"Yes, when there's a complaint the department has an obligation to at least do due diligence, but that's not the same as assuming every complaint is valid or that every subject of a complaint is guilty of something.
The litigants (Longcore and Audubon) would prefer that ACOs went on "search and destroy missions," pro-actively looking for people like you and the others, seeking to impound any and all cats living outdoors. They've made it very clear that their preference is for all cats to live indoors. And they've got a judge who goes along with their interpretation of what constitutes a "TNR program" and hates the LA city government and always (in several cases, I'm told by the City Attorneys) goes out of his way to exercise a negative bias when a case comes before him.
So maybe limiting LAAS to responding complaints is the best we're going to do in terms of restraint until we get the CEQA work completed. It wasn't til after they'd won in court that the plaintiffs finally realized that LAAS simply isn't going to be able to round up every cat and, consequently, that totally blocking TNR and leaving bunches of them out there unsterilized might actually work against their stated goals.
I may be a fan of Franz Kafka's writing, but I didn't say I thought it was okay for ACOs to misapply or misinterpret laws. I mentioned that I told Brenda I thought there was some enforcement overkill going on and she agreed. Whether I think the laws are necessary or being interpreted correctly is not the point. They're the laws that are in place. It's up to LAAS management to work with their enforcement staff to come up with consistent, reasonable interpretation of them - and preferably not the draconian version preferred by DiMascio and some others.
Just because some ACOs are misapplying certain Code sections doesn't mean there's not a point to those Code sections or to appropriately enforcing them based on legitimate complaints. Like I said, the concerns with how certain ACOs do their jobs far pre-date the TNR crisis and it remains to be seen whether that culture can be changed. We know we have a GM who would like to change it, but just because she's now the boss doesn't mean that the ACOs are suddenly going to change their stripes. And she can't go out on every call with them to make sure they're not over-reaching.
Ideally, when a complaint comes in, the ACOs wouldn't immediately assume it was justified. Rather, they'd go out and do a little investigative work, review the situation, not assume that a feral cat is the equivalent of a timberwolf, try to ascertain whether there's a real and legitimate nuisance occurring, apply the Codes correctly, and go from there. If you want to know what I think the department should be doing in these situations, that's it right there."
I may be a fan of Franz Kafka's writing, but I didn't say I thought it was okay for ACOs to misapply or misinterpret laws. I mentioned that I told Brenda I thought there was some enforcement overkill going on and she agreed. Whether I think the laws are necessary or being interpreted correctly is not the point. They're the laws that are in place. It's up to LAAS management to work with their enforcement staff to come up with consistent, reasonable interpretation of them - and preferably not the draconian version preferred by DiMascio and some others.
Just because some ACOs are misapplying certain Code sections doesn't mean there's not a point to those Code sections or to appropriately enforcing them based on legitimate complaints. Like I said, the concerns with how certain ACOs do their jobs far pre-date the TNR crisis and it remains to be seen whether that culture can be changed. We know we have a GM who would like to change it, but just because she's now the boss doesn't mean that the ACOs are suddenly going to change their stripes. And she can't go out on every call with them to make sure they're not over-reaching.
Ideally, when a complaint comes in, the ACOs wouldn't immediately assume it was justified. Rather, they'd go out and do a little investigative work, review the situation, not assume that a feral cat is the equivalent of a timberwolf, try to ascertain whether there's a real and legitimate nuisance occurring, apply the Codes correctly, and go from there. If you want to know what I think the department should be doing in these situations, that's it right there."
MY RESPONSE: Brenda Barnette needs civilian helpers to oversee field operation.
BRENDA, WE ARE HERE TO HELP. I WILL RIDE ALONG ON EVERY NOTICE TO COMPLY ABOUT KENNEL VIOLATIONS OR HOARDERS, OR FEEDING FERALS.
THEY CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS ANYMORE.
ASK FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVILIAN REVIEW COMMISSION, AS OPPOSED TO THE CURRENT AS COMMISSION THAT HAS BEEN GUTTED.
Hey Ed,
ReplyDeleteHow are you getting cooperation from the higher ups. This is something I would like to pursue here.