frazgo is going for a ride in a squad car

August 17, 2008 at 10:00 am in Crime, San Gabriel Valley

It will be in the front seat, by invitation. I’ll be with the Pasadena Police Department.

This opportunity to find out the hows and why Pasadena PD has had such a good track record. The invitation came about after a conversation with Ann Erdman the Pasadena PIO whom I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks back at a Bloggers Picnic.

To give you an idea on what is going on in Pasadena. They are a city of nearly 140,000 that went the first 6 months without a murder. Compare that to my little corner of LA barely 7 miles away with 1/3 the population had 3 murders in the first few weeks of the year. Adding to their accomplishments other crimes such as burglary and car theft have been down too. They are doing something right, I want to understand better what they are doing and why it works.

As always, you have a chance to respond here with questions you want me to ask an officer. Serious or snarky put it up and I will ask. Some questions of my own I want to ask:

How may cell phone violations?
Have the red light cameras reduced the number of light violations and accidents?
What about the parking enforcement, is the service contracted out or handled internally? The officers take on the “parking nazi” stereotype of Pasadena.
What sort of gang intervention programs is Pasadena using and the results
Does he read “The Adventures of Aaron Proctor”. Can he answer with a straight face?
How is the bicycle/motorist sharing the roadway going? (About a year ago there were several heated battles in city council on how to deal with the increasing ire with the pelotons that ride en mass in the Rose Bowl area and resulting complaints from motorists and residents in the area.

Any others, just chime in. I will ask and let you know what they have to say.

10 Comments »

http://carversdog.wordpress.com/ rodger

Fraz, why the emphasis on traffic enforcement inquiries when your stated greatest concern is violent crime? Would you go to a green grocer and ask them questions about poultry? Here’s a question for you to pose: What is different in the hiring standards between the Monrovia PD, for instance, and the Pasadena Police Department? That’s your first inroad to understanding why the PPD has such a shining record.
http://frazgomeanders.blogspot.com frazgo

Hey Roger all good points. I’m tossing out ideas I know others are interested in in conjunction with what I want to learn about. I have my ideas, I want to make sure the readers know its open call. I did just that in a post earlier this year next-door Arcadia PD offered me a ride-a-long and the readers gave me some pretty incredible questions to ask.

I certainly have an interest in all the factors that brings about the differences in crime between Pasadena and Monrovia, hiring is a start.
http://carversdog.wordpress.com/ rodger

Monrovia may have one-third of the population of neighboring Pasadena, but what is the socio-economic breakdown? Are there more folks living on poverty’s edge in Monrovia? If so, then you naturally have a spike in crime in the more economically depressed city.

As opposed to Pasadena PD, how much of Monrovia’s annual law enforcement budget is targeted to drug enforcement and do they receive matching federal funds through the DEA?

How much does the Pasadena Police Department rely on Neighborhood Watch Programs to reduce crime in residential areas, as opposed to Monrovia and outlying communities?

There are a lot of wealthy enclaves in Pasadena. How does this impact law enforcement? Does the PPD benefit from nice contributions from wealthy benefactors?

You should also look into morale issues in the Pasadena law enforcement community. This gets back to hiring standards: what sort of incentive packages does the city of Pasadena offer for new hires? Are the packages designed to keep new officers in the Pasadena borders for years to come, thus investing everyone from the motor cop to the homicide detective with a sense of community pride?
http://carversdog.wordpress.com/ rodger

One last thing … are the donuts tastier in Pasadena? (Well, someone was gonna ask).

That’s all for me. Happy anniversary to you and the missus.
Matt Mason

Where do you get your coffee? Where do you eat lunch? Where do you get your hair done? Seriously, I don’t know about Pasadena, but the cops I’ve seen out here are the most vain, prissy, metrosexual police I’ve ever seen this side of Rome’s carabinieri.
http://carversdog.wordpress.com/ rodger

Maybe it’s part of the civic pride issue I raised, Matt? Pride and vanity are partners, you know.
http://www.darleeneisms.la darleene

Fraz, when are you going to ask to go up in their helicopter?? *wink* I’m just sayin.
http://frazgomeanders.blogspot.com frazgo

darlene…shhhhh you’ll tip my hand for my ride request with LAPD
ecryder

frazgo – ask your patrol officer if he/she prefers the Spuderito at Rick’s or the Lucky Boy cheeseburger.
http://www.proctorformayor.com aaronproctor

I was supposed to do a ride along but I got sidetracked…damn it.

I like the question about reading my blog :-)

I know the Police Chief reads it daily..and loves it.

- AP
http://www.proctorformayor.com

frazgo is going for a ride in a squad car

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