End of Watch: Robert "RJ" Cottle

Veteran LAPD officer and United States Marine Corps Reservist Robert Cottle was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Southern Afghanistan on Wednesday. Sgt. Major Cottle, 45 years old, joined the Marines at 18 and and the LAPD in 1993. His various LAPD assignments included Hollywood Vice, Southeast Area, LAPD Dive Team and, most recently, SWAT.

Officer Cottle was the first LAPD officer killed in action while serving as a reservist in the military since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. The LA Times has a decent story here and this is the press release from the LAPD.

RIP and Semper Fi, Officer Cottle.


photo: LAPD

LAFD and Overtime

Earlier this week, the Daily News, which the recession has decimated even worse than it has the L.A. Times, wrote its annual LAFD-earns-too-much-overtime piece. First, let me say bravo to reporter Jason Kandel who compiled the piece and an accompanying database that proves as interesting as his article. I am sure the entire project was a gigantic pain in the ass.

The database is basically a searchable list of how much overtime nearly LAFD member has earned since 2000. I am of a few different minds regarding the issue of fire overtime. On one hand, I think that firefighters (and ESPECIALLY paramedics) deserve to be well compensated for their efforts. I won't go through the litany of reasons supporting this because they include all the common cliches ("lives on the line," "available 24/7 to answer the call," "danger" etc. etc.). These are all valid reasons.

And from my experience in Public Safety, I can say that the overtime often made many parts of the job totally worth it. There was something refreshing about being compensated not only for my time, but for my EXTRA time and giving me some incentive to either work an extra unplanned shift, or agree to stay late if my relief was running late or called in sick etc. etc. Being paid for the exact amount of time you are at work is--in my mind--inherently fair.

The extra cash was always nice come pay-day and beyond. If my expenses were a little higher one month, I could always work an extra shift or two to help balance that out. If I wanted to buy a plane ticket to jet off to somewhere far away and exotic I simply worked a few extra shifts to earn the cash. For folks with families and complicated expenses (divorce, sick kids, mortgages etc.) there's a dependence on that overtime cash flow.

The trade off was that I was stuck working those extra days. I worked a few different places that made overtime attractive and the last stop on my public safety tour was an agency that worked 24-hour shifts (like the LAFD and LACoFD). So while I got paid nicely for a full extra shift, it meant that I was away from home for two full days and then only had one day to recover before going back to work on my regular shift. In LA with the modified kelly schedule, that often means guys and gals who are working overtime can be gone from home for as long as three or four days at a stretch--something that 9-to-5'ers might have a hard time comprehending.

Granted, that time at work includes getting paid time and a half to eat, sleep, watch TV, train and enjoy some ice cream, but still, it's days away from family, friends, errands and whatever else you might do on your down time. Overtime pay helps make an inherently dangerous job more "worth it" and allows SoCal residents (and those who work and live elsewhere) to better afford the high cost of living in this part of the world.

On the OTHER HAND, there are guys in the LAFD (and elsewhere, but since there aren't handy databases elsewhere) who abuse the shit out of this opportunity. And the LAFD brass (and union, natch) argue that even though there are 120 vacant positions that have been effectively frozen, paying the overtime is more cost effective than hiring more firefighters.

As for the most egregious offenders, a few names keep popping up year-after-year including FF/PM Alan Naeole, who is based at the extremely cush Air Ops station out in Van Nuys. He used to rake in the dough at the retirement house in Bel-Air at FS 71. Last year, he took home $164,785 in overtime and $100,000 in base salary. Two words: Fucking Ridiculous. The number one overtime earner on the DN's list is FF/PM Donn D. Thompson, who took home more than $173,000 in overtime (which is down from $206,000 in 2006). All this while "working" at the do-nothing FS19 in Brentwood.

The article--which I recommend--raises the various points from all sides including the outraged taxpayer groups, the LAFD Chief who's on the defensive and the fire union president who is outraged that anyone is outraged. And in a year when the city is facing a $500 million budget shortfall that could increase to $1 billion by next year and there are layoffs city-wide it seems like an especially bad time for the guys to be raking in such obscene amounts of dough.

Especially, as Kandel notes, since the city has spent 60% more on overtime in the last 10 years while growing the department by only 17%. And remember, a lot of these old-timers (FF/PM's, not even officers!) are making $100,000 as a BASE salary owing to their seniority (not to mention any guys who are still on the early retirement racket).

So there's an aging department with guys who are already doing just fine on their base; probably socking away hundreds of thousands of dollars of deferred comp over the course of their careers; getting excellent medical benefits and life insurance policies as well as an extremely generous pension payout (for life). Not only is this a recipe for more municipal and state fiscal pain, but it makes it hard to garner any sympathy for the guys who are taking home outsized overtime checks.

I know as well as anyone that there's almost no better feeling in the world than seeing a big, red fire truck or ambulance blasting to the scene of an emergency on the rare occasions that the average citizen has to dial 911. But I think the LAFD is probably in for a rude wake up call down the line when various items that have become sacred cows over the past few years (like EMS captains in every district, ambulances in every station, four-man engines, and multiple unit responses to even basic EMT calls, et. al) begin to disappear.

Trauma Code

It's been awhile since I heard a good multi-shooting go down, but Watts served up a doozy last night that required the resources of all of LAFD's FS65 down there on San Pedro Street. Two victims, one pretty much DRT (dead right there) with agonal breathing and all the associated drama that comes with dying from a gunshot wound. Engine 65 requested an additional ALS unit for a second victim who had been shot in both upper legs and at least one arm.

Everybody got transported Code 3 to Harbor General and maybe St. Francis? Anyway, the LA Times much-ballyhooed LA NOW blog has nary a whisper about the shooting this morning. Must not have been able to afford a cops reporter for the Friday night shift.

Pursuits Reality

So after the rash of highly publicized pursuits in the past month or so, the LA Times tasked a reporter to investigate this trend. Reporter Carol J. Williams comes up with a jumbled, rambling and slightly confusing story.

The upshot: Pursuits in L.A. (and statewide via the CHP) are actually down year-over-year. Go figure.

Pursuits

I had noticed an uptick in pursuits even before the LA Times pointed it out this morning. Last night, I caught about 10 minutes of the slow-speed Bentley chase that dragged on for hours. Went to bed at about 2300 while it was still going. Heard CHP call for LAPD backup about 30 minutes later once the dude exited the 101 Freeway at Lankershim (apparently a block or so from where the whole thing started hours before as the result of some sort of domestic).

By the time I awoke this morning, Mustafa Mustafa (really) had shot and killed himself. The folks over at LAist took it upon themselves to live-blog the whole thing, which is slightly more interesting than the paint-drying spectacle that was this lame pursuit. Rumors were flying that the driver was either Chris Brown--the 19-year-old music star who beat up on his girlfriend Rhianna two nights ago--or some random DJ of Palestinian-descent who appeared to resemble screen captures of the Bentley driver.

Must be something in the air as it's officially pursuit season.

photo: MashGet via Flickr

Score One for Hip-Hop Journalism

I don't really know what the L.A. Times is becoming, which is fine since no one who works there knows what it's becoming, either. Sadly, I missed all this drama on the scanner (and would have anyway since I never listen to the LAX PD, because my tolerance for listening to the LAX cops towing cars, checking unattended luggage and resetting emergency exit alarms is surprisingly low), but sounds like there was quite a hoedown on a Delta flight into LAX this morning.

As the plane's on final approach, some asshole gets up and rushes the rear galley trying to open the door. Then he screams the B-word. Then he attacks some haughty flight attendant who is there primarily for everyone's safety. Maybe I got the order reversed, but the facts are there.

Luckily, the LA Times tells us in a blog-post (which is fast becoming their new favorite format) worthy of any fine college newspaper, that members of rap-artist Asher Roth's retinue scrambled into action. There's even a cute (blurry, natch!) citizen journo photo of some white guy who might be the suspect, but the mustachioed dude behind him is also a prime candidate even though he looks like a cop. The photo is also kindly credited to Asher's keyboardist.

For certain, this is the best thing ever to happen to the career of Asher Roth. So boo for the would-be bomber and the sillier-than-ever LA Times. Yay for proactive white rappers (and their bandmates)!

Try, Try Again

The LAPD is nothing if not persistent in their efforts to clear blue names and consciences. Way back in July 2005, the Department's SWAT team engaged in a serious gunfight with a coked-up dude named Jose Raul Pena. Tragically, Pena used his 19-month-old daughter as a human shield and they both died in the gunfight.

The LA County Coroner's office ruled little Susie Pena died from a gunshot wound to the head from a high-velocity weapon, ergo a SWAT bullet. The LAPD didn't really like that decision and pretty soon the lawsuits were rolling in from the Pena family. So they seized on some shady science by a 32-year-old forensic tech that said the bullet could have come from Jose's handgun. Tons of applied pressure later from all manner of LAPD brass, and the coroner's office didn't budge.

The LA Times has the story.

I-5 Aftermath

If that's not a vision of Southern California's own kind of hell, I don't know what is.

There's a tunnel behind those flames where roughly 15 big rigs and cars were immolated last night during a heavy rainstorm and subsequent pile-up.

The CHP has I-5 in Newhall Pass closed until further notice. The CHP and Caltrans say they hope to have portions of the affected tunnel re-opened by Tuesday morning. First, they'll have to check the structural integrity of the designated truck tunnel's concrete walls, which became the insides of an impromptu oven as more than a dozen big-rigs cooked off inside the 550-foot long tunnel. As an aside, a quick view of the CHP's CAD today shows the media misbehaving all day while trying to get close to the site.

Just heard LACoFD dispatch some units from the Carson-area to move into the scene up in Newhall. The County is obviously rotating units in and out of the area. Earlier today, there was still active fire suppression going on for smoldering inside the tunnel and they've begun cutting up and hauling away the mess.

As I grimly predicted in my first post last night, three fatalities. Click here for the LA Daily News photo gallery. The LA Times' is here. Thanks to Kevin at LAObserved.com for the link.

photo: LA Daily News

If An Ambulance Is Stolen...

...in Hollywood, does its siren make a noise?

Surprisingly, just a faint one. After a thief made-off with Rescue 27, and I breathlessly blogged about it last week (see below), it rated a small brief in the following day's L.A. Times. That brief, by the way was ripped off, per usual, from the local City News Service.

Now I understand that the LAFD is loathe to have a wave of copycat ambulance thieves swoop into unlocked RAs idling at ER bays, but come on. Some dude steals a bright red ambulance in the middle of the afternoon with big white lettering and numbering that clearly identifies it and makes his way almost 200 miles north on MAJOR FREEWAYS. People, this is a great story!

This is the last sentence of the AP report posted on CBS2's Web Site that evening:

"Even after the ambulance was found, fire department officials still had no idea about the circumstances behind the theft."

Whaaa???????

That's a classic journalism who, what, when, WHY question if I've ever seen one.

My guess is the LAFD/CHP/LAPD either didn't cooperate at all; asked the media to keep it quiet; and/or the local beat reporters didn't follow up. Also, not a whisper on the LAFD Blog. This is the same blog that chronicles the department's highlights--and recently, with the EEOC report and Tennie Pierce settlement, its lowlights. But nothing on the wayward ambulance.
It's also the same blog that last year posted a thorough and illustrated account after Rescue 75 was stolen and then pursued in Panorama City.

Come on, folks. If you can't laugh at yourselves, then we'll have to laugh at you.

By the way, wonder if the thief managed to get his hands on the narcotics inside the rig, since that's always a prime reason for ambulance theft.

Have Leopard....No Clothes

In any other city but this one, built upon a queen of angels, a story like THIS would have been front page news for at least a week....but nary a peep out of the L.A. Times, of course (even the usually reliable City News Service, with its often patently ridiculous stories, didn't chime in). Defamer, posted it a few days ago and has some great on-scene photo action of a naked man walking down Melrose Avenue with a live leopard draped over his shoulders.

Let's put aside any sort of an explanation from the man as to why he was walking nude with a leopard: a funny story on its own would be the tale of the two poor-bastard A-unit LAPD Hollywood patrol officers dispatched to the call. I'm sure the story is already legendary at Hollywood Station.

Another Barn Burner**

LAFD is working a major emergency brush in Griffith Park right now. Great vantage from my office on this 95 degree, no humidity day. LAFD's been pouring resources at it for awhile and staging at the Greek Theatre. For about 20 mins, looked like it was darkening down, but then the wind shifted and all hell broke...

Hot, dry brush is fueling this one and they've got a ton of City and County companies committed and no knockdown in sight. So far, no homes destroyed, but this thing still looks really ugly.

It's a busy day throughout the sizzling county.

***UPDATE*** So three-plus hours into the incident, the fire's still raging. Probably going to top out at over 150 acres when all is said and done. They've got a 20-year-old arson suspect being treated for severe burns at Hollywood Presbyterian right now.

It'll be at least 24 hours before this one is fully done. Meantime, the Johnny-Come-Lately L.A. Times got their act together today and are blogging the incident. Welcome to 2007, kids! (Sample of some text taken from the LAT Web site home page(!!!) at 11:33 p.m. The bold is mine. "BREAKING NEWS BLOG: According to the bayor, the blaze has now burned 600 acres."


Meantime, everyone is getting hammered on the call volume because of the heat, but since the Griffith Park incident is virtually all Engines, the City still has plenty of Light Forces available for the other crap.


Out in Malibu, Ventura County Fire is sending a helo to air-ambo someone out of LACoFD's 71's first-in over to UCLA Hospital.

***UPDATE*** 11 p.m. So today's fire might not be the "big one" of the summer (or even the Spring if it stays so hot and dry) but with 33 LAFD companies on the scene and probably at least that, if not more in mutual aid, Griffith Park is getting pretty worked over by fire.

When I started listening to this one go off on OCD 9 at around 1:30 this afternoon, the LAFD was doing what it usually does so well--flood the area with resources. They requested engine companies in groups of 10, which were then divided into As they ramped up the assignment, the wind shifted and moved the fire quickly into tinder dry brush that hadn't burned in years. What happened next is both amazing and fairly predictable: Fast moving flames fed by erratic winds (often caused by the fire itself) and and years of overgrowth long due for the burner.

Again, credit to the LAFD and allied agencies is plenty due here. So far, I've only heard of one structure getting minor damage (I think some embers got into the attic on a hillside home on Shannon Drive. Wood shake roof, natch, the culprit. For shame!) and no lives have been lost. Injuries have been limited to the alleged fire-starter who may have tried to extinguish the blaze before stumbling onto the Roosevelt Golf Course and being scooped up by the LAFD and transported to the hospital.

Mayor Tony V. on the tube right now, tie loosened doing his thing. Meantime, fire is still burning hot and heavy and throwing out tons of embers, which are one of the greatest dangers in a situation like this. Pray for the Marine Layer to make a return to the coast tonight, bringing higher humidities with it.

Also amazing to watch the LAFD and LACoFD helos doing extremely dangerous night drops. They've been on the fire lines for almost 10 hours now and have to contend with smoke, fire, unseen power lines, and, of course, the rising hillsides that like to eat aircraft.

LAFD on the tube right now saying the fire is "laying down for tonight" and they'll try to get a knockdown tomorrow. Councilman LaBonge says it's the worst fire he's seen in Griffith Park since the 1960s. That's what happens, my friends, when the vegetation doesn't burn for 40 years.


photo: laist.com