lincoln5559. Given the personnel cuts approved by the Council, I think we are lucky to have Dispatch to take your calls for help. I am being facetious, but only slightly. While there have been a number of news articles lately noting the good work of our police, the underlying interpretation is that the police is doing the best they can given the limited resources afforded to them by the Council. My #1 priority as mayor is to reinstate the resident's desired level of safety, including personnel and resources. Ben Cantu.

I would only add that in the current political environment, candidates who talk about cutting taxes appear to be a lot more popular than candidates who talk about the need to provide basic services. It is we the voters who determine the priorities. As long as tax cuts and not services are the number one priority, I think the situation will only get worse.

anthony002. None of the incumbent candidates are talking about cutting taxes, nor are they talking about improving services. Why, because they already increased taxes (for public safety) but basic services got worse. They have painted themselves into a fiscal corner (with no one to blame but themselves) and they are not willing to change the process of how they got there.

I am the only candidtate for mayor that will get things accomplished under the current fiscal situation by changing budgetting priorites, and focusing on the needs of the residents first, then the developers.

You are right to some degree, the residents should determine priorites. I have been told by many residents that #1 is safety.

I am with you. We have similar problems in our neighborhood. Indeed we wrote a 4 page letter to the chief with no response. I'm talking to Willie Weatherford today, Carlon Perry is also running for mayor is very helpful and just today I contacted Mr Cantu as well. Something must be done. We need to band together....

topaz ct is just the same , drugs eveybody wants to move but can't sell their homes. One house is all it takes,some of the renters have 3 and 4 felonys. This is the friendly city, for gangs and drugs. I felt safer in nam

It seems nothing has changed since these posts are from almost two years ago. May 11, 2012 there was a drive by shooting at the corner close to my house. Once the gunfire subsided and the cars drove off I saw a lot of people out making sure there neighbors were okay. When the cops got there I felt some what safe enough to go outside myself. While the cops were collecting shell casings from the hail of automatic gunfire I over heard one of the officers talking to someone that lived over there and his response to the scared residents was "Welcome to Manteca". My children don't feel safe anymore. This isn't the "Family City" Manteca says it is. If I can see the drug dealers riding there bikes up and down the street why cant the people that are suppose to be in place to protect us? Budget cuts are tough all the way around but that shouldn't be an excuse to not do your job or not take pride in your community. Manteca has 55 officers to patrol 17.757/ sq mi and with a density of 3,800/sq mi. With 18 officers per 8 hr shift that is a little over one officer per square mile (I dont blame officers that don't feel safe going on patrol by themselves with loaded handguns, tasers and shotguns) The square mileage is not taking the rural areas into account as well (City police dont patrol county areas, they wont respond, they tell you to call the sheriff). There was a shooting this past week over on Union and Yosemite with officers a block away. Is the gang activity in Manteca that bad or are the gangs in Manteca use to seeing the officers look the other way so their is no level of respect for authority? It is everything I have right now not to pack up my family and walk away from everything we have worked so hard for but why should we be the ones to leave. We make honest money, pay state,local, and city taxes all to help fund our city council and police force and the drug dealers and gang bangers seem to be the ones making the difference... and it isn't for the better. I got on the Manteca Police departments website and put in a service tag for a street light that has been out for over two years and never heard back. I put in a service tag for someone to contact me regarding starting a Neighborhood Watch with no response. Please don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative to all of our men and women both out on the streets and behind the scenes. I am also extremely frustrated with the city Manteca has become. To Mr. Cantu if you and the other incumbent candidates and the police chief would like to come over and see what we see what we live with each and every day feel free to contact me...

Not to lucky to have this dispatch.. I talked to a neighbor of the 5 victims who were shot and she told me she called the dispatch at 9 PM (the time of the shooting) to tell them her dog was barking about something in the alley and was told "keep your dog quiet".. A lot of help there...

This is a horrible idea, who would I buy my drugs from?! I'm only kidding but it's funny watching people talking about needing more cops on the streets to help fight crime, especially the drug offenses. Like who do we think those cops buy their drugs from, the corrupt lot of them...

So here is your small government in action, cut those taxes, them taxes are too high.....

Words and actions....

While some seem to believe a utopian dream that drugs don't harm anyone but the fact is Law breaking is law breaking.. While it is difficult for the police to be everywhere it is not impossible to start a Neighborhood Watch program by just getting residents together . Someone must take the step to besure everyone klnows the number to call and to tell everyone that there is a program and people are involved which leads to more people becoming willing to CALL
They have advised me that the
239-8410 number is changed to 456-8100 little details like that need to be shared with everyone.

We still have to deal with dispatchers that seem to be unwilling to send out units. But stand firm and DEMAND police protection.. I have been told at least four times that it was not against the law to gather after dark , even after I insisted the area was known for gangs. I stayed firm and insisted a patrol be sent out.. The one time they didn't, gang graffiti was all over the fence in the alley by the Southside Park.
We put notices around the neighborhood that suspicious activity will be reported.. and we do it. It is too bad the dispatcher did not send out a unit during the above call, with the dog barking. BUT we will keep calling and keep watching.

What I'm saying canative is that there is a reason cops don't arrest every dope seller in Manteca, and that's because some are hypocrites that smoke weed themselves. And you're really one of those annoying people canative? Call the cops because people are outside at night? You know that's not illegal right? People like you have called the cops on me for just standing at the park in the middle of the day. Why do you do stuff like that? You wonder why people dislike cops? It's because they get harassed while they're doing nothing wrong or illegal whatsoever, especially minorities. Just hanging out at the park on a nice day and all of a sudden police are all up on you searching you and asking stupid questions, and I don't even do drugs or sell. Oh but some idiot wants to call the cops because someone he doesn't like the look of is at the park just trying to relax. But good job, you almost got one of those pesky gangsters caught spray painting, you want a cookie?

I agree with canative62, the Manteca Police are some of the worst.

First of all the Southside park is closed affter dark.... So anyone there SHOULDN"T be there.. Second if they are like you they should be harassed since you are a supporter of anarchists and have openly supported violent revolution..
Yeah WE will call the police on any suspicious actiity..Gathering after dark in an area known for gang activity and shootings??? you bet we will call the police everytime..
Your comments just encourage us to do so.People who don't follow the law because they disagree with it are a large part of the problem. Ever hear of loitering??? it is against the law..

Canative is a conservative, they are against Liberty for all.

Fix, Manage, and Maintain (maintenance).

If people quit trying to force their fears and greed on everything, and focused on making things work properly many of our issues will go away. No one takes responsibility for anything any more, its always someone else's fault.

Prohibition in this country has never worked and only creates corruption amongst good people. Teach people to be responsible. A recent study shows rewarding good behavior shows greater results at a lower cost than does reprimanding bad behavior.

The one thing that seems the most difficult for people is that our system is hard. It requires participation. You can't sit in your bunker and expect others to fix things. Excessive drug use and gang activity comes from a lack of things to keep idle hands busy.

"I have been told at least four times that it was not against the law to gather after dark" - Curfews are the offshoot of "Big Government" and yet Canative is the one who is always calling for small government. A police state will not see you as a good guy if you happen to need to go out at night, just as someone who is breaking the law.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington

" more people becoming willing to CALL" - again, you hide in your bunker and expect others to do something about it. You and your neighbors need to be out at night and gathering as a community. No gang wants to hang out with a community other than theirs.

This is what happens when everyone is an individual and not part of a community, or society. Careful for what you ask for you might get it. It is always safer when all ship rise and not just for the few.

Just wonder ,if CN who seems to see nothing wrong with graffiti would appreciate a couple of Christian artists doing Christian graffiti on his property???
Only thing they obey the law and respect the property of so they get permission before the do their art..

WHO pays for those REWARDS for doing whats right?? do I get rewards for doing right or is it only for a select few??
I guess some would prefer that the community come out with guns to stop the shooting and gangs..

Neighborhood Watch IS the community working TOGETHER...

"Neighborhood Watch" - This needs the whole community and not just a few. This type of community activity has a tendency to be run by inferior-superior personalities who force their will on others..... like in Florida.

I remember the comedian, Sinbad, talking about when he was young. If he did something wrong, he was chastised by his neighbors before he even got home, where his parents laid into him. This is how it was when I was a kid as well. Now everyone's kid is an angel, and everyone needs to mind their own business. Parents make excuses for their kid's misbehavior always blaming someone else for the issue. That is why gangs and drug use is high amongst the youth, no one has provided them with structure, just excuses.

I had an older Liberal lady one time point out to me concerning graffiti that it is in the male species' nature to mark its territory. Sounds funny, but there seems to be some truth to it. And as far as Christian graffiti goes, I told you those radical Christian gangs are getting out of hand. We need to have the "Stand Your Ground" law in this state so when those crazies come to our door to threaten us with Hell fire and brimstone, we can protect ourselves and shoot them. Its all about perspective isn't it?

"I guess some would prefer that the community come out with guns to stop the shooting and gangs.." - I couldn't expect any more from a simple mind.

"WHO pays for those REWARDS for doing whats right?? do I get rewards for doing right or is it only for a select few??" - Who pays for the reprimand? We do, and we as a nation is only number one in the world when it comes to people in jail. One of the biggest expenses for this state besides education is the prison system, and it keeps growing. If you don't have the ability to recognize the problem in its entirety and then find solutions that are not emotional, then stop complaining. Societies cost money, you can use it wisely, or you can continue to throw good money after bad.

“Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
― Henry Ford

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.”
― Henry Ford

“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
― Henry Ford

Yep, I am on a Henry Ford kick lately. Lots of wisdom in what he said.

Being overbearing on people will not fix things but make it harder on those who are trying to make improvements. Turn the TV off and get involved.

We spend and spend on education and still fail at it. we spend and spend on the poor and the percentage of poor continues to grow.
So then answer for the failure of the war on poverty. The longest most expensive war in our history. The government gives and gives and all that has happened is people expect MORE. We still have rampant poverty and entitlements out the gazoo
Just maybe the root problem is in the ATTITUDE of people.
BEing lax and without discipline does not work

When was the last time the MPD solved a shooting case?

Canative what a hypocrite, Mr. Believer in Small Government believes people should be harassed by police when they're sitting at a park trying to relax doing nothing wrong. But why? Because apparently I've committed thought crime! I'm sure that will make me rethink my views though! And I wouldn't care if there was Christian graffiti on my house, I used to have a giant XIV graffiti on the side of my house, I lived.

Canative we spend and spend on the war on drugs, yet as far as I can tell we are horribly failing. Legalize weed.

If your just sitting in the park no one cares.... When you are in the park after it is closed and in the dark you are NOT "doing nothing wrong" the park is closed by its postings and you are trespassing..Since the park is where the gangs around Southside hang out It would be stupid to say you are doing nothing wrong by being there.. There are in fact reasons that people are to stay out of the park after dark... Bad people do bad things at the park after dark. Open your mind you will see better..
So what will you feel when you have a loved one killed by a driver under the in*fluence of drugs that have been legalized by some court activist because the majority do not buy into your nonsense?
We stopped proabition and now we kill people everyday by DUI. what a good argument for legalizing killer substances...NOT :)

For the record
it is pretty well established that you will not rethink your views no matter what!

Except for people do because I've only ever been approached by cops who got a call of "suspicious" behavior during the day, never during the night. What will I say when someone under the inf@luence drives illegally and kills someone I know? I would be pissed that they drove under the inf@luence, I wouldn't push for criminalization though, especially considering people do it anyways with it being illegal. But by your logic guns should be banned, how would you feel if someone shot someone close to you? It can lead to bad consequences, so let's criminalize it.

But it's funny that we have someone here who still believes in criminalizing alcohol, didn't you learn the lesson from last time around?

“Where people work longest and with least leisure, they buy the fewest goods. No towns were so poor as those of England where the people, from children up, worked fifteen and sixteen hours a day. They were poor because these overworked people soon wore out -- they became less and less valuable as workers. Therefore, they earned less and less and could buy less and less.”
― Henry Ford

“That the Devil finds work for idle hands to do is probably true. But there is a profound difference between leisure and idleness.”
― Henry Ford

Native, you are stuck in a conundrum, you want to represent freedoms and liberty, but you want to control everyone so you can allow freedoms and liberty for you.

The person above stated, "With 18 officers per 8 hr shift that is a little over one officer per square mile." How many people live in that square mile that can be out and about? We live in tough times for the many while the few lap up the luxuries that come with out of control capitalism. History shows that crime goes up when the economy is bad, and everyone wants to get tough on crime while they turn their backs on corruption from our representatives. If they are getting away with it, the person struggling will follow the lead and try and get away with it.

"We spend and spend on education and still fail at it." - This is because people like you want to micromanage everything, and we don't let those educators educate. So you are left with tax payers throwing good money after bad. Teachers now have to teach towards students passing standardized testing as opposed to educating the student. They are being micromanaged for test scores and not on the knowledge the provide.

We keep hearing about releasing the restricted potential of business, but the potential in our youth is limited by those who want to micromanage. Its not all about money, or large gains. I would think that conservative would mean stabilized growth and not erratic up and down growth.

“If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it. The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.”
― Henry Ford

There are a lot of things that need to be fixed, we as a country spent too much time draining all of the money out of the system as opposed to refining and making the system more efficient. If we follow the path that the simple minded emotional thinkers are pointing out, we will be left with nothing.

“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
― Henry Ford

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - B. Franklin

"So then answer for the failure of the war on poverty. The longest most expensive war in our history." - I am calling you out here, Skippy, this is just another conservative lie coming from a master at conservative lies.

Do a little math, and add up all of the Wars on Fear that the right wing have been waging over the last 70 years and you will see a much longer and far more expensive war. The war on communism, the war on terror, the war on drugs, its never ending and costs us trillions upon trillions of dollars. And instead of those dollars helping those who need it, those trillions go in the pockets of wealthy capitalist war profiteers.

If we didn't waste so much money on these wars of fear we could have probably won the war on poverty by now. Think of the lost treasures and lives due to your war on fear. Just think what we could have done with all of that money.

in your own words..
So then answer for the failure of the war on poverty. The longest most expensive war in our history.. NOTE the word... WAR no "s" ate the end

your words;;;
add up all of the Wars on Fear that the right wing have been waging over the last 70 years and you will see a much longer and far more expensive war. The war on communism, the war on terror, the war on drugs, its never ending and costs us trillions upon trillions of dollars.
NOTE the"s" on your list..

GOTcha "SKIPPY" The problem is your side has no exit strategy for the war on poverty and you have no heart to deny it... ITS how the left maintains a voter block of entitlement dependent voters.. This war keeps on going all the while in Europe and the entitlement mentality of the left keeps on giving and those who get keep on taking... AINT no NEED to it..IF I repeat IF your side was serious about really helpping they would be happy to REFORM the system and CUT abuses and duplication as Rep. Ryan is proposing..
Your spin aint gonna work...

March 16, 2010 4:00 A.M.
Losing the War
Forty-six years ago today, President Johnson vowed to wipe out poverty.
By Robert Rector

Today marks the 46th anniversary of the War on Poverty. On March 16, 1964, Pres. Lyndon Johnson announced a new government mobilization that he claimed would yield “total victory” against poverty in the United States. Johnson promised his “war” would be an “investment” that would “return its cost man*ifold to the entire economy.”

The War on Poverty sparked an astonishing growth in what is called “means-tested” welfare — that is, programs targeted exclusively toward poor and low-income Americans. (By contrast, programs such as Social Security and Medicare are not means-tested and provide assistance to the elderly across the entire population.) The means-tested welfare system today comprises more than 70 federal programs, including food stamps, public housing, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Medicaid.

These welfare programs are funded not on*ly by the federal government but also by state governments’ payments into federal programs. Prior to the current recession, $1 out of every $7 in total federal, state, and local government spending went to means-tested welfare.

Means-tested welfare spending has grown en$ormously since President Johnson’s day. After adjusting for in*flation, welfare spending today is 13 times greater than it was then. Means-tested welfare spending was 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1964; by 2008, it had reached 5 percent of GDP.

President Obama plans to sharply accelerate the growth in welfare spending. In FY2007, total government spending on means-tested welfare was a record-high $657 billion. By FY2011, total government spending on means-tested aid will rise to $953 billion, n*early a 50 percent increase in four years.

Means-tested aid is targeted largely at the lowest-income third of the population. If $953 billion in ann*ual spending were divided equally within this group, benefits would average more than $8,000 per person, or $32,000 per year for a family of four.

Obama’s spending increases are not merely temporary responses to the current recession. Most are permanent expansions of the welfare state. According to the long-term spending plans set forth in Obama’s FY2010 budget, combined federal and state spending will not drop sign*ificantly after the recession ends.

Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent $16.7 trillion (in in*flation-adjusted 2008 dollars) on means-tested welfare. In comparison, all the military wars in U.S. history have cost a total of $6.4 trillion (also in in*flation-adjusted 2008 dollars).

LBJ's War On Poverty Is The Greatest Policy Failure Of Modern America

Walter Russell Mead|July 06, 2011|

President Lyndon Johnson and the “best and the brightest” who staffed his administration led this country into three quagmires.

The Second Great Johnson Quagmire now destroying the nation is the Medicare/Medicaid complex. These entitlement programs are the biggest single financial problem we face. They dwarf all the Bush-Obama wars; they make TARP look like small change. They not only cost money we don’t have — and are scheduled to cost inexorably more until they literally ruin the nation — they have distorted our entire health system into the world’s most bloated and expensive monstrosity. Thanks to these programs, we have a health system that marries the greed of the private sector to the ineptitude of government, and unless we can somehow tame these beasts America and everything it stands for could be lost.

The third Johnson Quagmire is the War on Poverty, and specifically the attempt to treat inner city poverty primarily as a racial problem. After the Medicare/Medicaid catastrophe the single greatest policy failure of modern America is urban policy. Since the Great Society era of Lyndon Johnson, the country has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into poor urban neighborhoods. The violence and crime generated in these neighborhoods costs hundreds of billions more. And after all this time, all this money and all this energy, the inner city populations are worse off than before. There is more drug addiction and more social and family breakdown among this population than when the Great Society was launched.

Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com

from the
Washington Examiner.com

Robert Woodson would probably wince if you called him a "community organizer." That's because for the last 30 years as president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, he has not spent time organizing the poor around ineffective government programs and other addictions he has been helping them become self-sufficient.

"You can't learn anything by studying failure," he says. "If you want to learn anything, you must study the successful."

I spent last Tuesday riding around Washington and Waldorf, Md., visiting housing projects Woodson's organization supports and studying his success. I met former drug addicts, dealers, prostitutes and pimps -- all of whom testify to having been through failed government programs -- who now say they are clean, sober and off the streets.

The keys are discipline, raised expectations, a family atmosphere infused with tough love, imposed morality and yes, hope.

Cost estimates for the "war on poverty" vary, but most put it in the trillions of dollars. That war hasn't been won. Record numbers are on food stamps.

Woodson says the difference between programs he supports and others is that he "takes time-tested principles and virtues and applies them to addictions, homelessness and other conditions. We have moral consistency."


The last 40 years, he says, have transformed the way we look at poverty: "Until 1965, 80 percent of black families had two parents in the home. The '60s destroyed all that."

"Eighty percent of all anti-poverty money doesn't go to poor people," Woodson says, "but to organizations that claim to serve poor people." He is emphatic about what he says and he produces success when so many other programs fail: "Faith in God transforms the inside and that faith transforms the outside."

Woodson reminds me of an often-ignored fact: "Poor whites in Appalachia are worse off than inner-city blacks." Perhaps that is because not as many government programs are available to them and the media and politicians mostly ignore poor whites.

Why are corporations and wealthy individuals donating so much money to people and programs that aren't working? Why do so many corporations contribute to Sharpton and Jackson when their track record of transforming people from dependency to self-sufficiency is, to be charitable, somewhat lacking.

Republicans could win over the votes of many of the poor who think their future lies with Democrats. It doesn't, not if Democrats continue to spend money on failed programs that have no power to change lives.

This will require Republicans getting out of their comfort zones and hanging out with people who not only have found hope, but who can communicate hope to others.

As Jesse Jackson might put it: "Keep hope alive!" For Woodson and Holloway, that's more than an applause line.

Examiner Columnist Cal Thomas is nationally syndicated by Tribune Media.

Admitting Defeat in the War on Poverty

Randy Hekman - Thursday, November 10, 2011

It's time our federal government in Washington admitted defeat in the federal War on Poverty. All this ill-fated 'War' has done is put America deeper in debt, make whole generations of Americans enslaved to government handouts, and weakened American families.

The fact that we have lost the War on Poverty is incontrovertible: recent news indicated that the number of the "poorest poor" of Americans, those at or below 50 percent of the poverty level, have reached new levels never before recorded. One out of every 15 Americans, about 20.5 million qualify for this dubious distinction. The percentage (6.7%) has never been higher. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of these "very poor" rose in 300 of America's 360 largest metro areas in 2010. Nearly 15 percent of Americans, (45.8 million people) now receive food stamps: that includes about one in four American children.

The federal government's War on Poverty began in 1964 as part of President Johnson's plan to build the Great Society. As with most government programs, what began modestly has grown to where we now spend 13 times more than was spent in the 1960s. While all the real wars since the Revolution have cost taxpayers about $6.4 trillion, the War on Poverty has cost more than $16 trillion—ironically very close to our national debt which very soon will pass the $15 trillion mark. This is no coincidence. Whenever a nation decides it's going to meet all the needs of its citizens, it is guaranteed to go bankrupt. Witness the economic chaos in Greece, Italy and Spain.

Did anybody actually read anything past the first reply to the Sov.?

So where are the numbers for all of the wars of fear?

And I don't care how many times you try and tell us you were a teacher, try reading what you type, its like I am reading code. Are you missing some fingers? The only thing that is readable is the stuff you cut and paste from your wacko bloggers.

Who reads anything when canative goes quote mining. But please canative, tell us about how I'm a thought criminal again, Mr. Small Government.

Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent $16.7 trillion (in in*flation-adjusted 2008 dollars) on means-tested welfare. In comparison, all the military wars in U.S. history have cost a total of $6.4 trillion (also in in*flation-adjusted 2008 dollars).

Canative, we didn't stop spending on the military when the wars stopped...

But please I really want to hear about how people should be harassed for thought crime whilst doing nothing illegal. Very Stalinesque wouldn't you say?

Can you break down the aggregate line items of the "war on poverty"? For all I know, you have added in everything under the sun such as social security which is a paid for program.

This shouldn't be too hard to do, each line item with a cost associated broken out over each budget since the 1960s. After all, you are trying to make a point, and you should be able to back it up with real numbers and not propaganda.

"all the military wars in U.S. history have cost a total of $6.4 trillion (also in in*flation-adjusted 2008 dollars)." - The war on communism/terrorism was-is an abstract war of fear that has cost us far more than $6.4 trillion. You have not included this in your numbers. Also, you did not include the war on drugs, which was just another conservative government spending program. The conservatives are sure into government spending aren't they?

You made the claim, now use real numbers to back it up, teacher.

Means-tested welfare spending has grown en$ormously since President Johnson’s day. After adjusting for in*flation, welfare spending today is 13 times greater than it was then. Means-tested welfare spending was 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1964; by 2008, it had reached 5 percent of GDP.

President Obama plans to sharply accelerate the growth in welfare spending. In FY2007, total government spending on means-tested welfare was a record-high $657 billion. By FY2011, total government spending on means-tested aid will rise to $953 billion, n*early a 50 percent increase in four years.

Means-tested aid is targeted largely at the lowest-income third of the population. If $953 billion in ann*ual spending were divided equally within this group, benefits would average more than $8,000 per person, or $32,000 per year for a family of four.

Obama’s spending increases are not merely temporary responses to the current recession. Most are permanent expansions of the welfare state. According to the long-term spending plans set forth in Obama’s FY2010 budget, combined federal and state spending will not drop sign*ificantly after the recession ends.

They have advised me that the
239-8410 number is changed to 456-8100 little details like that need to be shared with everyone.

We still have to deal with dispatchers that seem to be unwilling to send out units. But stand firm and DEMAND police protection.. I have been told at least four times that it was not against the law to gather after dark , even after I insisted the area was known for gangs. I stayed firm and insisted a patrol be sent out.. The one time they didn't, gang graffiti was all over the fence in the alley by the Southside Park.
We put notices around the neighborhood that suspicious activity will be reported.. and we do it. It is too bad the dispatcher did not send out a unit during the above call, with the dog barking. BUT we will keep calling and keep watching.

Canative you probably didn't even write that, all grammatically correct it is. And why would a cop send out a dispatcher because someone's dog is barking? Please tell me Lover of Big Government.

The fearful must be driving the police crazy. To the fearful everyone looks like they are up to no good. When ever two gather they must be a gang.

NYC is dealing with protests because cops can stop anyone they deem as suspicious and pat them down. The constitution has something to say about this type of harassment.

There are other ways and means of dealing with gangs. There isn't the openmindedness available to think of it. We are a waring people, we don't find solutions, we start wars.

The dispatchers are tired of hearing the sky is constantly falling, and unfortunately when it really is falling, there is no credibility to believe the person calling. What a shame to have to live in constant fear of your community and your society. It must be hard to go through your day constantly thinking someone is going to get you. It's enough to make you into a conservative and watch FoxNews all day long.

The bottom line is the dog was barking at the alley just MINUTES prior to the shooting....
Yeah why would the police try to do anything to protect its citizens...

After all they might be disturbing some innocent revolutionaires "thinking"

ONE MINOR thing to consider... this is an area where known gang activity takes place. There are in fact gang members living in the area.

BUT CONTINUE YOUR HATE It really encourages me since I know in your pitiful minds (now I can talk negativly like you all) you hate what opposes you and I KNOW what you support is ALL WRONG

Name the subject and this lib trio will oppose and demean conservatives at all costs.. I wonder if that says something to those just looking in on this blog??

Let the Libs keep on posting, the more they post the more they are EXPOSED as to their mental state.

Native, the iceberg thing, the iceberg thing....

here is a description of the lib trio

imppossible people

impossible people have complete mastery of blaming skills. Chances are, the more often they blame you, the more they themselves are actually at fault. Keep in mind that this is not to be used as a way to blame them. Blaming is what impossible people do, and they do it well. Instead, you are only facing the facts, for your own sake. That being said, here's a simple way to tell: if you accept responsibility for your own faults and resolve to improve yourself, it's probably not you. Remember, impossible people "can do no wrong."

Again, why is a dog barking enough to get the police out? If I was a police dispatcher and you tell me your dog was barking what am I going to do? Tell you you need to shut your dog up! Because you know how many times I've been woken up in the middle of the night because a dog was barking in my neighborhood? The cops would be over every other day. But you want to say we play the blame game? You just blamed a shooting on a dispatcher not sending the cops out because someone's dog was barking! It's not illegal to be in a alleyway at night...

I wonder how many times you have been woken up by 15 gun shots fired in to a family barbque from that very alley...
How much would the people get because the police did not do their job by checking out suspicious activity in that alley that night??? This was the same neighborhood where a shooting took place the night before where drive by shootings take place frequently.. aroound the very corner.. Gangs hang out in the park after dark... Of course by your philosophy let it go ... until someone gets shot ... Well 5 people got shot one of them a toddler taken to
U C Davis by helicopter, with 3 gun shots....Its OK, they lived so leave it alone right??? THE real question is IF I was a liberal would you even be taking this side...? or are you just taking on a Conservative on everything ?? I really want to believe you would be concerned about people getting shot BUT maybe NOT you do seem to support violent revolution..

Native, the iceberg thing, the iceberg thing....

A few times actually, the first day I moved to this one house in Manteca on Acacia years ago there was a drive by that night. There were many of those by that street when I lived there. I still won't call the cops just because someone is walking down the street late at night(I walk by that street all the time actually at night). What the hell is suspicious activity? Apparently being outside after dark anywhere is suspicious activity. I'm not going to call the cops every time someone walks down an alley at night because I don't find that suspicious, I call that walking down an alley at night. Sorry if you think that's something to get your panties in a bunch about. This time something actually happened though, but for every "suspicious activity" how many of those people are actually doing anything wrong? I don't know how many times I'll be working night shifts and I'll get harassed by police as I walk home. Apparently walking home at night from the night shift is suspicious activity because it keeps happening.

That's the thing, you believe in the police harassing people that are doing nothing wrong, and I'll bet especially if they're youth and a minority, while I don't. You use tragedies like these to say we need to harass people more, we need more corrupt cops on the street, while I say we need youth programs that get kids out of gangs onto a good path and ultimately an alternative society where there is no poverty, no need for gangs, etc. While you say we need to tighten the grip on the poor through cuts to education, food stamps, healthcare, and a greater presence of the oppressive cops, I say we need a cooperative society where basic needs are met for everyone like education, food, a house, healthcare, and control over the productive forces of society. I'm not taking this side because you're a conservative and I just want to argue with you because you are one, but you have that position because you're a scared and terrified conservative and I'm a hopeful communist.

You don't see that it's your capitalist system that creates the actual problem, it produces these conditions, and you can't accept it, so your answer is to continually assert oppressive authority over those that don't agree with you. But you'll never win that fight, never. So long as there is capitalism there will be gangs and communists.

I haven't had much contact with the Police but the Denunez case is just
> unbelievably inept.
> The gang crap that is going on in town is just crazy...
> The Mayor lives a couple of houses down from me, so maybe that is why
> there doesn't seem to be much of a crime problem in this neighborhood...:-)
However, I bet I wouldn't have to venture very far to experience a whole different environment.
Romney was quoted as saying we don't need more Policemen or Teachers in this country...Maybe he should venture over to Manteca or S. Stockton or Oakland, or San Jose, or maybe just look out the damn window of his stupid bus.

It's easier to build straw men to tear down than to address the actual issue.

Television was for, and did, keep the masses in at night. Now, as CN has pointed out, we have a 24/7 workforce who go about their lives at all different hours of the day. It is perception that people doing what we do in the traditional timeframes are up to no good.

There have always been a criminal element in the world, and there always will be, but people who are living different lifestyles than us are not criminal. They are just doing what we do in the timeframe that is available to them.

This is what happens when you let the fearful take control. History is rife with this type of actions, and it's failures. Wanting to be the lesser than the two evils is still wanting to be evil.

I was walking to a friends house last night and a dog barked at me, I wondered how long it would take for the cops to get to where I was...

it would depend on how fast the Neighborhood Watch people called in...

...and then ignore the police order to remain in their car until they get there, follow the guy on foot because he is a black guy wearing a hoodie...oh, yeah, then shoot him...

Oh yeah I forgot its illegal to be out at night, what was I thinking!

Nothing illegal OR unconstitutional about asking the police to drive by checking to see if the neighborhood is safe from revolutionaries..
IT is easy to see how confused LARRY CAN GET. nothing HERE ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH stopping CN, but Larry's got them stopping him while waiting for the police.. NICE move Larry but WAY OFF SUBJECT

Never said that it was illegal, but it just shows you to be a paranoid authoritarian big government loving hypocrite. Who would of thought!?

"...nothing HERE ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH" Hmmm...then what did you mean when you posted: "it would depend on how fast the Neighborhood Watch people called in..."
You should stick to just cut and paste of others thoughts, everyone usually just ignores those rants. One liners usually get some attention...

Lincoln, my neighbor Rich who owns the Mail Center by Raley's and used to own Bean & Leaf addressed this issue on his end of the street in Lathrop. He, his wife and I believe 4 other couples who are neighbors, each filed $5,000 law suits in small claims against the owner of the property. They all dropped their suit on the condition the owner evicted the tenants. Stop at his place and ask him about it.

The poor wellfare sucking EBT WIC lazy drug addicts that are invading the neighborhoods are now being propped up and rewarded for their behavior...... They are just being "entrepreneurs" get used to it!

Yeah let's characterize those on food stamps as drug addicted lazy gang banging drug pushers. Even though most on food stamps actually hold a job. Maybe if the only industries that seem to grow payed more than minimum wage things would be better. But I'm sure McDonalds could never afford to raise their wages.

Capitalists_Nightmare, lucky for Manteca, we are building another TWO McDonalds! I'm thinking that Manteca solution to the lack of education - and therefore job qualifications - in the city is to just make EVERYTHING either:

a) McDonalds
b) Wal-Mart
c) one of them fancy Wal-Marts with a McDonalds inside

I'm suuuuuure Mr. redeyerider has "never" used any Government service "ever" and "never" would either ...

I think its unfortunate that people who are on "food stamps" are so often labeled as lazy ,or crazed drug addicts.
There are many hard working individuals that have to have the assistance of food stamps ,maybe just to help buy food for their children, because the money they earn isn't enough after they pay all their bills.
Maybe people who judge other people who are in these circumstances have somewhere along the line seen food stamp abuse, but the few bad apples do not make up the whole.
Always remember that old saying "but for the grace of God go I"
Know one ever knows when they might be in the position to need help,there is no shame in it.
Sometimes people work so hard and still its simply not enough to cover a family's needs,sometimes maybe there are seniors somewhere living on a small income leaves nothing left over after bills are met,and medical expenses spent,or parents that have a sick child whose medical bills have taken up most of the family income.
I hope we can always be understanding of peoples needs,we do not know what their circumstances are ,and it is our responsibility as human beings to help those that need help when we can.
Compassion and understanding isn't that hard ,and costs us nothing.
Sincerely,
rozemist

I think there is am increasingly large group of selfish people such as redeyedrider who don't care about anyone else but themselves. I personally believe it is their me-first attitude is far more responsible for the current economic and social climate than the progressivism they decry.

There are those who look at food stamps as a give away to the poor and needy and do so by painting it in a bad light. It's a sad state of affairs that there is a wide spectrum of the citizenry in the richest country in the world that requires assistance purchasing food.

One view that seems to by pass the average person is that food stamps, which are issued by the Department of Agriculture is in reality a tax subsidy to big food corporations. It allows people to buy all types of processed empty calorie laden foods sold by the big food coroparations.

I have mention before that I have taken a complete change in my view on food, from a feeding source to a body nourishing source. If the goal of the food stamp program was to truly nourish and strengthen the bodies of those in need, there would be restrictrions on what these people could purchase with the food stamps to whole and natural foods, the type that the Department of Agriculture is suppose to oversee. They would be limited to whole fruits and vegetables in their natural state, unprocessed whole grains without additional flavorings, fresh meats and dairy. In Wisconson (and possibly Ca, I can't say for sure) the citizens are able to use food stamps at their farmers markets, which should be the most natural place to use them.

It's bad enough that our neighbors need assistance to purchase food, but some of the worst cases of obesity is among the poor. Since corn is a government subsidized crop, it is in a processed form in just about every processed food you buy and consume. Read the ingredients in the convince processed foods you buy and see how many have high fructose corn syrup, or sugar as it is being marketed now, in them. It's not just like sugar, first, it is processed in your liver, and secondly, it is known to eat holes in your intestines. So why are we feeding the poor and needy with food that is laiden with items that are causing them to gain excessive amounts of weight, which give them health issues that require them to seek medical attention that they can't afford, which puts a further burden on the government and the tax payers.

Don't get me wrong, I am not advicating food nazis, or telling people what they can and can't have, but if these people want to eat harmful items, in a country of liberties they should be able buy and consume all of the harmful products they can afford with the money they have, but not with food stamps that are issued by the Department of Agriculture. As it stands now, it only looks as means to further subsidize the large and corporate farmers, so that the overgrown products that they produce are then widely used in corporately made processed food plants, whose products are then subsidized by food stamps.

Take all of this governmental subsiding away from these corporations, limit the usage of food stamps to food in its natural state, which will help the local farmer, and the local economy, and also produce healthier citizens who won't need to be on disability for health issues which will allow them to be fit enough to find jobs. It will also limit the need for the government to provide what would otherwise be unneeded healthcare to unhealthily poor and needy citizens. See how this viscous circle starts when the government provides subsidies to coroparations that are supposed to compete or die in our open market system?

And the thing is these big companies make more than enough money to raise their wages. The person who owns all the McDonalds in Manteca owns 20-30 McDonald's and can apparently build more McDonald's like it's nothing. But when it comes to the actual people working making the owners rich? Put their wages at levels that make it so you have to rely on gov assistance for food, energy, etc.