Apparently Santa Ana Police Department Chief Paul Walters called voters, using a robo-call service, this week to warn them about mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.
Amezcua and his Usual Suspect acolytes promptly came unglued. Here is what Amezcua posted on his Facebook account:
The Santa Ana mayor has forced the police chief to make vicious, false allegations about me in a robo call. The mayor is again abusing public resources and trust to promote his interests – not ours. In a city with the worst crime rate in Orange County, our police chief should be working on improving public safety instead of being forced into a smear campaign by a desperate career politician fearful of losing his job.
Amezcua’s publicist forwarded this note to Usual Suspect Debbie McEwen, who is known for having been sued by the ACLU after she erected illegal traffic barriers in her French Park Neighborhood, to keep Mexicans out. McEwen then posted it on the fading Santa Ana Citizens Yahoogroup.
Walters has good reason to warn voters about Amezcua. Walters is dedicated to fighting crime in Santa Ana. Amezcua represents the very worst criminals in our city, as a criminal defense lawyer. He has actively pursued the worst cases, representing drug dealers, members of the Mexican Mafia, gang members, killers and rapists. Amezcua also has allegedly received 19 traffic tickets, and as his own attorney he played games with the court records, changing his name from one ticket to the next, presumably to avoid messing up his driving record.
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I admire our Chief for having the courage to do what he feels is right. Many Police Chiefs would sit back and let the control of the city fall into the hands of this former Gang Member (F-Troop…ask Al to take off his shirt and tie and show you the big old F-Troop tat across his back) and defense lawyer to the gang members and Mexican Mafia members of Santa Ana. Thank you Paul Walters for doing the right thing even if it’s not popular.
I remember when Paul Walters worked at Toy World in Honer Plaza when he was a young whipper snaper growing up in Santa Ana. He’s a home town boy doing what is best for the city he loves. God Bless you Paul Walters!
Are you kidding or are you totally ignorant Amezcua has never been a gang member. He’s promoted higher education and anti gang violence.
If the worst you all can dig up is 19 traffic tickets you all are sad old men/women.
Lucy,
Why did he quit the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board, after he was elected? Is it true he was caught living outside the Area he was elected to represent?
I think that it is incredible that Alfredo Amezcua and his supporters would call the integrity of Chief Paul Walters into question. This is the same Alfredo Amezcua that has falsely claimed the support of Loretta Sanchez and lied about his involvement in the Bill Clinton event.
Paul Walters is one of the most respected law enforcement officials in the nation and a man of tremendous character and integrity. If he did robo-calls against Alfredo it was because it is what he truly believes, not because Mayor Pulido told him to do so.
Kudos to Chief Walters!
Vote Pulido!!!
You guys are really sad. Chief Walters message was to tell people that Loretta was not endorsing Amezcua that he had checked with Loretta to confirm. The call has nothing to do with any other topic……..including Amezcua’s profession or the bogus ticket issue.
The Chief making a call as the Chief and advising he confirmed a no endorsement(irrelevant as this claim was never stated by Amezcua) is shameful in every sense …..ethical, professional and political.
First Amezcua has not publicised a endorsement from Loretta. She supports Amezcua.
Secondly Loretta has also not endorsed Pulido.
The Chief’s robo call then is irrelevant cheap dirty politics. We all would like to think he was forced to do this action by Pulido. If he did it for personal reasons it would be a shame and a conflict of his position as a city employee.
The robo call was paid by the Victory Fund PAC controlled by Pulido’s private Attorney and business partner Barbaro. The PAC has developer donors involved with the Station District development championed by Pulido. Also on this donation PAC and major contributor is Judy Ware of Ware disposal.
FOLLOW THE MONEY TOUNDERSTAND THE BENEFITS FROM THE ACTIONS.
“She supports Amezcua.”
Really? I have seen documented proof to the contrary. If she supports Alfredo why has she not officially endorsed his candidacy?
The Chief is a man of integrity and widely recognized as such. I doubt he will lose much sleep over what Art Lomeli and Al Amezcua think. Kudos to Chief Walters for exposing the falsehoods being put forth by the Amezcua camp.
Your dream ends in 8 hours….Vote Pulido!!!
“Your dream ends in 8 hours….Vote Pulido!!!”…….. Hmmm
and nightmare will begin!
I think that Walters should pay attention to his SAPD13 and killing of the mothers in front of their children.
In addition he should not freebase cocaine as he did in 1995 so he can distribute it to school kids so he can make bogus arrests.
Walters should spike his pension and retire.
Are you having problem with truth again Pedroza?
I have had a deep respect for SAPD Chief of Police Paul Walters, and our police officers who put their lives on the line for our safety.
But yesterday evening, I received Chief of SAPD Paul Walters’ political robocall, and I was very disturbed, and I am still strongly concerned.
First of all, as someone who has proudly earned and worn the uniform of our nation’s Armed Forces (I served in the US Marines 1987-1994; and CA Army National Guard 1994-1997), we always served for the right of every citizen to freely express their voice in public without fear of any retaliation.
However, WE WERE PROHIBITED for good reason, and we also learned to keep our personal opinions to ourselves while in UNIFORM, and to NOT USE our MILITARY AFFILIATION, or RANK to state our personal opinions especially POLITICAL ones and especially in a very public way.
1) Chief of Police Walter’s call IS VERY TROUBLING to me and should be to all Citizens because he is using his role as a PUBLIC Servant and his Police AFFILIATION and RANK to state his personal opinion in a very POLITICAL manner.
2) I know that AT A MINIMUM this a clear BREACH of ETHICS by our Chief of Police, and
a) sets a very WRONG precedent which can SIGNIFICANTLY HARM and UNDERMINE his LEADERSHIP ability, and
b) can also Significantly DIMINISH HIS AUTHORITY and the trust that all our good Officers, our other elected leaders, and Citizens have placed on him and on the power and authority of his office.
3) This breach of ethics and trust by our Chief of Police, and the abuse of his police Affiliation and Rank, might also border on ILLEGALITY – this is something that should be INDEPENDENTLY INVESTIGATED to
a) PREVENT RECURRENCE,
b) REBUILD THE TRUST in the office of the Police Chief,
c) ENSURE our brave and dedicated Police Officers do NOT see this a “green light” to engage in same behavior, and
c) PREVENT any chilling-effect this might have on Free-Speech or the Freedom of Assembly;or
d) on the desires of future citizens who might wish to run for public office, but who might be afraid of doing so because of FEAR OF BEING THE POLITICAL TARGETS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
4) Regardless of how each of us feels about the candidates for Mayor of Santa Ana, the other part that troubles me is the PHRASING and the TONE that Chief Paul Walters used and the implication of his call:
Chief of Paul Walters referred to Alfredo Amezcua Mayor of Santa Ana Candidate as the “CRIMINAL Defense Attorney.”
i) He could have phrased it, the Criminal LAW Defense Attorney
ii) But his phrasing, his emphasis on the word CRIMINAL, and the PAUSE after the word CRIMINAL clearly was intended to make it appear as if Attorney Alfredo Amezcua is a CRIMINAL, who is engaged in the practice of Defense Attorney.
iii) Chief of Police Walters knew or should have known that his statement was an improper political statement and ABUSE OF HIS OFFICE, because he also made it sound as if he conducted an investigation in his role of Chief of Police and was now charging Attorney Alfredo Amezcua as a CRIMINAL .
The clear intent of all of these actions, clearly unethical and possibly illegal, by the Chief of Police were meant to UNDULY influence the voting behavior of citizens for the benefit of the Mayor to whom he reports directly to.
5) ADDITIONALLY, it is interesting that Chief of Police Walters would take it upon himself to “investigate” and “clarify” certain political statements being made by one candidate while IGNORING the claims that VIOLENT CRIME HAS DROPPED By 64% for the last several years, while VIOLENT CRIME HAS ACTUALLY REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS AND AT VERY HIGH LEVELS.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/10/violent-crime-unchanged-for-santa-ana-other-claims-way-forward/
6) Separately, while a link has being provided in this post of “the alleged misdeeds” of Attorney Amezcua, the link that provides the actual commentary and replies to these allegations was NOT provided…so I provide the link below:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/10/amezcua-gets-wrecked-by-new-mailers-divulging-his-traffic-record-and-support-for-criminals/
Francisco J. Barragan
My opinions only and not those of any group
Francisco,
Are you living in town? I thought you lived in south Orange County? Did the call go through to your cell phone?
It is common for lawyers to call themselves criminal defense attorneys, in fact Amezcua does so.
Amezcua has indeed engaged in acts that appear illegal. He registered to vote at his office, when he DID NOT live there. That is a major crime that Nativo Lopez was arrested for. He ran for the Rancho board in an area he did NOT live in. And he changed his name on a number of traffic tickets in order to avoid ruining his record.
And I already refuted your claims about violent crime, using the very same FBI data you referred me to. Crime has indeed dropped. For you to say it has not, as an auditor, is just odd. The numbers don’t lie.
Art,
1) I live in Santa Ana…and the call went to my house number.
But anyone who lives in Santa ana, does business in Santa Ana, vacations in Santa, or is enjoying Santa Ana for short visits, should be concerned when a member of law enforcement identifies himself as such and then makes a negative political statement that is meant to sway the voters…under the color and guise of authority.
2) Art, you state, “And I already refuted your claims about violent crime, using the very same FBI data you referred me to. Crime has indeed dropped. For you to say it has not, as an auditor, is just odd. The numbers don’t lie.”
My Response:
You are mistaken in your reply Art. NET OVERALL “VIOLENT CRIME” same category and breakdown that the FBI uses has REMAINED UNCHANGED, although claims are being made that violent crime has decreased by 64% to make Mayor Pulido look favorable.
What is correct is that within the category of VIOLENT CRIME certain crimes have DEcreased, while others have INcreased. But overall, “VIOLENT CRIME” has remained UNCHANGED from 2008 to 2009 and at still high levels.
(PLEASE RECHECK THE FBI Statistics that I provided and the link to the FBI resources- you will see that I also provided the UP and Down “absolute number” changes and the PERCENT INCREASES AND DECREASES…but again VIOLENT CRIME has remained UNCHANGED…
I wish it was otherwise, because each of those reported crimes (and I assume that there is more unreported crime) represents a human being and a citizen that has been victimized!
What should be happening is that our Chief of Police should be focused on serving our citizens by focusing on reducing crime, and not focusing on serving his political master(s) by making political statements that violate his law enforcement professional standards.
Francisco Barragan
My opinions only and not those of any group
I see why we differed. I compared the 2009 data to 2007. I think that is a more fair assessment. It would be even better to look at the last five years. One year is simply not enough data.
I think Walters was correct in making the calls. Amezcua is a liar, he cannot be trusted and he deserves to lose.
I’m not a fan of either Alfredo Amezcua or Miguel Pulido, but how much is Paul Walters, the “retired” Chief of the Santa Ana Police Department, currently making now?
As I recall it, he “retired” from the force in 2004. The Los Angeles Times back then reported he was making about $300,000 a year, if you include his annual pension.
I’ve personally dealt with Chief Walters and am extremely disappointed with the way he handles criticism of his department especially when it comes to civil rights issues.
About a decade ago, I was in a meeting at SAPD headquarters where Chief Walters got so angry with a community activist that he shouted at her at the top of his lungs.
Although nobody is perfect, I thought it reflected poorly on Walters to have a temper tantrum. I thought perhaps he could have done better job controlling himself being a Police Chief.
But I got the impression that was normal behavior for him since none of the Captains and Lieutenants in the room winced when he did that. They just sat their staring out into space.
Duane,
I met with him when I was complaining about DUI stops, which I believe target immigrants. He was very gracious. He gave me a ton of information, which I later used in writing my analysis of the SAPD DUI checkpoints.
Hi Art:
I was quite surprised at Chief Walter’s outburst. His verbal attack wasn’t directed toward me, but against another person I was with. The funny thing is that I didn’t agree what she was saying either, but it got Walter’s really mad. As I recall it, one of the persons present at this meeting was then-Sergeant Raul Luna — who later became Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez’s District Director. I think he was working Public Relations or Internal Affairs at the time. I don’t know if he would ever fess up to it if he were asked about it. He might not even remember it since it took place many years ago.
Duane,
I guess we all have our bad days. I have never seen Walters behave that way.
The meeting was also about a touchy issue: an officer-involved shooting.
Anyways, good luck with your School Board race!
Duane,
I see. That could explain his behavior. Walters is very supportive of his officers and would no doubt have been uncomfortable in that setting.
Thanks for the good wishes! Good luck to you as well.
“Really? I have seen documented proof to the contrary. If she supports Alfredo why has she not officially endorsed his candidacy?”
REALLY, Sean. Why has she not told you she does not support Alfredo? She can not endorse local offices as a Congresswoman.
There are no falsehoods from the Amezcua camp. Amezcua does not claim endorsement.
Chief Walter’s inquiry was about Amezcua having endorsement, which was never claimed, so Chief Walters then did not expose anything resembling a falsehood from Amezcua.
Why do you and Pedroza have such a hard time dealing with facts.
Sean, Our dream is never ending. It is a process.
Lomeli,
That is a damn lie. I saw the mailer. You can too at http://amezcuafacts.com/?p=75.
The fact is that your guy Amezcua is a mentiroso.
Pedroza,
Thank you for providing the document. It clearly says “SUPPORT”. Can you not read.
The documentation says” SUPPORT” you changed it to “ENDORSE” for your propaganda message.
This makes you and all those with this agenda the “LIARS”.
Lomeli,
Here is the definition of “Endorse,” from the Cambridge Dictionary:
endorse verb ( SUPPORT ) /ɪnˈdɔːs//-ˈdɔːrs/ [T]
• to make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone
For the record, Amezcua has neither the support nor the endorsement of Sanchez.
Pedroza,
Political endorsement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
This article does not cite any references or sources.
Political endorsement is the action of publicly declaring one’s personal or group’s support of a candidate for elected office.
Loretta’s support of Amezcua is not in this sense.
Your definition is similar. She has not publically stated support so it is not an endorsement.
“For the record, Amezcua has neither the support nor the endorsement of Sanchez.”
Prove it Pedroza.
.
Ridiculous. I have proof but don’t have permission to post it.
You are splitting hairs.
Why are you so crazed about Amezcua? It is maddening. I have never seen anyone so completely nuts for a candidate. What did he ever do to deserve this?
I must say that I have been so disappointed by your behavior. You have libeled me at other blogs and attacked me even here, simply because I don’t support Amezcua. I thought we were friends.
You did the same to Michele.
Is Amezcua really worth all this? Really? I just don’t see it. He was part of the Pulido cabal for twenty years. He is no revolutionary. He simply turned on Pulido because Pulido would not support his bank, which failed anyway.
What a sad joke.
Splitting hairs that is what you do in this case.
“Ridiculous. I have proof but don’t have permission to post it.”
This “IS” ridiculous.
” I have never seen anyone so completely nuts for a candidate. ”
Look in the mirror.
It is a free country, we can support the candidate of our choice. Do you disagree?
Take it like you dish it out Pedroza.
Lomeli,
There is the difference. I don’t “dish it out” the way you do. Sure, we write hard-hitting posts. But we provide data and evidence and opinion that is based on said material.
Why do the Amezcua acolytes seem so unhinged, by comparison?
Am I the only one that sees similarities between the allegations regarding Amezcua and those leveled at now Supervisor Shawn Nelson? Maybe Amezcua would be better suited to be first district County Supervisor and join Nelson on the throne.
Older Than,
Except that Amezcua only does criminal defense. Nelson owns a diversified practice that includes many types of litigation.
And Nelson has not lied about anything, as far as I know. He appears to be an honorable man. I did not however like it when he hired Dennis Bilodeau.
“She can not endorse local offices as a Congresswoman.”
Who told you that Lomeli? She is free to endorse whomever she wants.
“Amezcua does not claim endorsement.”
Amezcua sent out a mailer claiming she supports him, she does not. You are just trying to use semantics when you claim the word used was “support” and not “endorse”.
“Our dream is never ending.”
Any dream that includes Tim Rush, Debbie McEwen and the “usual suspects” sounds like a nightmare to me. You and Amezcua are in bed with the very same folks that had the Mayor’s ear for too many years. Now that he has dumped them you are right there for them to help them further their agenda.
Now you only have 5 hours of your pipe dream left.
“Pulido would not support his bank, which failed anyway.
What a sad joke.”
I was invited to meetings when the bank was being formed as a possible investor. Pulido was there advocating for investors to join the formation of the bank.
Pulido was a recruiter for the bank board.
HOW IS THIS NOT SUPPORT OF THE BANK. THE JOKE IS ON YOU.
It is law look it up. Loretta also mentioned it.
It is not semantics it is a definition. You and Pedroza are the ones playing with words to fit your agenda.
Sean, the dream is never ending. I know you can’t grasp this because it is scary to you and your group.
WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOOSE BUT EVERYTHING TO GAIN.
Lomeli,
You do indeed have much to lose. You and the rest of Amezcua’s rabid pack of unhinged supporters are going to be on the outside looking in for a few years. The only Councilman who will take your calls is Benavides, and he is going to be sitting at the little kid’s table for four years.
Good luck with that…
“Amezcua has never been a gang member”
He Lucy, I think Desi fed you some bum dope. Al was an active leader in a little gang we have here in Santa Ana called F-Troop. He’s what we call on the street a “Veterano”. Take a little drive over to El Salvador park and walk into the Corner Market and ask the workers if they have ever heard of F-Troop and Al Amezqua. Did you ever notice Lucy you have never seen a photo of Al with sin camisa? That’s because if he takes off his shirt you will see his tats! I still love you Lucy.
Senor Pedroza: ” correction” the law sue was against Mayor Miguel Pulido and the City of Santa ana, not against Ms. Mc Ewen. and the Constitution of the United State of America
VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE of the French Court neighborhood and Logan neighborhood .
Art Pedroza
Posted November 2, 2010 at 4:53 PM
Lomeli,
You do indeed have much to lose. You and the rest of Amezcua’s rabid pack of unhinged supporters are going to be on the outside looking in for a few years. The only Councilman who will take your calls is Benavides, and he is going to be sitting at the little kid’s table for four years.
Good luck with that…
Pedroza,
Still the process would continue.
Lomeli says: … She cannot endorse local offices as a congresswoman. What???? Loretta Sanchez endorsed Valerie Amezcua in 2008 and has endorsed other local candidates in the past.
Maybe Scratch n Sniff didn’t want to endorse another Amezcua LOSER.