OVERHEARD
“He comes out to California to raise money, and he never discusses his views on social issues. Who would want their community to be associated with David Duke supporters?”
— Comic strip artist Sanjay Shah on Bobby Jindal. Jindal, who is running for governor of Louisiana on a Christian-rights platform, has racked up financial support from Indian Americans.
POLICE MATTERS
APOA Says No to Prop. H
Stressing the need to prevent further politicization of the San Francisco Police Department by the Board of Supervisors, the Asian Police Officers’ Association (APOA) joined with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Mayor Willie Brown in opposing Proposition H, a police reform measure on the city’s Nov. 4 ballot.
Nelson Lum, president of the APOA, said Oct. 28 that Prop. H would hand over power to supervisors, hindering the police department to run efficiently.
“I’m urging San Franciscans to vote no on Prop. H because it’s a dangerous measure,” Lum said. “This is very near and dear to San Francisco police officers.”
Lum said the department believes in oversight, but Prop. H would politicize the department and give power to the supervisors, making checks and balances difficult for the department.
The police department is under the executive branch of government, which falls under the leadership of the mayor. But Lum said the supervisors are part of the legislative branch, and if Prop. H passes, the checks and balances system would be offset.
“Under the executive branch, the department is under the mayor and the mayor holds full responsibility for the performance of the department,” said Lum. “If officers aren’t doing their jobs, then the mayor can fire them. But under the system that Prop. H is proposing, we’ll have big political infighting that would mean a lot less accountability.”
But supporters of the proposition say if passed, the measure would give more accountability, allow for a broader representation of the city’s diverse communities and make the commission more independent to oversee the department. Proponents also say the board would not be handed total control of the department, nor usurp the chief’s job of managing the department.
Chris Cunnie, president of the San Francisco Peace Officers’ Association, said the department supports reform and condemns misconduct, but Prop. H is not the answer.
“What it will do is add politics to an already political department,” Cunnie said. “Once citizens read in between the lines of Prop. H, they will see that this is nothing but a power grab by the supervisors.”
The Board of Supervisors drafted the amendment following a number of studies by organizations, including the ACLU, the San Francisco controller’s office, the Office of Citizens Complaints (OCC) and the civil grand jury, cited deficiencies and incompetencies in the current oversight system.
Prop. H would shift the appointment and removal process of police commissioners from the mayor to the Board of Supervisors by expanding the Police Commission from five members to seven, giving the board three appointments and veto power over all of the mayor’s appointments and removals. Currently, the mayor appoints all five commissioners. The measure would also require the mayor to nominate at least one retired judge or attorney with trial experience to the commission and prohibits commissioners from extending their term of service.
It would also give power to the OCC, which investigates charges of police misconduct, to file disciplinary charges against officers directly with the commission.
All three district attorney candidates — Bill Fazio, Terence Hallinan and Kamala Harris — are against Prop. H. Supporters of Prop. H include the ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi and state Rep. Mark Leno, chair of the Public Safety Committee.
— May Chow, AsianWeek
SENSLESS CRIME
Slain Marine was “Man of Honor”
A decorated Marine who was gunned down at a party after coming home from the war in Iraq was remembered by friends and family as a dedicated military man.
“He was a man of honor, a Marine to the heart,” sister-in-law Naomi Stephens said at a viewing ceremony attended by sobbing relatives and stern-faced fellow Marines in dress uniforms. “He loved what he did.”
Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung, a 22-year-old Cambodian American combat engineer from San Francisco, participated in the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in April. Ung was a member of the “diversion force” that attacked Iraqi soldiers to distract them while Special Forces went into the hospital to rescue Lynch.
Later that month, Ung was hit by shrapnel from a land mine, wounds that earned him a Purple Heart.
After returning from Iraq in July, Ung was stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, where he was set to complete his four years of military service on Oct. 31. He planned to return to San Francisco, where he grew up, and attend San Francisco State University starting in January.
But just 12 days before he was to be discharged from the military, as he attended a party at his father’s house in Long Beach, Ung was shot.
Police say the gunman leaned over a wooden fence at the father’s home and fired six to eight shots into the garage, where Ung was standing with a friend. Both young men were killed. The gunman fled and has not been caught.
“Unfortunately, there is no new information,Ó Long Beach police spokesman Greg Schirmer said Oct. 26. “Our detectives are continuing to investigate. They’re working diligently on the case.”
Ung was buried Oct. 27 at Golden Gate Cemetary.
Elizabeth Lydon,
The Associated Press
KATRINA LEUNG TRIAL
Double Agent Case Delayed
The case of alleged Chinese “double agent” Katrina Leung is so complicated that her trial may be delayed past next summer, attorneys told a judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Emmick said Oct. 23 in Los Angeles that delays in Leung’s case may also require postponing the trial for her FBI “handler,” James J. Smith. His trial is set for July.
Defense attorney Janet Levine told U.S. District Judge Florence Marie Cooper that federal prosecutors were in Washington last week discussing how to handle foreign intelligence documents at issue in the case.
“They’ve had agents working on this case for two years. We’ve been trying to get up to speed,” Levine said.
She said Leung’s attorneys are seeking reports on her from as far back as the 1970s and 1980s as part of her FBI “asset” file. She also said that changes in handling of foreign intelligence rules under the Patriot Act may add new complications to the case.
Emmick said it was too soon to talk about scheduling a trial for Leung. The judge said she would like to combine all pretrial hearings for Smith and Leung but another member of Leung’s defense, John Vandeveld, told her: “We seem to be three or four months behind them in the process.”
Leung, 49, a socially active, politically connected businesswoman from the wealthy Los Angeles suburb of San Marino, Calif., is charged with obtaining classified documents from the briefcase of Smith and copying them with the intent of using them to benefit a foreign country, China. She is free on $2 million bail.
The government has alleged that Leung carried on a sexual relationship with FBI agent Smith for 20 years.
Smith, 59, now retired from the FBI, is free on $250,000 bail. He is charged with gross negligence for allegedly allowing Leung access to classified materials and with fraud for allegedly filing false reports to FBI headquarters about Leung’s reliability.
— Linda Deutsch, AP