forces is especially important, not only to put an Arab face on the American led coalition, but also to cement their involvement in the longterm effort required to defeat ISIL. “The attack on the Khorasan group was also significant. On the Intelligence Committee we have long been aware of, and concerned with, the threat posed by this amalgam of core Al Qaeda from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the premier bomb-makers of AQAP, and abundant foreign recruits who can easily travel abroad to carry out attacks against Europe and United States. The Khorasan group and AQAP continue to be the most proximate threat to our nation. “This significant escalation of the military effort makes it all the more imperative for Congress to take up a new authorization to use force. The rationale given by the Administration, that its actions against ISIL can be justified by an authorization passed by Congress in the days after 9/11, is increasingly untenable, and Congress must not abdicate its responsibility. Congress should never have recessed with a war underway – we should take up this issue the moment we return to session.”
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You Love That I’m NOT Your Wife play review by jennifer schlueter The spicy title and the description of Joanne Mosconi’s play promise you an insight into LA’s challenging dating scene where it’s hard to find love and even harder to get married. The 10 “quirky” main characters who are supposed to “mirror contemporary life in LA,” according to the play’s summary, merely focus on the city’s all-white, mostly affluent, stereotypical entertainment scene, and thus, limit the play. According to the You Love That I’m NOT Your Wife’s (Wife) preview, Sebastian, the 20 year old boy-toy of cougar (good-looking, older woman enjoying sex with a younger man) Nikki, supposedly
is “the voice of reason.” At first, this might seem true; however, at the end, he ridicules himself by imitating a “thug player” and falling in love after losing his virginity to another cougar. Because he is the only African-American in the play, this could be seen as offensive by some. If you enjoy soap opera drama, Wife could be for you. After all, it has lots of great jokes and the party scene in Act II, where all secret relationships among the characters are exposed, is a pleasure to watch. You can see You Love That I’m NOT Your Wife through October 5th at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse in North Hollywood locat-
(left to right) Chelsea Blechman, Rashad Davis, Carrie Schroeder, Amanda Rae Troisi and Charlotte Price- Photo by Ed Krieger
ed at 4934 Lankershim Boulevard. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, and Sundays at
7:00 pm. Tickets are $25.00 each and can be purchased online at www.fringetheatreco.com.
Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies sentenced to federal prison Continued from page 1
broad conspiracy to obstruct justice, a plot that began in the summer of 2011 after they learned that a jail inmate was an FBI informant and was acting as a cooperator in a federal investigation into corruption and civil rights violations at the jail. “Blind obedience to a corrupt culture has serious consequences,” Judge Anderson told the defendants before ordering each of them to begin prison sentences in the coming months. Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Yonekura stated: “In their corrupt attempt to shield the Sheriff’s Department from scrutiny, these deputies brought scandal and shame to themselves and their department. These deputies decided to impede a federal investigation, and in doing so they threw away their careers and their freedom. These law enforcement officers have now been held accountable for their unlawful actions.” The defendants who were sentenced today are: -Gregory Thompson, 54, a now-retired lieutenant who oversaw LASD’s Operation Safe Jails Program, who was ordered to serve 37 months in prison and to pay a $7,500 fine; -Lieutenant Stephen Leavins,
52, who was assigned to the LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, who received a 41-month prison sentence; -Gerard Smith, 42, a deputy who was assigned to the Operation Safe Jails Program, who was ordered to serve 21 months in prison; -Mickey Manzo, 34, a deputy who was assigned to the Operation Safe Jails Program, who received a 24-month sentence; -Scott Craig, 50, a sergeant who was assigned to the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, who was sentenced to 33 months; and -Maricela Long, 46, a sergeant who assigned to the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, who received a sentence of two years in federal prison. Following the completion of their prison sentences, each defendant will serve one year on supervised release. “Interference with a federal investigation cannot be tolerated,” said Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The sentences imposed today allow us to move forward toward an environment of mutual trust and the common goal of delivering justice to victims of crime. I look forward to continued collaboration with our trusted part-
ners at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.” All six were found guilty on July 1 after a jury heard evidence about how the defendants learned that an inmate received a cellular phone from a deputy sheriff who took a bribe and that the inmate was part of a federal civil rights and corruption investigation. The deputies took affirmative steps to hide the cooperator from the FBI and the United States Marshals Service, which were attempting to bring the inmate into federal custody pursuant to an order issued by a federal judge. As part of the conspiracy, records were altered to make it appear as if the cooperator had been released, but he was re-booked under different names. The deputies also engaged in witness tampering by attempting to influence witnesses to not cooperate with the federal grand jury investigation, including the informant and the sheriff’s deputy who had taken a bribe to smuggle the cell phone into the jail. Over the course of several weeks, the defendants sought an order from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that would have compelled the FBI to turn over information about its investigation to LASD. After the judge refused
to issue such an order, based on a lack of jurisdiction, Craig and Long confronted an FBI special agent at her residence in an attempt to intimidate her into providing details about the investigation and to try to deter the FBI from conducting the federal investigation. The sergeants falsely told the special agent, and later her supervisor, that they were obtaining a warrant for her arrest. Speaking of the confrontation at the special agent’s home, Judge Anderson said it was one of the most striking incidents related to the obstruction conspiracy, particularly because it was videotaped. “They did this to scare and intimidate the FBI…and they intended to obstruct justice,” the judge said. In addition to the conspiracy count, all six deputies were convicted of obstruction of justice offenses. Craig and Long were also found guilty of making false statements to the FBI agent and to her supervisor about seeking a warrant for her arrest. Thompson, Craig and Leavins are no longer with the Sheriff’s Department. Smith is on approved leave. Manzo and Long, according to the Sheriff’s Department, were relieved of duty without pay in December 2013.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department launch a body worn camera pilot program The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has long recognized the advancement in body worn camera technology as a useful and practical tool for enhancing public trust and increased transparency. In addition, it is also a valuable way to obtain better video and audio evidence while providing a law enforcement perspective. In July 2013, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began plans for performing a no-cost test and evaluation of a Body Worn Camera System. After completing extensive research and a request for information procurement process, four manufacturers were selected to participate in the pilot program, which was formally initiated on Monday, September 1, 2014. The six month pilot program will evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a Body Worn Camera System for Sheriff’s Department personnel to record interactions with citizens, the specifications for the procurement of a Body Worn Camera System device, file management software, cloud-based storage solution and an evaluation of future Department policy. The pilot program will also identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with the use of a Body Worn Camera System in a law enforcement capacity. The evaluation will be performed at four Sheriff’s patrol stations which include: Lancaster Station, Temple Station, Century Station, and Carson Station. The Deputies who participate in this pilot program are voluntary. Each Deputy will be provided training on the use of the device, maintenance, uploading video files, retrieving video files for viewing and evidence and protocols for utilization. Deputies will provide weekly evaluations to the Department project manager about their experiences and opinions. A total of 96 Body Worn Camera System devices will be
issued to Department personnel. The devices will also be tested in several side-by-side comparison tests by the Department’s Training Bureau. At the end of the test phase, which concludes on March 1, 2015, the Sheriff’s Department will prepare an assessment report and recommendation for potential future procurement and deployment of a Body Worn Camera System by Sheriff’s Department personnel. “The Body Worn Camera system is the next step in the modern evolution of law enforcement technology. Just as radios and computers have become common place in law
enforcement, these camera systems will be utilized by law enforcement as a matter of routine. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is systematically researching and testing these systems as well as developing policies and a process to manage the thousands of hours of video data that will be collected each year that will be needed in future law enforcement efforts,” said Project Director Chief Bob Denham. For more information please contact Public Information Officer Nicole Nishida at (323) 810-1973 or Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau at (323) 267-4800.
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Governor Brown signs sister state agreement with China’s Guangdong Province Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. last week signed an agreement to establish a sister state/province relationship between California and the Guangdong Province of China and pledged to strengthen ties with the province on trade, technological innovation, clean energy, low carbon development, education and tourism. Last year – during the Gov-
ernor’s Trade and Investment Mission to China – Governor Brown visited Guangdong’s capital city of Guangzhou, where he committed to forge a stronger relationship with China’s most populous and economically productive province. The agreement builds on more than a year and a half of significant diplomatic and business
exchanges between California and China, including a climate change agreement with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the Trade and Investment Mission to China, the opening of the California-China Office of Trade and Investment in Shanghai and a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping. Partnership on climate change was
one of many subjects the Governor discussed with President Xi and a key component of the trade mission, which included a first-ofits-kind agreement with China’s Minister of Environmental Protection, a meeting with officials from the National Development and Reform Commission and remarks on climate change at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Friends In Deed: Hope for Pasadena's homeless since 1894 Continued from page 1
you’re invisible,” explains Juliana, a regular guest at The Women’s Room, “but not here. Here you become visible”. She became homeless in 2011, because everyone in her housing situation was evicted, she told me. Juliana feels at home at The Women’s Room; it keeps her sane, and the camaraderie she experiences here make her not give up her life. On the streets, she started to write poems, which help her to “keep in touch with humanity.” Jackie Knowles, founding coordinator of The Women’s Room proudly told me that it has existed for 7 years, and started off with 8 women. Juliana is one of 25-35 ladies that are homeless or at-risk, who come to the Women’s Room to either get help, take one of the many classes and services offered from a weekly writing class, to “Ask a Nurse,” or computer lessons,
or to just socialize, and connect with others who face a similar destiny. The women here feel comfortable because they are not being judged and are free to come and go whenever they please by just signing in as the only required paperwork. Theresa is one of the lucky women who found housing, but still returns to The Women’s Room because she loves the people and the activities. She also participates in the writing group. Jackie was inspired to found The Women’s Room after reading a 10 year strategy to end homelessness and finding out that out of the 1,200 homeless, 1/3 were women. However, for homeless women without a verifiable drug or mental problem, there were no services offered. Therefore, she decided that homeless women with or without these problems needed a place where they could feel
whole, lift each other up, and get treated with dignity and respect, and created the Women’s Room after the model of the women shelter in Downtown Los Angeles. Friends In Deed works closely together with the Pasadena Housing Department and other organizations to end homelessness and to prevent it, offers financial and employment counselling. The Food Pantry of Friends In Deed serves an estimated 4000 people monthly, and is the only one that lets people shop according to their needs rather than getting a pre-prepared bag full of groceries they might not like or need. When 40 years ago a Pasadena homeless man froze to death, Friends In Deed established The Bad Weather shelter for the weeks between Thanksgiving and March 15, which served nearly 1,000 homeless men, women and children in the 2012-2013 season. During holidays, Friends in Deed plans special events, or, just recently, had a Back To School backpack drive, thanks to which 180 kids received backpacks with school supplies. The organization prides itself on minimal staff and bureaucracy, and on a wide range of volunteers. Without them, they wouldn’t exist, Jackie, and Tara Hull, The Women’s Room’s program director, and other employees agree. Local supermarkets, parents, students, retired professionals, and others
all help by donating their time, food, clothes, money to people in need. If you would like to contribute as well, please visit http://www.ecpac.net/how_youCan_hep.html and find out how you can help. Hosted by Fritz Coleman, stand-up comic and KNBC weatherman, the 120th anniversary of Friends in Deed will take place on November 5, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Castle Green, 99 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Tickets are $120. Valet parking will be available. For the event, Friends in Deed is planning “A Walk Through History” paired with food, music and auctions, honor contributors, but also three former homeless women, who are now, thanks to Friends In Deed, self-sustaining. The success story of Evelyn provides a strong proof of how Friends In Deed helps the less fortunate: 7 years ago, Evelyn told me, she lost her administrative assistant job because her company went bankrupt. Without any family close, she landed on the streets. With finding The Women’s Room, Evelyn also found new hope, and a job. “If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t know what my life would have been,” Evelyn said. Even though she isn’t homeless anymore, she still comes back to The Women’s Room and gives back to others, saying that there she has family fellowship, and everyone looking out for each other.