Women officers have fewer use of force incidents, but only 9% of ECPD officers are women. Could more females on the force have prevented death of Alfred Olango?

By Miriam Raftery

September 29, 2016 (El Cajon)—Mayor Bill Wells has confirmed that the officer who fired the fatal shots in Tuesday’s controversial shooting of Alfred Olango was  Richard Gonsalves—the same officer embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal last year. 

Could a culture that encouraged women officers to join the force have perhaps prevented Tuesday’s tragedy, before Olango pulled out a vaping device mistaken for a gun?

Multiple studies over 40 years have shown  that women police officers  are better at defusing tense situations and have significantly lower use-of-force rates than male officers,  the Washington Post recently reported.

For example, A 2002 study by the National Center for Women & Policing of excessive force incidents in seven major city police departments found that “the average male officer is over eight and a half times more likely than his female counterpart to have an allegation of excessive force sustained against him … [and] two to three times more likely than the average female officer to have a citizen name him in a complaint of excessive force.”

But the El Cajon Police Department has long drawn criticism for tolerating sexual harassment  and other sexual misconduct by male officers toward women on the force--hardly a history conducive to attracting women seeking careers in law enforcement.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: El Cajon Police

Photos (rest) by Robert Gehr (c)

September 28, 2016 (El Cajon)—A shooting of a mentally ill African-American man by El Cajon Police yesterday  has sparked anger among some community members, though police have released a photo suggesting the man assumed a “shooter’s stance” before he was shot and killed.

Following a press conference this morning by police, civil rights leaders spoke at a press conference calling for a federal investigation.  Marches were held downtown and a candlelight vigil is planned tonight at 6 p.m. the El Cajon Police Station forAlfred Olango, 38.

East County News Service

May 25, 2016 (El Cajon) – An Uber driver arrested for sexual assault in El Cajon in March now faces charges as a serial rapist. 

El Cajon Police have charged John David Sanchez, 52, with sexually assaulting five additional victims, including raping a 13-year-old child and raping an unconscious person.  Authorities believe those attacks occurred between 2011 and 2014 at Sanchez’s residence in San Diego.

By Miriam Raftery

March 3, 2016 (El Cajon) — The Medical Examiner’s office has identified Drake Lou Pappas, 61, as the victim found dead after a fire at the Villa Embasadora motel in El Cajon early yesterday morning.

East County News Service

December 18, 2015 (El Cajon) – A motorcyclist suffered fatal injuries in a collision with a silver Hyundai shortly before noon today in the 1600 block of Pepper Drive in El Cajon.

View pedestrian safety video from El Cajon Police: http://vimeo.com/116996655

By Miriam Raftery

November 3, 2015 (El Cajon) – El Cajon has had 13 pedestrian fatalities in the past 20 months. In the prior 36 months, there were 10 fatalities. So in half the time, there have been double the number of pedestrian deaths. 

“That concerns us a great deal,” Police Chief Jim Redman told community members at a public safety forum held last month at the Ronald Reagan Community Center, where the department reached out to share safety tips, hear community suggestions, and advise about a new enforcement campaign aimed at saving lives.  A “Check before you step” campaign aims to educate the public on how to prevent pedestrian injuries and deaths.

July 27, 2015 (El Cajon ) – El Cajon Police are looking for the driver of a black Mercedes sedan who fled the scene after striking a fire hydrant near the intersection of Ballantyne Street and Madison Avenue in El Cajon on Monday.  The collision caused a 40-foot-high water geyser that damaged several trees nearby, but did not damage homes.

East County News Service

June 13, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – El Cajon Police has arrested three people charged with a dozen residential burglaries between January and May in El Cajon, Spring Valley and San Diego.  According to Lieutenant Frank La Haye with the El Cajon Police, the thieves targeted people attending funerals of their loved ones.

By Miriam Raftery

March 26, 2015 (El Cajon) – At the El Cajon City Council meeting on Tuesday, several members of the public spoke out to ask that Officer Richard Gonsalves be fired or put on administrative leave pending outcome of a lawsuit by a woman claiming sexual harassment.  Gonsalves has been demoted, but remains on the force.

By Robert Clark

March 23, 2015 (El Cajon)-- The headline in the San Diego Union-Tribune reads "Women's sex-harassment suit accuses El Cajon cop." 

 The story, however, is not about the sexual harassment suit just filed against Sergeant Richard Gonsalves of the El Cajon PD. (That suit is described  in Miriam Raftery's ECM posting of March 10, 2015.)  The U-T story was published on March 6, 2004, about a suit filed against El Cajon Sergeant Gary Ryno for sexual harassment by four current or former women employees of the Department. The suit also claimed that "Ryno conspicuously wore female undergarments to work . . ."  As of today, I have been unable to determine the outcome of the suit, but will keep searching.

 In another incident reported in the Los Angeles Times on May 22, 2007, former El Cajon police officer William Taylor was sentenced to five years in prison "for demanding sexual favors from women he had arrested."

East County News Service

January 25, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Here are some of the most important items on agendas of our local boards, commissions and councils this week in San Diego’s East County.

By Miriam Raftery

December 11, 2014 (El Cajon ) – By a 5-0 vote, El Cajon’s City Council voted Tuesday to have a study done on the feasibility of body cameras for the city’s police force.

Councilman Gary Kendrick, author of the proposal, told East County Magazine that his research found body cameras elsewhere have reduced complaints against police officers by 80% and that assaults against police officers went down 57%.

By Miriam Raftery

June 6, 2014 (El Cajon) – The El Cajon Police Officers Association (ECPOA) has pitched in to try and lift the spirits of an immigrant teen who suffered life-threatening  injuries trying to save his mother’s life. 

The boy, 15, nicknamed “Buddy”, moved to  El Cajon 15 months ago with his mother and adult brother, after his father was kidnapped in Iraq.  His father has not been seen or heard from since, and is presumed dead, said Travis Howard, vice president of the ECPOA.

But now, Buddy is without both parents--and his brother.

By Miriam Raftery

May 15, 2014 (El Cajon) – A man who tried to take his children from his estranged wife at gunpoint.  Jose Albert Garcia, 34, later aimed his weapon at officers and has been shot in the chest, Lt. Tim Henton with the El Cajon Police reports.

Officers responded to a 911 call from Garcia’s estranged wife, who told officers he was at her door demanding that she give him their two children. Officers arrived and spoke with Garcia in the driveway, but he was “uncooperative” and refused to follow orders, Lt. Henton said. “He showed officers that he had a gun in his waistband, and eventually drew the gun.”

By Miriam Raftery

March 18, 2014 (El Cajon)—El Cajon Police received a 911 call on March 14 at 12:26 p.m. from a resident who came home to find a burglar in his home in the 300 block of Kentucky Avenue—across the street from the police department.

The homeowner wasn’t spotted by the thief, so he was able to notify policy without alerting the suspect, said Lieutenant Rob Ransweiler. The suspected exited the home, carrying a bag of the victim’s belongings. The victim told police the direction in which the suspect was heading.