The Sacramento Bee, February 3, 1995
RALLY PRAISES DEPUTIES' ACTION
By Andy Furillo, Bee Staff Writer
   More than 100 supporters of the sheriff's response to last week's
disturbance at Encina High School cheered Thursday as speakers at a
downtown rally decried youth violence directed at street cops and
others.
   The demonstrators carried signs that said "Probable Cause? How About
Parental Control," "Enforce Family Values," "Support Law and Order" and "San
Juan Teachers Support Law Enforcement."
   Responding to angry parents who criticized deputies' actions at the
Arden Park area high school last Friday, Sacramento Police Officers
Association President Jim Jorgensen said: "We are alarmed when some
parents and civic leaders immediately focus attention on the conduct
of officers involved in trying to restore order. The lawlessness of the
thugs was the problem and the only problem at Encina High School."
   "It is time," Jorgensen said, "to attack the increasing level of
violence perpetrated by youth on other youth, youth on the law-abiding
citizen, and youth on peace officers."
   Six students were arrested and nine were injured when dozens of
deputies used pepper spray and batons to break up a lunchtime fight in
the Encina High cafeteria. Sheriff's officials said they reacted when
they were attacked in the process of breaking up the fight.
   Thursday's rally at the Police Memorial across from the state Capitol was
put together by rank-and-file officers "to show solidarity for the sheriff
and the officers who actually responded out there," said Sacramento city
police Sgt. Elmo Banning, one of the organizers. "Any one of us could have
been put into that position."
   Jorgensen used the rally to draw attention to another incident Tuesday in
which city police officers responding to a call in South Land Park "were
attacked and punched" in a scuffle with some youths.
The SPOA president called for stronger penalties for youth crimes as well as
more intervention and prevention programs.
   The focus on parental responsibility by Jorgensen and Sacramento County
Deputy Sheriffs' Association President Wendell Phillips generated the
loudest applause. "I couldn't understand the young people's reaction (at
Encina High School) until I saw some of their parents on television the
other night," Phillips said, referring to a parent rally Monday morning at
the high school and their confrontation
Tuesday night with Sheriff Glen Craig at a public meeting. "There are
predators being raised in our high schools," Phillips said. "Not the many.
The few. But they're big enough and strong enough to be a deadly threat to
anybody who gets in their way."
   The deputies' union chief praised Craig's strong defense of his
members. The two have fought bitterly in recent years over numerous
contract issues, but Phillips thanked Craig on Thursday for "doing the
right thing." "He stood up and took the heat, and he stood tall," Phillips
said.
   Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters, a former police officer and
county sheriff, said juveniles who commit violent crimes should be
tried as adults. John Scribner, a trustee with the county office of
education, said that "Unfortunately, the Encina High disturbance is
not an isolated incident."
   Earlier Thursday, community activist Bill Honer of the group Coalition
for Equity for Minorities delivered a letter to the Sacramento County grand
jury officially requesting an investigation into last Friday's melee. He
raised questions of excessive force and Sheriff's Department planning.
   In an interview, Honer took a verbal swipe at Thursday's police rally,
saying, "It seems as though we live in a community where the police are
convinced that their actions are appropriate 100 percent of the time. That's
unfortunate, since it's unlikely nobody ever does everything correctly 100
percent of the time." He said "the community is best served by an
independent review of what happened."