As I retire after 34 years in law enforcement, I step away with many questions. Does the criminal justice system serve our community better than when I was growing up in Oak Park in the 1970s and 1980s? Is there more legitimacy today in the system? Have years of unrest, voter initiatives, legislation, police reform, lost lives, pain and anger created a better police department?
Yes, in some ways. But in other ways, the answers are sadly negative.
As many police agencies face unprecedented resignations, I have seen men and women in SPD uniforms remain determined to serve their city under the toughest circumstances. I have seen community leaders step forward, defuse situations and save lives.
Mary Kate Tibbitts lived a good life, one enriched by the love of family and friends.
She was the second oldest of five grown children of Douglas “Skip” and Mary Tibbitts. Kate lived in a beautifully manicured home on 11th Avenue in Land Park. A proud Sacramento State graduate and faithful member of Holy Spirit Church, Kate brought goodwill to those with whom she had contact.
She had a love for people and a magnetic personality.
Kate spent time as a volunteer with the Sacramento SPCA. Giving her time to lost or abandoned animals satisfied her desire to provide loving support to creatures in distress. She was the exact person you would want for a next-door neighbor. All of this would change on Sept. 3. Life for the entire Tibbitts family was shattered in one violent, unforgivable and regretfully preventable episode. A man would forcibly enter her home, kill her dogs, sexually assault her, murder her and set fire to her home in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence of his criminality.
Harassment Lives We have reasons for fearing cops By Fahizah Alim September 2021 Like any citizen, I’m concerned about violence and want to be protected by the police from criminals. But as a Black mother of three sons, I have an additional concern about my family...
The Gavin Newsom recall began as a referendum on the governor’s handling of the pandemic. But homelessness has become a critical issue for Republican candidates eager to replace Newsom in this month’s special election.
Businessman John Cox has been hauling an 8-foot ball of garbage around California to symbolize “the trash that’s left behind” by homeless people.
What is the role of city planners? Should they decide what’s best for citizens and draft Byzantine building codes and zoning regulations to enforce politically inspired mandates? Or should they learn the preferences of residents and make those preferences work?
It appears top-down influence is the order at Sacramento City Hall when it comes to upzoning, where multiple units are encouraged over single-family homes.
When someone asks if I am a right-wing conservative Republican or a left-wing liberal Democrat, I shudder. There’s no useful answer. In the best case, the response produces a friend who parrots your beliefs. In the worst case, you are ridiculed and dismissed.
When I learned I would be paired with a Democrat in a journalistic experiment where we swap news diets in the spirit of bipartisanship, I was nervous. I don’t like the idea of one’s life experience being boiled down to a single word. It leaves too much to the imagination. In the current political climate, imagination can be uncharitable.
