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Inappropriate Comments by TBSC Members Left Unchecked on SCPD Social Media
Recent innapropriate comments left by Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC) members on the Santa Cruz Police Department's Facebook page have remained unchecked and reveal a relationship that has perhaps become too comfortable, one which has most likely been further facilitated by the recent large financial donation by the "public safety" group to the police.
In one comment left on a SCPD Facebook post from January 21 about details of a criminal suspect recently brought into custody, TBSC member Samantha Olden asks the police, "Can you please let the other inmates know what he did so he can get some special attention?"
In the past, Take Back Santa Cruz has been criticized for attempting to take justice into their own hands with a vigilante style approach, and this comment appears to confirm that tendency is still alive in the group's current leadership.
On a SCPD Facebook post from January 20 about the apprehension of a shoplifting suspect, one of the TBSC co-founders, Analicia Cube, left the comment: "Twain Harte we have one of yours down here. She's the chicken."
Take Back Santa Cruz members have been criticized for narrowly attempting to define who "real" Santa Cruz residents are, and how those perceived to be non-locals should be treated differently by the justice system (and also when receiving local social services). TBSC has also marketed itself as an "anti-bullying" group, yet Cube freely uses name calling on the SCPD Facebook page, as she has in other online forums in the past.
The comments from Olden and Cube remain visible despite the SCPD's moderation guidelines, which are clearly stated on the info/about page: "inappropriate" material that is "derogatory, defamatory, insensitive" or that contains vulgar or profane language is to be removed.
Have Olden and Cube been given passes to post whatever they want to on the SCPD page because they are in the leadership of Take Back Santa Cruz, an organization that has donated a substantial sum of money to the police?
Olden and Cube are featured prominently in a SCPD Facebook post from November, with pictures of the two delivering a $2500 check from TBSC to the police, which was to go towards the construction of a memorial garden for Sergeant Butch Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler outside of the department.
Most of the SCPD Facebook posts are links to the department's blog, which is hosted by Blogspot. The blog post about the $2500 donation is titled "Take Back Santa Cruz Comes Through in a Big Way", and includes the following statements from the SCPD: "Take Back Santa Cruz has always been known for putting action behind their words. Now they have put their money there too," and, "we are quite honored and humbled by your donation and support over the years. Thank You Take Back Santa Cruz!!!"
Elsewhere on the SCPD Facebook page, both Olden and Cube have left multiple comments promoting fundraising efforts for the memorial fund. Olden organizes fundraisers at Woodstock's Pizza (which is part of a business chain not based in Santa Cruz) for the memorial garden, as well as events that support the "subsidized self defense and anti-bullying classes" offered by TBSC called Santa Cruz Strong.
Cube has left comments on the SCPD Facebook page on how to buy the "Never Forget" t-shirts TBSC produced to benefit the memorial garden.
In statements made to the media, the TBSC leadership commonly attempts to divorce itself from mudslinging comments like the ones made by Olden and Cube, but these recent comments from them further emphasizes how in reality it is not just fringe members of the organization who are making the inappropriate comments.
Early critics of TBSC have asked why hasn't the organization taken in an interest in police brutality if the group is interested in public safety. The Olden comment suggest a certain level of support FOR police brutality, in the form of an indirect solicitation to incite inmates to be violent towards each other.
The call for violence against a police suspect also acts in opposition to the presumption of innocence which is crucial to the system of justice in the United States. Take Back Santa Cruz has previously had issues with jumping to conclusions about the guilt or innocence of a police suspect when the group mobbed the court hearing for Ken Maffei in March of last year. Maffei was accused of stealing flowers from a memorial for SCPD officers Baker and Butler, but he was later found to be completely innocent of the charges. To this day on their website, TBSC continues to display a link to a news article in the local media about Maffei that reported their presence at his first court hearing, yet they never posted the follow up article that was published about his exoneration.
The current Facebook page used by the SCPD is a "fan page" which states they joined Facebook in July of 2011.
The earliest posts visible on the police's blog are messages from Chief of Police Kevin Vogel when he was interim Chief in December of 2010.
In April of 2011 the department launched what it believed to be, "the first consumer-focused law enforcement iPhone application in the country".
The humor on the police blog is often unprofessional in its tone, and while the department does use the blog and social media posts to highlight unsolved crimes, very often the blog is used for blatant and self-congratulatory department propaganda.
How police departments interact with the public they serve through social media is still a new process, and the Santa Cruz Police Department is still sailing in uncharted territory.
Inappropriate Comments by TBSC Members:
Samantha Olden
"Can you please let the other inmates know what he did so he can get some special attention?" https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527531067344227?stream_ref=10
Analicia Cube
"Twain Harte we have one of yours down here. She's the chicken." https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527062290724438?stream_ref=10
Photos from the police blog: SCPD Chief of Police Kevin Vogel shows off a $2500 check from Take Back Santa Cruz and wears the "Never Forget" shirt the group sells; Chief Vogel thanks Take Back Santa Cruz members Samantha Olden (on the left) and Analicia Cube (on the right).
In the past, Take Back Santa Cruz has been criticized for attempting to take justice into their own hands with a vigilante style approach, and this comment appears to confirm that tendency is still alive in the group's current leadership.
On a SCPD Facebook post from January 20 about the apprehension of a shoplifting suspect, one of the TBSC co-founders, Analicia Cube, left the comment: "Twain Harte we have one of yours down here. She's the chicken."
Take Back Santa Cruz members have been criticized for narrowly attempting to define who "real" Santa Cruz residents are, and how those perceived to be non-locals should be treated differently by the justice system (and also when receiving local social services). TBSC has also marketed itself as an "anti-bullying" group, yet Cube freely uses name calling on the SCPD Facebook page, as she has in other online forums in the past.
The comments from Olden and Cube remain visible despite the SCPD's moderation guidelines, which are clearly stated on the info/about page: "inappropriate" material that is "derogatory, defamatory, insensitive" or that contains vulgar or profane language is to be removed.
Have Olden and Cube been given passes to post whatever they want to on the SCPD page because they are in the leadership of Take Back Santa Cruz, an organization that has donated a substantial sum of money to the police?
Olden and Cube are featured prominently in a SCPD Facebook post from November, with pictures of the two delivering a $2500 check from TBSC to the police, which was to go towards the construction of a memorial garden for Sergeant Butch Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler outside of the department.
Most of the SCPD Facebook posts are links to the department's blog, which is hosted by Blogspot. The blog post about the $2500 donation is titled "Take Back Santa Cruz Comes Through in a Big Way", and includes the following statements from the SCPD: "Take Back Santa Cruz has always been known for putting action behind their words. Now they have put their money there too," and, "we are quite honored and humbled by your donation and support over the years. Thank You Take Back Santa Cruz!!!"
Elsewhere on the SCPD Facebook page, both Olden and Cube have left multiple comments promoting fundraising efforts for the memorial fund. Olden organizes fundraisers at Woodstock's Pizza (which is part of a business chain not based in Santa Cruz) for the memorial garden, as well as events that support the "subsidized self defense and anti-bullying classes" offered by TBSC called Santa Cruz Strong.
Cube has left comments on the SCPD Facebook page on how to buy the "Never Forget" t-shirts TBSC produced to benefit the memorial garden.
In statements made to the media, the TBSC leadership commonly attempts to divorce itself from mudslinging comments like the ones made by Olden and Cube, but these recent comments from them further emphasizes how in reality it is not just fringe members of the organization who are making the inappropriate comments.
Early critics of TBSC have asked why hasn't the organization taken in an interest in police brutality if the group is interested in public safety. The Olden comment suggest a certain level of support FOR police brutality, in the form of an indirect solicitation to incite inmates to be violent towards each other.
The call for violence against a police suspect also acts in opposition to the presumption of innocence which is crucial to the system of justice in the United States. Take Back Santa Cruz has previously had issues with jumping to conclusions about the guilt or innocence of a police suspect when the group mobbed the court hearing for Ken Maffei in March of last year. Maffei was accused of stealing flowers from a memorial for SCPD officers Baker and Butler, but he was later found to be completely innocent of the charges. To this day on their website, TBSC continues to display a link to a news article in the local media about Maffei that reported their presence at his first court hearing, yet they never posted the follow up article that was published about his exoneration.
The current Facebook page used by the SCPD is a "fan page" which states they joined Facebook in July of 2011.
The earliest posts visible on the police's blog are messages from Chief of Police Kevin Vogel when he was interim Chief in December of 2010.
In April of 2011 the department launched what it believed to be, "the first consumer-focused law enforcement iPhone application in the country".
The humor on the police blog is often unprofessional in its tone, and while the department does use the blog and social media posts to highlight unsolved crimes, very often the blog is used for blatant and self-congratulatory department propaganda.
How police departments interact with the public they serve through social media is still a new process, and the Santa Cruz Police Department is still sailing in uncharted territory.
Inappropriate Comments by TBSC Members:
Samantha Olden
"Can you please let the other inmates know what he did so he can get some special attention?" https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527531067344227?stream_ref=10
Analicia Cube
"Twain Harte we have one of yours down here. She's the chicken." https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527062290724438?stream_ref=10
Photos from the police blog: SCPD Chief of Police Kevin Vogel shows off a $2500 check from Take Back Santa Cruz and wears the "Never Forget" shirt the group sells; Chief Vogel thanks Take Back Santa Cruz members Samantha Olden (on the left) and Analicia Cube (on the right).
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Was the OP's focus on TBSC really so narrow as to miss this far more blatantly violent comment, or is it not worthy of mention because it wasn't posted by a known TBSC participant?
"Marcia Hille I just love the Santa Cruz police officers, as well as the Watsonville police officers. Can't we pretty please just put a bullet in their head and be done with it....please???"
https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527531067344227?comment_id=2906117&offset=0&total_comments=13
"Marcia Hille I just love the Santa Cruz police officers, as well as the Watsonville police officers. Can't we pretty please just put a bullet in their head and be done with it....please???"
https://www.facebook.com/santacruzpolice/posts/527531067344227?comment_id=2906117&offset=0&total_comments=13
I think most SantaCruz county inmates would wonder why a shoplifter is in jail at all and commiserate. OTOH, a friend of TBSC's, Dylan David Greiner, a surfing dude, WOULD be of interest to the general population of most penal colonies in the US.
NO ONE anywhere ikes a Jackass Jock pedobear touching 14 year old's vajayjays.
So SCPD... "Can you please let the other inmates know what he did so he can get some special attention?"
Email address: City of Santa Cruz: "Independent" Police Auditor
See: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=983
NO ONE anywhere ikes a Jackass Jock pedobear touching 14 year old's vajayjays.
So SCPD... "Can you please let the other inmates know what he did so he can get some special attention?"
Email address: City of Santa Cruz: "Independent" Police Auditor
See: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=983
For more information:
https://www.google.com/search?&q=santa...
There was also this horribly inappropriate comment from Steve Clark to Deborah Elston, which was shared on the Next Door site on 8/14/13 (not long after Trayvon Martin was killed): "Attached is a map showing the Predictive Policing zones for today for Burglary...Our officers will be in and around the zones as much as time allows today, between other calls and reports. Happy Hunting!"
Esteban Munras is correct, the SCPD has done a poor job of moderating the comments on their Facebook page and there are other comments that should be removed as per the department's own clearly stated guidelines.
The focus of this article was on TBSC's bad behavior on the SCPD Facebook page, and its negative effect on public safety.
Marcia Hille could very likely be a TBSC member. It was not the purpose of the article to prove or disprove the staus of her or other commenter's membership in TBSC.
That the police leadership know both Olden and Cube personally, are friendly with them, and received a large amount of money from them, may have enabled the department's decision to overlook moderating their Facebook page in a more general sense.
The quotes were selected because these leaders of TBSC posted them unabashadly on a government web page, the police's. These weren't comments made by anonymous posters in TBSC's private Facebook group. The article is about the SCPD sleeping on the job and TBSC's influence on that.
If the focus of this article is too narrow for you, Esteban, maybe you could search for all of the other inappropriate comments left on the SCPD Facebook page and post them here or in a seperate article, and then research them all to see what percentage were made by TBSC members?
The focus of this article was on TBSC's bad behavior on the SCPD Facebook page, and its negative effect on public safety.
Marcia Hille could very likely be a TBSC member. It was not the purpose of the article to prove or disprove the staus of her or other commenter's membership in TBSC.
That the police leadership know both Olden and Cube personally, are friendly with them, and received a large amount of money from them, may have enabled the department's decision to overlook moderating their Facebook page in a more general sense.
The quotes were selected because these leaders of TBSC posted them unabashadly on a government web page, the police's. These weren't comments made by anonymous posters in TBSC's private Facebook group. The article is about the SCPD sleeping on the job and TBSC's influence on that.
If the focus of this article is too narrow for you, Esteban, maybe you could search for all of the other inappropriate comments left on the SCPD Facebook page and post them here or in a seperate article, and then research them all to see what percentage were made by TBSC members?
Okay I have not looked into it much. But I wonder especially from the Management side
of TBSC how many were actually born/raised in Santa Cruz and whom of the Management can actually have the
RIGHT to call themselves a "LOCAL" ?
Now this being said, what gives them the right to even want to "Take Back" when and if they are not born/raised in
Santa Cruz.
Lately it is more about TBSC shutting down people's thoughts, than listening/debating/etc. They have one AGENDA
and ONE OPINION and that is them!
So all this being said, I feel sorry that TBSC does not actually represent the thoughts of most of
"Santa Cruz"
of TBSC how many were actually born/raised in Santa Cruz and whom of the Management can actually have the
RIGHT to call themselves a "LOCAL" ?
Now this being said, what gives them the right to even want to "Take Back" when and if they are not born/raised in
Santa Cruz.
Lately it is more about TBSC shutting down people's thoughts, than listening/debating/etc. They have one AGENDA
and ONE OPINION and that is them!
So all this being said, I feel sorry that TBSC does not actually represent the thoughts of most of
"Santa Cruz"
I reported a FB 'nick' wanting to be my friend this morning.
The nick "Dawn Roquel" appears to be a false person account. "Dawn" is a greasy guy who looks a lot like one of the people who made that fraudulent homeless bashing video according to the blurbs that go with the pics... Or maybe 'she' just doesn't know how to note pics properly...
Nevertheless This occurred in the wake of attempting to report the person with the "Bullet in the head" comment a the SCPD's FB page which FB does not seem to be interested in removing despite a "credible threat of violence" (inciting police officers to kill... They kill hundreds of innocent people every year so it's quite credible).
But to the gist. Scrolling down "Dawn"'s page I came across a pic of a beach house which the person owning the page claims to have purchased in... wait for it.... 2013.
It's really this simple. There ARE NO "Locals" here. Just a long-landed commercial property owning (what they haven't parceled out to REI groups) gentry and a bunch of wannabes who think they can 'buy in'.
Any perusal of US Census data for "Average length of residence" in Santa Cruz would more than amply illustrate the city, and county's attempt to turn the area into a disneyland-type 'clip joint' for the pseudo-affluent, who eventually run out of money, or find another job that pays more money, and move away. College students are another large part of that transient population as well.
The nick "Dawn Roquel" appears to be a false person account. "Dawn" is a greasy guy who looks a lot like one of the people who made that fraudulent homeless bashing video according to the blurbs that go with the pics... Or maybe 'she' just doesn't know how to note pics properly...
Nevertheless This occurred in the wake of attempting to report the person with the "Bullet in the head" comment a the SCPD's FB page which FB does not seem to be interested in removing despite a "credible threat of violence" (inciting police officers to kill... They kill hundreds of innocent people every year so it's quite credible).
But to the gist. Scrolling down "Dawn"'s page I came across a pic of a beach house which the person owning the page claims to have purchased in... wait for it.... 2013.
It's really this simple. There ARE NO "Locals" here. Just a long-landed commercial property owning (what they haven't parceled out to REI groups) gentry and a bunch of wannabes who think they can 'buy in'.
Any perusal of US Census data for "Average length of residence" in Santa Cruz would more than amply illustrate the city, and county's attempt to turn the area into a disneyland-type 'clip joint' for the pseudo-affluent, who eventually run out of money, or find another job that pays more money, and move away. College students are another large part of that transient population as well.
...gives some insight into the relation between the Bike Dojo and the SCPD:
http://thebikedojo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/police1.jpg
http://thebikedojo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/police1.jpg
Robert Norse's photo says a lot. It seems like the Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD) is a fund raising machine. Moreover its shows, just like I have been telling my sister (after SCPD supervisors continued denying us services based upon our disabilities and a certain city planning commissioner's influence), that the SCPD is run by a group of players who are pseudo police officers — they're primarily politicians who make decisions about serving the public based upon their self–serving politics and the politics of the City Council.
To the point: The SCPD supervisors are violating their sworn oaths — they only protect and serve those whose positions line up with their political aspirations.
When Chief Vogel, Deputy Chief Martinez and Deputy Chief Clerk (AWOD from this photo op) are politicians instead of police officers that changes the entire culture of the officers below them. When the politicians running the SCPD are beholden to the politics of vocal fringe groups like Take Back Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Neighbors, City Council members and the business owners/developers they serve, then they won't allow the rank and file (who mostly want to perform their duties with dignity and respect except for a few bad apples) to serve and protect the general public either. Instead the rank and file are forced — by arm twisting — to serve the business interests of rich people and the mangled politics of a neoliberal City Council using the SCPD as their private security force to enforce laws meant to make poor, disabled and homeless people invisible, to eventually cleanse our town of them.
Is this the town we want — a town sanitized under the regime of Vogel, Clerk and Martinez?
This is a strange conundrum. How do we clean up the SCPD leadership (they're not elected so we can't vote them out) to allow the rank and file SCPD officers to address legitimate public safety issues instead of contrived bogeymen? How do we ensure our police department serves and protects us instead of narrow political interests?
My answer: the federal government must hose out the SCPD leadership for conspiring to violate civili rights under color of law and to hold their funding hostage until they squeeze out the politicians to make the SCPD a true police force instead of a political machine.
To the point: The SCPD supervisors are violating their sworn oaths — they only protect and serve those whose positions line up with their political aspirations.
When Chief Vogel, Deputy Chief Martinez and Deputy Chief Clerk (AWOD from this photo op) are politicians instead of police officers that changes the entire culture of the officers below them. When the politicians running the SCPD are beholden to the politics of vocal fringe groups like Take Back Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Neighbors, City Council members and the business owners/developers they serve, then they won't allow the rank and file (who mostly want to perform their duties with dignity and respect except for a few bad apples) to serve and protect the general public either. Instead the rank and file are forced — by arm twisting — to serve the business interests of rich people and the mangled politics of a neoliberal City Council using the SCPD as their private security force to enforce laws meant to make poor, disabled and homeless people invisible, to eventually cleanse our town of them.
Is this the town we want — a town sanitized under the regime of Vogel, Clerk and Martinez?
This is a strange conundrum. How do we clean up the SCPD leadership (they're not elected so we can't vote them out) to allow the rank and file SCPD officers to address legitimate public safety issues instead of contrived bogeymen? How do we ensure our police department serves and protects us instead of narrow political interests?
My answer: the federal government must hose out the SCPD leadership for conspiring to violate civili rights under color of law and to hold their funding hostage until they squeeze out the politicians to make the SCPD a true police force instead of a political machine.
the cops have no qualified immunity for a face book page since it falls outside the scope of their job. if anyone gets hurt from that page, expect a lawsuit.
the $2500 would be better spent on improved police training and procedure, i have read differing accounts of how a known armed suspect got the drop on 2 detectives, but the only account that makes sense to me, is he simply snuck around behind them while they both waited at his door.
the $2500 would be better spent on improved police training and procedure, i have read differing accounts of how a known armed suspect got the drop on 2 detectives, but the only account that makes sense to me, is he simply snuck around behind them while they both waited at his door.
i'm pretty certain that the owner of the net class Netflix mansion two blocks from the beach on Gharkey are not born and raised in Santa Cruz. Most people that I know who were born and raised in Santa Cruz have seen A markED change IN THE The town as housing prices rise and the Rich out of towner's take over our community and our government. we used to force warships away from the area now we spend a quarter of $1 million to buy a bearcat. It might be time to re-start and organizations like SCAN
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