"Karen Bass, LAPD Outsourcing Impaired Driver Calls" by Daniel Guss
Risky and costly cronyism exposed as LAPD bizarrely dodged when I asked what happened after 911 call
@TheGussReport on Twitter — One reason I write this column is to unflinchingly expose the corrupt ways that local governments jeopardize and fail the public. Another is to show the squanderous, shady ways they use your money to cover their tracks.
Like last week, when an allegedly impaired man blocked a strip mall’s tiny parking lot near one of LA’s busiest intersections, a quick drive from two major freeways. It contained only four stores; an ancient restaurant, a beaming marijuana dispensary that had replaced a murderous bar and two vacant storefronts.
The driver had parked his oversized SUV only a few feet into one of just 10 parking spots, oblivious to how it prevented others from coming and going.
The man was alternately incoherently doubled-over and smoking in the driver’s seat with the engine running, the door-open and his head resting on his wrist with his legs swung outside of the vehicle, or aimlessly walking around the parking lot gesticulating in a loud conversation with himself, picking up and examining random debris. There appeared to be nobody else in the SUV.
While it is unclear what he was smoking, marijuana wafted through the air and there were no customers in the dispensary or lingering outside of it. The elderly people walking by headed toward the restaurant from a disabled parking spot.
Concerned that he was, at minimum, a risk to himself and potentially to the public if he were to resume driving, I asked 911 to conduct a welfare check.
But following the government mantra of #SeeSomethingSaySomething resulted in a bizarre six-minute call to 911, in which the operator didn’t know what gesticulating meant and insisted that I “need to further justify” a police response.
At that point, I responded that I don’t “need to further justify anything,” but that if the detail I provided was insufficient, if anyone was subsequently hurt or killed, it would be on them. I disconnected and went on my way.
The Next Day
I asked the LAPD’s media relations group the next morning whether it had encountered the vehicle at any time subsequent to my call, be it at the same location or elsewhere.
They only told me that the LAPD sent the matter to Urban Alchemy, an organization that deals primarily with homelessness despite my giving no indication that the man was homeless.
Lacking the power to arrest, Urban Alchemy is part of LA’s multi-million dollar unarmed response program known as CIRCLE. Angela McGregor wrote about Urban Alchemy controversies for Westside Current in 2022 as did Jon Peltz for KnockLA in 2021.
Instead of providing detail about this particular matter, the LAPD dodged and sent me a press release from Mayor Karen Bass’s office. When I said that I wasn’t seeking a press release, the LAPD dodged again, saying, “See below (Mayoral staff) email to request further on the circle program.”
I didn’t request that, either.
And the Mayor’s office failed to respond to several inquiries anyway.
When I then reached out to LAPD chief Michel Moore, media relations waited another whole day before referring me to Rise Strategy Group, which describes itself as, “a high stakes public strategy firm. We help companies, causes and campaigns elevate their messages to reach and build relationships.”
What a surprise!
Want another one?
The contact at Rise was Alex Comisar, a former mouthpiece for the LA Mayor’s office during the Eric Garcetti administration.
In other words, another government crony clusterfuck at the risk of your safety.
After a series of sarcastic emails in which Comisar claimed that he hadn’t responded for nearly 24 hours because he wasn’t given a deadline despite his clients’ three-day dodge, I offered him until Saturday at 3pm as an extension, which he accepted, but to which he didn’t respond to my questions. As I forewarned, Saturday would be four days, after which point I would conclude that, “If it is still too heavy a lift, I’m fine just saying that the Mayor, LAPD, Urban Alchemy and their crisis management PR firm (Rise Strategy Group) didn’t provide direct responses.”
Or any response.
Friends, all I wanted to find out was whether this driver belonged behind the wheel of a large automobile, to paraphrase The Talking Heads.
It led me to ask whether anyone had subsequently been hurt or killed; why the LAPD had concluded that the man was homeless; why Urban Alchemy was unable to field questions on its own; and who was paying Rise Strategy Group to run interference on behalf of Urban Alchemy, Karen Bass and the LAPD.
The answer to that last question is easy. It’s us.
The public has a right to know about elevated public safety risks, whether the driver was under the influence or simply emotionally disturbed.
The LAPD wasn’t willing to find out and instead drew presumptive conclusions that at some point will be wrong… and deadly, if they haven’t already been.
So let’s make the lawyers in those future lawsuits keenly aware that the City of Los Angeles is balking at alleged impaired driver concerns and perhaps other 911 issues.
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(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a multi-award-winning journalist. In June ‘23, he won the LA Press Club’s “Online Journalist of the Year” and “Best Activism Journalism” awards. He has been City Editor for the Mayor Sam network, and a featured contributor for CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW 89.9 FM, KRLA 870 AM, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)