Beachcombing
With the Nov. 8 election drawing near it would be great to see more people voting in person or sending in their mailed ballot. We have already expressed our opinion about the dirty side of local politics by referring to the Long Beach political machine, aka “union mafia,” which has donated several million dollars to support their pro-union candidates. This, in turn, has generated over-paid city employees while hampering the city’s ability to address infrastructure needs.
With this in mind, we are supporting Suzie Price for mayor, plus 3rd District Candidate Kristina Duggan, 5th District Candidate Ian Patton and 9th District Candidate Ginny Gonzales. Also, John Briscoe for Congress and Alex Villanueva for sheriff.
That last one should get your attention. Beachcomber reporter Stephen Downing has written numerous times about the performance of Robert Luna, candidate for LA County sheriff and former chief of the Long Beach Police Department, for his “inability to bring a bottom-rung police agency out of the dark ages – a fact reported by Police Scoreboard that reported his department as ranking last among 365 police departments in California and fourth to last among 16,000 departments nationwide. That kind of performance spells incompetence, especially when one considers the fact that Luna’s department was better funded than 88% of the 16,000 police departments studied.”
“Luna was not able to lift the LBPD out of its decades of dysfunctional culture and corruption that has cost taxpayers tens of millions from civil law suits while attempting to lead a 900-member department, so there is no reason to believe he has the ability to accomplish anything close to what’s needed to clean up the Sheriff’s Department, an organization that is ten times larger than the LBPD,” Downing recently wrote.
An example of the LBPD’s inability to perform its duties can be found at 3358 Senasac Ave. in Long Beach, home of 55-year-old homophobe Vincent Jude Creighton. For the past year, Creighton has engaged in numerous assaults against his gay, next-door neighbor. Most of these attacks have been in the form of harassment and disturbing the peace, in violation of California Penal Code 422.6.
Known as the “hate crime statute,” PC 422.6 makes it illegal to interfere with someone’s civil rights. It states that “Nobody, whether or not acting under color of law, shall by force or threat, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere, oppress, or threaten anyone in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right secured to them by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
This law makes it a crime for someone to commit certain acts based on another person’s gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or association with a group. The certain acts listed include intimidation, interference, or willfully injuring someone in a manner that could prevent them from exercising their rights under the California Constitution, federal laws and the U.S. Constitution. It’s also a crime to damage or destroy someone’s real or personal property to interfere with their constitutional rights.
If an individual is convicted of a violation of Penal Code 422.6 PC, they face a misdemeanor conviction and can be sentenced to up to a year in jail. A judge can also order a fine of up to $5,000 and up to 400 hours of community service.
The LBPD’s failure to cite Mr. Creighton under its own Hate Crimes Policy, revised April 14, 2015, demonstrates why so many Long Beach residents would prefer that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department took over the policing duties of our city. We frequently hear complaints from residents about the failure of the LBPD to respond to calls for service that are not considered “high priority.”
If you have personal knowledge of Mr. Creighton’s ongoing hate crime activities, please give me a call (562-597-8000) or send an email. A year in jail, $5,000 fine and 400 hours of community service are exactly what’s needed in this situation.
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