Thread: ESCONDIDO, CA : Escondido checkpoints abusive, dividing city

FORUM: Escondido checkpoints abusive, dividing city

By BILL FLORES -- Escondido
Posted: April 4, 2010 12:01 am

Escondido has suffered through more than three years of abusive driver's license checkpoints, the hallmark of Police Chief Jim Maher's administration.

The policy has resulted in the stopping of tens of thousands of cars, impounding thousands of vehicles, issuing hundreds of citations and generating millions of dollars for the city and the tow companies, all apparently in violation of California law.

The relevant laws are clear and unambiguous: stopping a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is properly licensed is illegal. While the chief of police still claims his program of checkpoints is for "safety," he has yet to produce any evidence that checkpoints are responsible for any reduction in traffic accidents or hit-and-run accidents.

There is, however, plenty of evidence that his program has contributed to further dividing this city.

Truth be told, traffic accidents have been falling in many cities, even those where there are no checkpoints. The suspected reason: the economy. We know people are driving less because many are out of work, or are working fewer hours. People are driving fewer discretionary miles because they want to reduce their spending on gas.

With fewer cars on the road, the likelihood of having an accident is similarly reduced. Fewer accidents mean fewer hit-and-runs. In the city of Escondido, the slowed economy has hit hard, which is a more plausible explanation for any reduction in traffic accidents.

What is most surprising is that Maher's supervisor, City Manager Clay Phillips, has allowed the chief to be viewed as the new face of the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino sentiment in this city. Phillips has allowed the police department to be perceived as a political force, not unlike the Sheriff's Department of Maricopa County, Ariz., under Joe Arapio.

There are many ways to achieve legitimate law enforcement goals without the perception of being divisive, cruel, and distracted from real crime.

There is significant damage to the community that needs attention. Maher's tendency of blaming those who point out wrong-headed policies does nothing to assist in the rebuilding of confidence in this city.

BILL FLORES lives in Escondido.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

El Grupo is back, and it has a new mission!

Latino groups, along with other minority community-based organizations in North County, are rebuilding an umbrella organization known as "El Grupo." Originally formed to act as a forum for networking and information sharing, North County community-based organizations have now come together to develop a common policy agenda and to address issues related to the political, educational, social, and economic equality of Latinos and other disenfranchised groups.

The Latino population of several north San Diego County cities is over 40% and is concentrated in the communities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido. "Latinos have a large and growing presence in North County and we plan to interact more and more with decision-makers on a continuous basis. We realize that there are some local elected officials that are proposing ordinances that are clearly discriminatory against the Latino community, and, in fact, all minority communities. We will join other organizations in not letting these proposals go unanswered or unchallenged. El Grupo will become an integral part of the debate", says El Grupo spokesman Bill Flores.

The effort to reconstitute El Grupo is lead by groups as diverse as the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, La Raza Lawyers Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of North San Diego County, and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, among others.

EL GRUPO will address issues ranging from the lack of Spanish-speaking law enforcement officers in Vista to a proposed housing ordinance in Escondido. EL GRUPO will spearhead a drive to encourage naturalization, assist in voter registration and participation, and develop leadership training. This event will be held in Escondido with details forthcoming. “Actions by extremist anti-Latino groups and some elected officials have sparked an awakening in minority communities that will result in a new environment in North County. We see North County’s pluralism as a positive and we will work with diverse organizations to ensure justice and equality for all,â€

Escondido has suffered through more than three years of abusive driver's license checkpoints

Where's the abuse? Show me.

The relevant laws are clear and unambiguous: stopping a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is properly licensed is illegal.

We have laws that state it's illegal to drive without a license. We also have laws that it is illegal to live in the US without authorization. Can't pick the laws you like, while violating the ones you don't like. ALL laws should be enforced. Why don't we try it? Let's start by deporting illegal aliens.

While the chief of police still claims his program of checkpoints is for "safety," he has yet to produce any evidence that checkpoints are responsible for any reduction in traffic accidents or hit-and-run accidents.

Really? I'm sure someone in Escondido can find out how many accidents and hit-and-runs involved illegal aliens and other unlicensed drivers. That would directly correspond to a accidents that should not have happened.

Truth be told, traffic accidents have been falling in many cities, even those where there are no checkpoints. The suspected reason: the economy. We know people are driving less because many are out of work, or are working fewer hours. People are driving fewer discretionary miles because they want to reduce their spending on gas


Nice try Flores.......lame, but nice try

How about trying this on for size?

People who don't belong behind the wheels of vehicles are driving less due to the deterrent effect posed by a greater potential for being caught.

A steady increase in the number of immigrants.....both legal and illegal in fact.....who are heading home southbound as the US has lost it's usefulness.

Illegal aliens finding it less and less worth the cost and effort to come here in the huge numbers they previously did.



All of those things have been found to greatly effect a number of areas, including the number of unlicensed, and/or unfit, drivers loose on our roads......are we expected to believe that the patterns and statistics which apply to every other place in this country somehow, magically and mysteriously, do not apply to Escondido?




North County community-based organizations have now come together to develop a common policyagenda and to address issues related to the political, educational, social, and economic equality of Latinos and other disenfranchised groups


This is laughable

What "other disenfranchised groups" do these ethnocentric organizations EVER assist with anything? Where do we ever hear them ranting and raving about anything OTHER than the Latino cause and movement?

Fact is......we don't. Unless they are trying to back up their claims of "ownership" of the Unted States by claiming to be one in the same as the Native American tribes, the "indigenous peoples"

They need to change their name to "El Grope-o" because that's all they're capable of doing.....groping around trying to find every excuse, every justification that sounds like it even remotely might sense in their agenda holding water.

And they're failing miserably......

Bill Flores
a prominent (ILLEGAL ALIEN) Latino activist who lives in Escondido.

Flores is a retired assistant sheriff and a former San Dieguito Union High School District board member who is now a member of El Grupo, an umbrella group for civil rights organizations in the county.

There is, however, plenty of evidence that his program has contributed to further dividing this city.

Dividing the city between legal and illegal residents is a good thing!!

A coworker told me about a check point up here in San Jose. He said his wife told him people were crying and walking home from it.


In the sixties they insisted that there wasn't going to be enough room for us to have children because of things like road crowding.

This is a mild form of getting unlicensed drivers and those without insurance off of the road. They still have their children.