JUST ANOTHER NIGHT IN THE HOOD
(So, why do whole neighborhoods want to be annexed to Newport Beach and want nothing to do with Costa Mesa?)
The CM PRESS was on the scene last night in the Fillmore-Coolidge slum in Mesa North as the CMPD did a breathalyzer test on a Hispanic male with a shaved head who had apparently just tried to drive his new Chevy pickup truck across the curbs and traffic island on Coolidge only to be hit broadside by another vehicle, also driven by a Hispanic, causing the pickup truck to tip over on its side, blocking the whole street, and in the process seriously damaging two other vehicles parked on Coolidge. MAP
The guy apparently failed the breathalyzer test because he was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. At that point, we observed two CMPD gang officers take over from the traffic cops and interview the guy at length.
Citizenship status of all involved is not known.
ARE SOME IN THE CMPD PROFILING TO AVOID ILLEGAL ALIENS?
Meanwhile, the CMPD is going to hold another sobriety/license checkpoint from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday in the northbound lane of Santa Ana Avenue at 18th Street. MAP
As we've written before, the CMPD seems to constantly and almost exclusively hold such sobriety/license checkpoints on the EASTSIDE! And, we do mean constantly and almost exclusively on the Eastside.
As you probably know, the demographics of the Eastside would lead a reasonable person to believe that it will be mostly non-Hispanic white folks who will be stopped. And, records we've seen after such Eastside checkpoints show a preponderance of Anglo names.
Now, common sense tells us that most white folks are citizens, not illegal aliens, and that most probably have driver's licenses. So, why put up a license checkpoint where most of the people probably have licenses? Hmmmm?
Why doesn't the CMPD hold these checkpoints where they might actually get people without licenses off our streets--such as in the north part of Costa Mesa or on the Westside?
Who in the CMPD plans and sets up these constant Eastside checkpoints?
Is it the traffic cop who told us that it wasn't a violation of the law for people (suspected illegal aliens) to endanger our kids by parking at red curbs behind Davis School on Presidio Square with their car motors running and with kids running between those cars? MAP
WE GET STOPPED FOR "IMPEDING"
Or, could it be the cop who stopped the CM PRESSMOBILE recently?
Get this. We were leaving a street that was perpendicular to Baker Street. As we were about to turn west on Baker Street, we saw a CMPD police car drive by on Baker going westbound.
We had a feeling the cop recognized us because the police car appeared to brake for a moment. We entered Baker Street and also went westbound. We could see the police car about a half-mile ahead of us going in the same direction as us.
Then, the police car did a sudden illegal u-turn (illegal to you and us, that is) in the middle of Baker Street, passed slowly by us going eastbound, apparently to get a good look at us, did another illegal u-turn behind us and then followed closely behind us (not quite tailgating, but close to it) in the same lane as us for about another half-mile before finally pulling us over by the Target Center at Baker and Harbor. SATELLITE
The cop had no badge or name plate showing. We asked why he pulled us over and he replied that we were "impeding," because the speed limit was 40 mph on Baker and we were going "25 mph" (our actual speed, by our speedometer, was 30 mph which was a safe speed for the conditions and we were in the slow lane and there were no other cars on the street at that time).
"Impeding?" we said. "Don't be ridiculous. There are only two cars on the road, yours and ours, and you went out of your way to do two u-turns so you could follow directly behind us for about half a mile. We've been watching you since before we even turned on to Baker."
"And, you bet we weren't going 40," we continued. "We saw you the moment you passed by when we were entering Baker and we saw you go out of your way to do those two u-turns so you could follow us. We wanted to be damn sure you didn't try to stop us for speeding for going one mile over the speed limit, so we purposely kept our speed a reasonable distance below 40, and it was clear to us you were trying to think up an excuse to stop us."
The cop then demanded our papers, which we gave him. He went back to the police car and came back a few minutes later and gave them back to us.
We asked for his name and badge number a couple of times and he said something odd: "I don't know what kind of conspiracy theory you're working on...." He caught himself up short before finishing the sentence. He then mumbled his name and badge number and finished by saying: "Have a nice day sir," in a sarcastic tone of voice.
No, we didn't get a ticket.
Some have suggested that this may have just been another Return to Reason cop using his badge for political reasons and that his inappropriate and out of the blue conspiracy comment may be an indication of that. Then again, maybe he was just playing the odds and trying to find drunk drivers. We don't know.
What we do know, however, is that most citizens want to support the CMPD but most citizens want to know that the CMPD isn't letting a few political cops use their authority to try to further their political and social goals.
The CM PRESS believes that the City Council should take a look at the demographic records of who is being stopped and who is stopping them. Are there any statistical anomalies that may indicate racial profiling?
Why are there so many checkpoints on the Eastside and so few on the Westside or in the north part of the city?
One of the most successful license checks by the CMPD was held on a weekend morning on Fairview at Baker by former Chief Hensley. Why hasn't there been a single license check there since then?
Is it because too many illegal aliens were stopped? The CM PRESS was there, by the way, and we saw a constant stream of cars (50-60?) being towed away because the drivers didn't have licenses or registrations or proof of insurance or any of the three.
Oh, and by the way, since the CMPD apparently knows that the speed limit on Baker Street is 40 mph, why aren't they enforcing Costa Mesa Municipal Code Sec. 10-374(a)(4) which prohibits vending on streets where the posted speed limit is greater than 35 mph?
There are large vending trucks selling on Baker every day. We know that they have been reported to the CMPD, but the CMPD seems to ignore them.
And, speaking of vending trucks. There are vending trucks in the Fillmore-Coolidge slum and in Katrina Foley's Mesa del Mar Mendoza slum every single day violating at least three or four of our municipal codes every time they're there.
The most common violations are: using sound making devices, double parking, no trash receptacles, letting people into the trucks, staying too long in one spot, too close to intersections, too close to schools, staying in the city after 5 p.m., too close to alleys. And, there are also usually many vehicle equipment violations.
Why isn't the CMPD doing anything? We know they're getting reports of the violations right down to the code numbers of the violations.
Can it be that the CMPD is too busy on the Eastside all the time?
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
