San Diego Unified Got An Armored Vehicle Under Military Surplus Program

San Diego Unified School District recently acquired a tank.

Well, it’s as big as a tank, and it’s in the garage of Morse High School.

It’s actually a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, more commonly called an MRAP. The U.S. military has used these vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq wars. They’re capable of withstanding improvised explosive devices and smashing through barricades. Police departments around the country use similar vehicles for SWAT team deployments.

The school district got the MRAP for free as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program. The program, commonly referred to as the 1033 Program, sends unneeded military equipment like weapons and body armor to local police forces for no cost.

The program attracted national attention in the days following the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Television audiences were shocked by scenes of local cops decked out in military equipment facing down peaceful protesters. Much of that equipment was provided through the 1033 Program.

Several local police departments have received equipment through the program. The single most expensive piece of that equipment by far is the school district’s MRAP.

Related: Database of equipment provided to San Diego County law enforcement through the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program

So, why does the San Diego Unified School District Police Department need an MRAP? Is it worried about an ISIS invasion?

Not so much, says Joe Florentino, a captain with the department.

The district intends to deploy the MRAP solely as a rescue vehicle.

“When we have an emergency at a school, we’ve got to get in and save kids,” Florentino toldinewsource, a media partner of KPBS.

“Our idea is: How can we get in and pull out a classroom at a time of kids if there’s an active shooter? If there’s a fire [or] if there’s an earthquake, can we rip down a wall? Stuff like that,” he said.

The district had been looking for an armored vehicle to use in such situations. When the MRAP became available through the 1033 Program, the district grabbed it.

The vehicle’s worth about $730,000, but like all equipment in the 1033 program it was free. San Diego Unified spent about $5,000 to ship it from storage in Texas to San Diego.

The district plans to store $20,000 to $30,000 worth of medical supplies donated by partners in the medical industry in the vehicle.

The MRAP arrived in April, and students at Morse High School’s Auto Collision and Refinishing Program got to work painting it.

San Diego Unified hopes to unveil the vehicle at a news conference in October.

Florentino understands that — particularly following the scenes in Ferguson — the public is concerned about police militarization.

“I can totally see people thinking, ‘Oh, my God. Are they going to be rolling armored vehicles into our schools, and what the hell’s going on?’” Florentino said. “Hopefully, we’ll never have to use it for the real deal.”

Six other local agencies also received equipment through the program:

• The San Diego Police Department received 77 M-16A1 assault rifles and an armored truck.
• The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department received 10 M14 battle rifles.
• The San Diego Unified Port District Harbor Police received one infrared illuminator.
• The El Cajon Police Department received 10 M-16A1 assault rifles.
• The Escondido Police Department received 25 M-16A1 assault rifles, four M14 battle rifles and an armored truck, among other equipment.
• The National City Police Department received 17 M14 battle rifles.

inewsource is a KPBS media partner.

Republican Faulconer elected mayor in San Diego

Six months after Democratic Mayor Bob Filner left office in disgrace because more than a dozen women had stepped forward to accuse him of sexual harassment, San Diegans have chosen a Republican to take over.

On Tuesday, "Kevin Faulconer was elected by a wide margin over fellow Councilman David Alvarez," our colleagues at KPBS report. "The veteran Republican councilman soundly defeated his Democratic opponent 55 to 45 percent (with 86 percent of the vote counted.)"

The San Diego Union-Tribune says Faulconer's victory marks "a new chapter for the city" after Filner's "scandal-plagued tenure." Also, the Union-Tribune says:

A Faulconer victory breathes new life into the local Republican Party by restoring its control of the mayor's office that its candidates have occupied for much of the past four decades. Faulconer also becomes the only Republican mayor of a top 10 U.S. city, making him one of the party's highest-profile leaders in the state. The results dashed the hopes of Alvarez to become San Diego's first Latino mayor and its youngest in nearly 120 years.Faulconer is 47. Alvarez is 33.

KPBS notes that "in a full-circle development, it was announced Monday that Irene McCormack-Jackson — the top Filner aide whose revelations of sexual harassment energized the campaign to oust him — settled her lawsuit against the former mayor and the city. McCormack-Jackson will get $250,000, according to her attorney and the San Diego City Attorney's Office."

In December, Filner was sentenced to three months of home confinement and three years of probation for harassing women while he was mayor of San Diego. He had pleaded guity to "one felony and two misdemeanors for placing a woman in a headlock, kissing another woman and grabbing the buttocks of a third."

The former congressman served less than a year as mayor.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

via: http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/02/12/42166/republican-faulconer-elected-mayor-in-san-diego/

It's back to San Diego politics as usual in unusual mayoral election

SAN DIEGO — Councilman and mayoral candidate David Alvarez stood and applauded when acting Mayor Todd Gloria, in his state of the city address, proposed raising the minimum wage in San Diego beyond the scheduled statewide increases.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer, Alvarez's opponent in the Feb. 11 election, remained seated, hands folded in his lap. He later told reporters that raising the minimum wage could be bad for business and lead to elimination of jobs.

Differences over economic issues illustrate the divide between Alvarez, a Democrat, and Faulconer, a Republican, as the hurry-up campaign to find a successor to the disgraced Bob Filner enters its final stretch with prickly debates and dueling TV commercials.

Alvarez supported a 2010 measure to boost the sales tax by half a cent, an increase that then-Mayor Jerry Sanders said was vital to prevent further cuts in city services because of the city's spiraling pension payments.

Faulconer led the opposition, arguing that no taxes should be raised until the city finished reforming the pension system.

Voters agreed with Faulconer — Proposition B was defeated 62% to 38%. The appeal of smaller government is strong; nonpartisan polls suggest that Faulconer is leading Alvarez, particularly in more prosperous neighborhoods north of Interstate 8.

Alvarez supports raising a tax on developers to provide low-income housing. Faulconer opposes it — this time in alliance with Sanders — and calls it a "jobs tax." The issue appears headed for the ballot.

Faulconer supports what could be called the San Diego orthodoxy: Hold down taxes, control spending, keep labor unions in check. That philosophy guided three successful mayors in recent decades: Republican Pete Wilson (who served from 1971 to 1983), Democrat Maureen O'Connor (1986-1992) and Sanders, a Republican (2005-2012).

Alvarez, a San Diego native, said he has seen that style of civic management result in certain neighborhoods being neglected by City Hall for lack of political clout, particularly in blue-collar areas. Among the disparities, he said, is a slower response time for firetrucks in some areas because of the location of stations.

"I've witnessed how people are treated differently depending on where they live in San Diego," Alvarez said.

Asked about Wilson, O'Connor and Sanders, Alvarez said, "Those mayors neglected parts of this community. I have a different perspective."

Without agreeing to Alvarez's larger point about a past bias against some neighborhoods, Faulconer said it would not happen if he were mayor. Money for infrastructure needs such as filling potholes and fixing water lines would be spent where it's needed most, Faulconer said.

Standing in a weed-filled empty lot in a neighborhood south of I-8, Faulconer promised tax incentives "to have development right here where we need it."

Still, Faulconer stresses a concern that higher spending and taxation could prompt businesses to flee. "There's a reason why Rick Perry comes to San Diego," said Faulconer, a reference to the Texas governor's forays here to persuade firms to relocate.

Despite their differences, Alvarez and Faulconer do not represent the same philosophical chasm that separated Filner and his Republican opponent in the 2012 election, Carl DeMaio. Aided by a large turnout for the presidential election, Filner swept into office, the first Democratic mayor in 20 years.

In Filner's absence, mayoral politicking has reverted to form.

"This election marks a return to the traditional centrist pattern of San Diego politics: One candidate is center/right, the other center/left," said Steve Erie, a political science professor at UC San Diego and coauthor of "Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego."

As councilman, Faulconer, 46, represents Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach and Point Loma. Asked where his economic views were formed, he said at the dinner table from his father, a longtime deputy city manager in Oxnard.

Alvarez, 33, represents a district that includes Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. His positions on economic issues, he said, also were shaped by his father, who was a janitor, and his mother, who worked at fast-food restaurants.

At debates, Alvarez and Faulconer poke at the source of each other's financial support. Alvarez's campaign and independent groups supporting him are largely funded by labor unions; in Faulconer's case, funding tends to come from corporate and business groups.

Carl Luna, a political science professor at San Diego Mesa College, said much of the contest has descended to a "truly uninspiring level," with an exchange of tired invectives: "You're a corporate tool!" followed by the response of "You're a union stooge!"

That "really does a disservice to San Diego voters," Luna said. "I'm tempted to say the campaign has been lackluster, but that would be an understatement."

tony.perry@latimes.com

via: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sd-mayor-election-20140203,0,3137640.story#ixzz2sHNVDocg

Geo Community Reentry Services to Operate California Day Reporting Centers

BOULDER, Colo. — The California Department of Corrections and the Division of Adult Parole Operations has hired Geo Community Reentry Services, a division of Boca Raton, Fla.-based The Geo Group, to operate four intensive parolee reentry centers.

The centers, located in San Diego, Santa Ana, Pomona and French Camp, will serve more than 1,000 inmates annually.

“California corrections has undergone major changes in recent years, and we are ready to support the expansion of community-based services to reduce recidivism with these evidence-based programs,” said Loren Grayer, divisional vice president of Geo Reentry Services.

While the parole reentry centers in San Diego and French Camp will continue operation without disruption as operational authority transitions, the centers in Santa Ana and Pomona are scheduled to open in September.

The Day Reporting Centers (DRC) will aim to reduce recidivism by offering a wide range of programming for high risk inmates who have failed to successfully reenter into the general population. Staffed with licensed therapists, counselors, behavior change managers, vocational/educational managers and administrative staff, parolees at the DRCs will also be connected to local community resources for further support.

Inmates report to the center, which is open seven days a week, for up to six months. Daily check-ins, drug testing and intensive care management help to monitor an inmate’s progress. According to a press release issued by the company, parole agents are better able to manage their caseloads when high-risk parolees are able to attend Geo Reentry’s DRCs.

Along with reducing recidivism, the company hopes to also target employment or school enrollment, generate significant savings for taxpayers and alter parolee attitudes and behavior through classes available at the center.

Classes available at the DRC include substance abuse education and treatment; adult basic education; life skills development; cognitive restructuring therapy; parenting; domestic violence prevention; anger management; employment skills building and career development counseling; and relapse prevention aftercare. Inmates are also required to attend Community Connections, a program that provides parolees with local resources to housing, health services and additional counseling.