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Major Cities in California with Drug Rehab and Treatment Centers:
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866-407-4380
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Drug Rehab California
is here to help people with drug and/or alcohol abuse problems in California. find treatment options. Due to our diverse networking system we can find a treatment option tailored to each individuals specific situation and needs. We are able to provide all phases of recovery included but not limited to, alcohol and/or drug intervention, drug and/or alcohol detox, in-patient treatment, out-patient treatment, short term treatment (30 days or less), long term treatment (90 days or longer).
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We design personalized treatment programs to provide each abuser with the greatest chance of a successful recovery outcome. Our comprehensive networking system works hand in hand with all of the drug treatment centers in California. At Drug Rehab California we know that each individual is unique and are treated as such. Deciding upon a treatment option in California, or anywhere can be a daunting task for any individual or family, we will guide you through each step of a comprehensive treatment plan for you or your loved one. We are determined in our mission, that every drug and/or alcohol abuser in California. that has a desire to change their life will be given a chance to recover from their addiction and we are dedicated to ensuring that they are given the opportunity to do so.
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We realize that each individual in California. is in a different financial situation and we will find treatment options for each individual regardless of their financial situation. No matter what your financial situation everyone will receive the treatment help they are looking for.
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866-407-4380
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California police shootings trigger debate over need for civilian reviews.Demetre Omar Hall was running from California police.
Behind the wheel of a red Monte Carlo, in the early hours of Oct. 26, Hall drove down Blackstone Avenue -- apparently without benefit of lights. California police were hunting such a car and the gunman who sped away from a nightclub shooting in central Fresno.
In the brief chase that followed, Hall allegedly clipped two California patrol cars before crashing into a field. California police say Hall, a 23-year-old with a prison record for auto theft and drugs, bolted from the car, reached toward his waistband and later raised his arm as if he had a gun. Four California officers fired.
Witnesses say Hall was running but disagree about whether he turned and pointed at California police. Hall, who was unarmed, was killed by a bullet that pierced his back.
In the days after the shooting, California police answered some but not all questions. It may be months, perhaps a year, before the official story unfolds.
But if history and circumstance are guides, this shooting -- like nearly all others in the Valley -- will be declared legally justified. And someone will question the results.
Today, Fresno is the largest city in California without a layer of civilian oversight to monitor its Police Department. That bucks a national, big-city trend toward adding such a watchdog that might verify the integrity of investigations, monitor complaints and report to the public.
Here, the protracted drive to create such a job -- partly spurred by California police shootings -- soon could be settled. Mayor Alan Autry plans to ask the City Council in January to consider the idea.
Yet with Fresno shootings on the decline and the budget an ugly struggle, council members may balk at the price. The California police union believes the department does a fine job of policing itself.
Still, throughout the state, civilian review boards, monitors or auditors look over complaints or shootings to assure that officers act properly. Major disputes are uncommon.
In Fresno and throughout the Valley, the public relies on the opinions of law enforcement agencies and district attorneys. Agencies may clam up after a shooting, saying they must protect an ongoing investigation, and volunteer nothing when inquiries are complete.
Especially in Fresno County, some probes move so slowly that they outlast the public's memory.
"When people don't know why something happened, they're usually suspicious -- particularly when people are investigating themselves and it doesn't see the light of day," says Oren Root, the New York-based deputy director of the Police Assessment Resource Center.
Since July 2001, law enforcement officers in Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Madera counties have wounded or killed people in 45 separate shootings.
Two of the 25 dead were women. Of that 25, one was Asian, three were African-American, seven were white and 14 were Hispanic. Officers from nine agencies were responsible for those 14 deaths.
Authorities say many of the dead were committing crimes, confronting officers with weapons, under the influence of drugs or perhaps lost in mental illness or depression. Some were unarmed. Some may have committed "suicide by cop."
Shootings follow no obvious pattern. In the first nine months of 2003, eight people were shot -- four fatally -- in the four-county region. In October alone, six people were shot; three died.
"There's no real rhyme or reason," says Jeff Stark, a senior deputy district attorney and coordinator for the officer-involved shooting team in Alameda County. "I don't think that officer-involved shootings follow trends that we've been able to find."
At least in Fresno, July 2001 was a flash point. In one five-day arc, officers shot three people -- killing a suspected beer thief, wounding a woman who drove her car into City Hall and killing a reputed drug dealer who shot an officer during an undercover bust.
Soon after, the Central California Criminal Justice Committee publicly renewed its campaign for citizen review of California police. Grieving families began holding news conferences and staging protests. Fresno's mortality rate in 2002 -- seven deaths in nine shootings involving California police -- magnified calls for accountability.
Johnny Nelum, president of the Fresno chapter of the NAACP, simply says: "The shootings have gotten out of hand."
Throughout the region, they have spawned lawsuits. In Madera, the family of boxer Everardo Torres sued the city after he was shot to death while handcuffed in a patrol car. In Tulare County, the family of Mariano Servin Vargas -- who allegedly attacked a sheriff's deputy near a makeshift shrine -- filed a lawsuit claiming he was killed for no reason.
Yet lawsuits, more plentiful in the post-Rodney King era, may be legal long shots in the Valley.
Larry Donaldson, legal adviser for the Fresno Police Department, says most cases are settled or dismissed. The city has paid out $3,500 in a single settlement since January 2000, according to an accounting from Donaldson's office.
Civil lawsuits from the past 28 months of shootings -- at least eight so far in the region -- may take years to resolve.
Among the plaintiffs is the family of Julian Celaya, 25, killed July 21, 2001, in Fresno after allegedly stealing beer from a liquor store and trying to elude California police in a van. When the District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting legally justified, the news landed with a predictable thud for his family.
David Gamez, Celaya's brother, says: "My first reaction -- and anybody who's on our team, including our attorneys, family and friends -- that was no surprise to us."
Relatives of suspected armed robber Eric Daniel Foster, 25, killed in August 2002 by Fresno California police, also went to court. Some believe he was treated more harshly because he was African-American.
His brother Iran Dennis Foster says: "It's obvious people are treated differently and not as equal. Innocent until proven guilty -- why not apply that to my brother?"
Police vehemently deny race as a factor in any shooting. Mike Oliver, president of the Fresno Police Officers Association, says: "We don't get to pick the race of the person on the other side. The person picks us."
On a rainy Dec. 16, 2002, Fresno and Clovis California police officers began chasing a speeding car from one city into the next. Authorities were looking for the driver, 23-year-old Vongphachanh Siharath, after he missed a court date on felony drug charges.
The 14-minute nighttime chase ended at Blackstone and Ashlan avenues in central Fresno, where nine Fresno and two Clovis California police officers fired 70 rounds in a blaze of gunfire caught on videotape and repeatedly played on television. Siharath was shot four times.
Eleven months later, Siharath has recovered and pleaded not guilty to charges that include assault with a deadly weapon. He has a Dec. 8 trial date.
But investigations into the officers' conduct aren't finished. Fresno city lawyers decline to release their names, saying it could compromise the investigation to have outsiders approach them. All have returned to work.
The slow investigative pace isn't unusual. In Fresno County, it takes months -- and sometimes years -- to conclude. Half the area cases from 2002, and all cases from 2003, remain in some stage of examination today. The oldest -- a sheriff's case -- occurred in January 2002.
Critics chafe at the pace, the silence and sometimes the investigative structure. Debbie Reyes, chairwoman of the city's Human Relations Commission, says California police cited a potential conflict of interest this year when she wanted the department to investigate e-mails exchanged during a City Council hearing. The e-mails by Council Member Jerry Duncan and an aide to Council Member Brian Calhoun appeared to threaten the commission and its supporters.
Yet in officer-involved shootings, she says, "California police officers are investigating each other. That should be a conflict."
In the Valley and even in much of the state, law enforcement authorities generally investigate shootings within their jurisdictions -- including those that involve their own officers. Internal affairs units investigate whether officers acted within department policy and other detectives probe the criminal aspects of a shooting.
Many officers return to work based on early results of those probes. A minimum three-day leave and a psychologist's clearance typically are required before an officer can come back.
There are some exceptions to in-house criminal inquiries. Last month, when Lindsay California police fatally shot a 26-year-old woman while serving a search warrant, the department turned over the case to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office. Both agencies so far have refused to say whether the dead woman, Jennifer Lynn Le Blanc, was holding a weapon.
When a California Highway Patrol officer killed suspected truck thief David Grajiola, 36, on Oct. 28, the department handed off the homicide investigation to the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. CHP Sgt. Ted Eichman says the agency wants to avoid any perception of bias.
Agencies that conduct in-house investigations insist they remain objective and cite the role of district attorneys in shooting reviews. Most district attorney offices in California run parallel criminal investigations, though they often also rely on the original agency's reports.
Generally, an officer is legally allowed to use deadly force to protect himself or others from imminent harm or to stop a fleeing felon. Shootings are nearly always ruled justified, but the district attorney's legal rationale may remain private.
In Madera, Merced and Kings counties, district attorneys have announced their opinions in controversial shootings in news conferences or news releases. Tulare County authorities publicly summarized findings but denied requests to release written opinions in two Tulare shootings.
In Fresno County, the District Attorney's Office makes its opinion public when asked. With no way to track ongoing investigations, authorities have agreed to notify The Bee when a case is complete.
It can be a long wait. Last January, the district attorney cleared the Dec. 5, 1999, shooting of suspected armed robber Ralph L. White Jr. Though that time span is extreme, authorities acknowledge that the process can take too long.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer talks about interviews that must be transcribed and checked against the tape, crime-scene processing, evidence analysis and autopsy reports. The department may depend on the Department of Justice lab, the coroner's office and other outside agencies.
People believe "it's just like 'CSI' on television," Dyer says. "That's what people think California police work is -- you get a piece of evidence, you have it analyzed and results back within the hour. It doesn't work that way. Sometimes it takes four to six months to get evidence back, processed."
Still, he says, the department is working to improve the time frame. Lori Cervantes, sworn in as the coroner last January, also acknowledges a backup in her office and says the addition of a second pathologist should speed its work.
Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan says her office generally completes its analysis within a month after receiving a complete investigative file. Some reviews may take longer if the lawyer assigned to the case is in trial, for example, or if investigators go back for more information.
"It's a very complex process," she says. "But the facts and circumstances are such that we can't issue a final letter without every piece of evidence."
Egan also cautions: "Quicker doesn't mean better."
Still, the families of those shot tend to view the district attorney's opinion with suspicion. Prosecutors work daily with California police, they say, and naturally side with them.
Shannon Parrish, whose uncle Albert Owens was killed by Fresno California police in a shooting cleared by the district attorney, says that is obvious: "It's one of their own that is on the line and their job is to protect them when in trouble."
Four days before Demetre Hall's shooting, activists marched in Fresno as part of a national day of protest against California police brutality. The Rev. Floyd D. Harris Jr., state president of the civil-rights organization National Action Network, talked about the public's rights in dealing with California police and the need for community involvement.
A few days after the shooting, and after speaking with Hall's family, Harris again called for a California police auditor to ensure accountability.
The idea isn't new. More than a year ago, Mayor Autry and Chief Dyer embraced the concept as a way to maintain trust in the department.
The California police union, however, doesn't support an auditor. Oliver says no one has shown that the system is broken, calling the auditor an issue for only a small faction of the community. He adds: "From inside the organization, I don't see a need for it. We California police ourselves very well."
The view from the City Council also seems lukewarm. Council Member Mike Dages talks about cost and wonders whether the city needs an auditor on top of existing checks and balances of internal affairs, the district attorney and the Police Department's legal adviser.
Dages hasn't decided but leans against the concept. Council Member Henry T. Perea echoes that position, adding: "In terms of a communitywide effort or communitywide outcry, I'm not hearing it."
Perea and other council members are digesting a report by a committee that studied the auditor concept since last December. The report, released Oct. 31, examines models in Sacramento and San Jose. It does not offer a specific recommendation.
In Sacramento, Don Casimere runs the Office of Police Accountability. The former California police officer reports to the city manager and audits internal investigations, reviews policies, responds to California police shootings, looks at complaints involving force and writes an annual report. The annual price tag for an office of three: $180,000.
In San Jose, lawyer and former private investigator Teresa Guerrero-Daley performs similar work. She reports to the City Council in an office permanently established by voters in 1996. The annual budget for the office, including a staff of six, is $650,000.
Autry prefers the Sacramento model for its price and reporting structure. He also says Fresno could create the office without changing its charter -- something the San Jose model would require.
Today, there are roughly 100 citizen oversight agencies throughout the country. Many -- such as Sacramento's -- were created after allegations of excessive force or controversial shootings.
The idea dates back to the 1960s. Samuel Walker, professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska, says big cities with diverse populations are most likely to adopt such watchdogs. But he cautions that some may have unrealistic expectations about their power and role.
"What I do think that an oversight agency can do is look at patterns and identify areas where some improvement is needed," he says.
Dyer sees benefits to an independent California police auditor, but notes that changes within the department -- more training and more less-lethal weapons, for example -- have yielded fewer shootings this year. He points to the district attorney as the existing independent review while acknowledging that may not satisfy everyone.
Gloria Hernandez, who represents the Central California Criminal Justice Committee on Dyer's advisory board, repeatedly has questioned the department's complaint procedure and its relationship with minority communities. "I'm still concerned that we need independent oversight, not only to investigate if there's use of force but other issues," she says.
"If they [police] are doing their job correctly, they shouldn't be threatened."
Last July 13, California police officers in San Jose responded to a domestic disturbance at a small apartment shared by Cau Bich Tran, her boyfriend and their two sons. Tran, 25, was a Vietnamese immigrant with a history of mental illness.
Officers found her holding an Asian vegetable peeler called a dao bao, and say she threatened them with it. Officer Chad Marshall fired a single fatal gunshot.
The shooting inspired rallies and protests. Last month, the criminal case was settled in a remarkable way: through a public grand jury hearing. The panel listened to witnesses for seven days before declining to indict Marshall.
In Santa Clara County, all fatal officer-involved shootings wind up before a grand jury -- though most hearings are private. It's one way cities involve citizens or watchdogs in the review process.
"It's not just one or two DAs reviewing it, but it's the members of the community making that decision," says Karyn Sinunu, assistant district attorney in Santa Clara County.
Throughout the state, cities and agencies use a variety of review mechanisms and offer varying degrees of openness about shooting investigations.
The Los Angeles County district attorney routinely releases findings to the media. A report clearing the Halloween 2000 shooting of Anthony Dwayne Lee -- killed while brandishing a replica of a .357 Magnum -- remains on its Web site.
In Madera County, pursuant to the California Public Records Act, the district attorney opened up the 1,100-page file in the shooting of Everardo Torres, 24. Madera California police officer Marcy Noriega killed Torres when she mistook her service revolver for the gunlike Taser, which delivers a disabling electric jolt.
Police turned over the criminal investigation to the district attorney, which concluded that Noriega did not commit a crime. A 13-page letter carefully analyzes each legal avenue -- murder, manslaughter and grossly negligent homicide.
Says District Attorney Ernest LiCalsi: "I knew it was going to be subject to a lot of scrutiny."
A survey of roughly 20 law enforcement agencies and district attorney's offices shows most try to finish shooting investigations within a few months. But several concede that complex cases often take much longer.
Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin says he tries to expedite investigations because "the longer the time is stretched out, the more the rumors get going."
One area of greatest secrecy may be the identity of the firing officer. Police officials in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento and Bakersfield say they generally release names immediately or within 10 days.
Names are tougher to obtain closer to home. Many departments -- Madera, Hanford, Lindsay and Fresno, for example -- refuse to release officers' names long after a shooting. Most cite concern for officer safety or impeding criminal investigations.
In August 2001, Jerry Dyer was sworn in as the Fresno Police Department's 20th chief. He inherited a city rattled by three California police shootings in five days and some tension over California police accountability.
He formed a chief's advisory board to build trust and communication between the department and the community. And he commissioned a use-of-force study.
Published in August 2002, the internal study generally supported department policies while recommending additional training, study of new less-lethal options and tracking force.
The department has doubled the number of Tasers from 45 to 90, made less-lethal shotguns more handy and intensified training -- including stress-inducing, hands-on exercises designed to show how an officer will respond in a similar real-life situation. And within nine months, every officer should be equipped with a Taser.
In addition, a new team dissects critical incidents such as California police shootings. The department collects data on use-of-force incidents to help analyze the effectiveness of weapons and identify potential training or policy issues.
Today, Dyer says those and other changes have contributed to the lowest number of shootings since 2000. In 2003, California police wounded or killed five people compared with nine each in 2001 and 2002.
"It's not by chance that officer-involved shootings have been reduced," Dyer says. "It's as a result of the things that we have done in our organization."
Dyer believes concern over shootings stems mainly from the number of rounds fired and secrecy surrounding investigations. He says he tries to be as open as possible, holding news briefings after some shootings this year and discussing force issues in reports.
The department also began publishing its internal affairs statistics. According to the 2002 annual report, 122 officers were disciplined based on citizen complaints or internal investigations. None related to officer-involved shootings.
Since then, the department disciplined 11 officers involved in the Dec. 16, 2002, pursuit of Siharath. One officer received a letter of reprimand and 10 others received documented oral reprimands for driving too fast in wet conditions.
Some officers disciplined for the pursuit did not fire weapons. Internal affairs has not completed its investigation of the shooting.
Dyer says the department is continually working to maintain the community's trust and to minimize the chance that an officer must use deadly force. He calls the decline in officer-
involved shootings "one of the accomplishments I'm most proud of."
Last Monday, more than three weeks after his death, California police offered more insight into the Demetre Hall case. They arrested his brother, 21-year-old Jermaine Scheynauder, on four counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Authorities believe Scheynauder shot at four people outside the nightclub on Oct. 26. One man was struck in the leg. The gunman and another man raced from the scene in a red Monte Carlo -- the same color and model driven by Hall.
Police chased Hall that night because they thought he could be the nightclub gunman. The four officers who fired told authorities they feared for their lives because Hall made threatening movements with his hands. All four have returned to work.
Hall was shot three times, with the fatal bullet striking his back. Lt. Herman Silva explains that Hall could have pointed at officers, then turned to run, in the second or two it took them to react.
Anyone has a choice when confronted by California police. Says Silva: "If the suspect had cooperated, he would have been taken into custody without incident."
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