Addressing sexism in police departments
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, November 18th.
Many female police officers experience sexism on the job.. How are departments responding?More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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San Diego mayor Todd Gloria and mayors from the state’s other big cities will meet with Governor Newsom in Sacramento today to discuss homelessness funding.
The meeting comes after Newsom rejected all local homeless action plans in the state and abruptly held back funding.
He said they would not reduce homelessness enough and that bolder plans were needed.
The mayor's plan to urge Newsom to release the funds and set more ambitious goals in the next funding round.
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U-S Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in San Diego today to highlight the Otay Mesa East project.
Also known as Otay Two, it will create a new Port of Entry facility at Otay Mesa and a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement facility.
The new facility is expected to decrease wait times for commercial trucks.
Construction on the project is underway and is expected to be completed by September 2024.
The 1-point-5 billion dollar project was awarded 150-million-dollars through President Biden’s infrastructure package.
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It’s looking like we’ll have more wind this weekend.
The National Weather Service said another round of Santa Ana winds will pick up tonight and last through tomorrow.
A fire weather watch will be in effect tomorrow because of the wind and very low humidity.
The Fire Safe Council of San Diego County is hosting a series of community workshops on fire preparedness.
The first meeting will be held tomorrow at 10 a-m, at the Santa Ysabel Nature Center.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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It’s been five years since the Me Too movement.
But many female police officers still experience sexism on the job.
KPBS investigative reporter Claire Trageser looks at what departments are doing to fix this.
For some women working under San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Kotaro Murashige, a day at the office meant sexist, condescending and disparaging comments. An internal affairs report found that when female deputies called Murashige to ask for help, he’d hang up on them. When they asked for additional job training, he mocked them, ignored them, or told them to quit. Murashige resigned before the internal affairs investigation was finished. But he kept his 6000 dollar monthly pension. His attorney didn't respond to requests for comment. As this case shows, even in 2022, police departments can still be toxic places. Especially for women. Ellen Kirschman is a psychologist who treats police officers. She says police departments need women in their ranks. Ellen Kirschman Law Enforcement Psychologist “They make really, really, really good officers. Some of the sharpest, smartest, most dedicated, and competent people I know in law enforcement are female.” Kirschman says female officers can find themselves caught in a Catch 22. Sexism keeps them out of leadership roles. So the sexism often continues. “If you have the right women that have been promoted, they will keep their eye out for when these things happen, and they will mentor the younger or the newer women on the job.” So what can be done? Kirschman says if departments are serious, they adopt strict policies. And enforce them. “People in charge can show decent behavior as opposed to being part of the problem, which sometimes happens.” No one from the Sheriff's Department would do an interview for this story. But a spokesperson sent a statement saying the department has strict policies and all employees are required to attend sexual harassment training.. But the trainings fall far short, says Debbie Stiesmeyer (STEES-meyer). She’s a former detective suing the Sheriff’s Department for sexual harassment she experienced on the job. Debbie Stiesmeyer Former Sheriff Detective “They're, you know, cartoon trainings on a computer, so maybe humanizing the experience and really listening to what happened needs to happen. Even in our detective trainings, you can read the manuals, you can read the materials, but the most memorable trainings for me were when they brought the rape victims in and spoke to us and told us what worked.” “If an officer is shut down and not really caring, not really tuned in, finding it difficult to relate to his fellow brothers and sisters that they serve with…” Dan Willis is a retired captain from the La Mesa Police Department. He says departments need strict policies, but that's also not enough. They also need empathy. And understanding about how the stress and trauma of the job can impact their officers' behavior. If you don’t have that … Dan Willis Retired La Mesa Police Captain “Then you're going to be much more likely to just do things without thinking about the consequences, about the other person’s feelings.” Stiesmeyer says systemic reforms are needed that go beyond an individual department. Her harasser did leave the force. But he still gets a pension of almost 6,000 dollars a month. “There has to be a consequence to stop people from doing this…There's nothing deterring them from doing this behavior. So I think that’s a big thing, is there needs to be big consequences.” She wants a new state law that would stop that from happening. CT KPBS News
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Another bad report for San Diego’s ambulance provider.
Falck will be fined after AGAIN failing to meet response times and staffing goals.
KPBS Health reporter Matt Hoffman has more on changes that could be coming in the new year.
Stowell im sure we all agree this is not where we thought we’d be a year ago San Diego Fire Rescue Chief Collin Stowell still isn’t seeing the high level of service promised by the city’s ambulance provider Falck. Collin Stowell, San Diego Fire-Rescue Chief This is not getting better anytime soon. We’re seeing the trends right now with the staffing and I do not feel like anything is going to be corrected in the near future if we just wait this out and wait for it to improve It’s been just about a year since Falck fully took over San Diego’s 9-1-1 contract Providing ambulance emergency services to the city of San Diego. To get it, they promised more paramedics and EMT’s than the previous provider.. But data from the city shows they haven’t once met their monthly staffing goals. This week’s update to the city council focused on July, August and September. Falck San Diego’s managing director Jeff Behm says low staffing levels have continued to hurt response times. Jeff Behm, Falck San Diego July in terms of compliance was very good, august became a little worse but we saw september being one of the worst months since we took over in January Falck has already been fined 1.5 million dollars and the fire department says more are on the way. Falck says there’s a shortage of paramedics and EMT’s.. Also admitting recruiting has been a challenge, even after offering sign on bonuses. Sorci This eb and flow is very obvious -- the problem we have here is they are not competitive Anthony Sorci is a 25-year paramedic and president of the union representing falck employees.. He says staffing shortages are forcing overtime and first responders are burning out. Anthony Sorci, San Diego Association of Prehospital Professionals The physical and mental impacts of these working conditions are devastating. Our members share experiences of helpness and mental anguish Sorci also says lack of staff has ambulances traveling all over the city, pushing up response times and even forcing the fire department to take their own measures. These delays have results in critical patients being transported to san diego hospitals by san diego fire engines because the fire crews could no longer wait for an ambulance to come City data shows the amount of time no paramedic ambulances are available has risen since April.. Councilmember Raul Campillo wasn’t pleased with the lack of improvement– Raul Campillo, San Diego City Councilmember I’m disappointed that we seem to be in a position that we can’t provide our residents what we promised them, it’s the same song again Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert says she doesn’t need to hear any more--Von Wilpert It seems that we have a pretty serious problem -- this contract is failing Fire Chief Stowell is preparing for the worst. He commissioned a study to look into what it would take for the city to take over emergency medical services.. Von Wilpert is eagerly awaiting to see options presented during a meeting in January. Marni Von Wilpert, San Diego City Councilmember Whether it’s an amendment to the contract, or if we have to do some kind of bond or takeover of the program or bring another program in to help we have to do something Falck officials also maintain one reason for delays is their ambulances are being held too-long at hospitals. They’re getting pushback from hospitals.. Scripps Health officials say emergency rooms are busy, but data shows most patient drop offs happen on-time. Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe says bottom line -- no more excuses. Monica Montgomery-Steppe, San Diego City Councilmember I just don’t want to hear that anymore we need to put solutions on the table Falck, the city and other stakeholders are working on improvements.. Falck officials say they remain committed to San Diego. MH KPBS News.
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Barrio Logan residents are not getting immediate relief from noxious odors coming from a Newton Avenue biofuels plant.
KPBS Environment reporter Erik Anderson takes it from here.
New Leaf Biofuel has been under fire from residents who complain that the smell from their bio-diesel plant is not getting any better. Air pollution regulators issued a fourth notice of violation this week because of the odor. However they rebuffed resident’s calls to shut the plant down until a new odor control system is operating. That’s expected to happen in two weeks. Resident Peter Colon is not happy. “I compliment you on your graphs and charts and all of those things but that doesn’t change the fact that the odors still continue.” Regulators say plant officials are cooperating with regulators and they remain optimistic a new filter system will make a difference. Regular odor surveys confirm the situation has only improved a little bit. Erik Anderson KPBS News
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DOZENS OF YOUTH MARCHED ON THE STREETS OF SAN DIEGO AND HELD A RALLY AT BALBOA PARK YESTERDAY TO CALL ATTENTION TO HOMELESSNESS.
THE MARCHERS INCLUDED PEOPLE WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN HOMELESS… OR WHO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT PERMANENT SHELTER.. LIKE DAVID BAKER AND JUSTIN LIPFORD, WHO WORK FOR THE YMCA.
THEY HAVE BEEN WALKING FOR FOUR DAYS. THEY STARTED IN LONG BEACH, STAYING IN SHELTERS AND USING RESOURCES ONLY A YOUNG PERSON EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WOULD USE.
LIPFORD SAYS THEY HAD A VICTORY THAT BROUGHT HOPE ALONG THE WAY
“The biggest win for me was that our YMCA in Long Beach formed a new relationship with the youth homeless provider within their their community now that community is that much stronger and able to help so that feels great those kinds of wins that we get excited about.”
BAKER AND LIPFORD WILL HOLD ANOTHER COMMUNITY WALK AND RALLY TODAY IN CHULA VISTA FOR A TOTAL OF 125 MILES AND 5 RALLIES.
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Coming up.... The production of a new bilingual play has its U-S premiere in San Diego this weekend. We’ll have that and more, just after the break.
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You won’t be getting as many election updates from us in the next few weeks.
KPBS reporter John Carroll spoke to the San Diego County Registrar of voters to explain.
After Wednesday night’s release of votes… there are now about 15-thousand votes left to be counted. There are a few provisional ballots, but the vast majority of that 15-thousand are ballots that have a problem… that need to be cured. “Either the voter failed to sign their envelope or the signature on the envelope isn’t comparing with the signature we have on file, so we send a letter to each of these voters.” That letter tells voters what they need to do to cure their ballot, and it lets them know they’ve got until December 6th to do it. Measure C, which would eliminate the building height limit in the Midway District appears headed for victory… it’s ahead by nearly 9,000 votes. Measure B, which would end free trash pick-up for single family homes in San Diego is still close. But the “yes” votes now lead by nearly 29-hundred. JC, KPBS News.
The final results must be certified by December 8th.
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And before you go, we have some suggestions for arts events to check out this weekend
KPBS Arts producer Julia Dixon Evans talked to KPBS’s Maureen Cavanaugh about her picks for the weekend .
That was KPBS Arts producer Julia Dixon Evans, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host Maureen Cavanaugh.
You can find details on these and more arts events at KPBS dot ORG slash ARTS.
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And as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org.
That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth and Producer Emilyn Mohebbi. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
