The Elephant in the Room: Joe Payne*
*Aug. 19, 2020 update: The headline to this post always bugged me, so I finally went ahead and changed it today. It says what I tried to say with the previous head, but it’s less open to (mis)interpretation.
*Update: I wouldn’t normally add the asterisk for a comment, but it’s only fair to draw attention to Mike Ten’s response. I’ll do the same for anyone else mentioned.
I’d like to thank those of you who got in touch with me. And I heard roughly the same story enough that it’s worth posting. The South Pasadena Review already wrote that Joe Payne, a reserve officer for the South Pasadena Police Department, said he was approached by David Sifuentes months ago about the police chief position. I haven’t heard a bad thing about Payne. He’s well-liked among the ranks, and he worked for the SPPD for 35 years before he retired two years ago. The South Pasadena Police Officers Assn. maybe thinks he’d push for pay hikes. That helps to make sense of Mike Ten’s presentation, which implied South Pasadena is the deadliest place on Earth for a cop. That’s an assertion that seems to contradict the recently released Uniform Crime Report showing (yet another) significant drop in crime under Chief Dan Watson’s leadership.
Payne isn’t entirely without baggage. According to the L.A. Times, he’s one of six who sued the city after being demoted in the wake of scandals that plagued the department in the late 1990s. There’s nothing to suggest he was a bad cop, it’s just that when former Chief Michael Berkow came in to clean house, he thought there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
Anyhoo, here’s what I’m hearing is raising the hackles of residents:
- The perceived arrogance of council members who plan the ouster of — and the successor to — the city’s police chief behind closed doors.
- Elected officials who are giving the appearance of ignoring their constituency in favor of deep-pocketed campaign donors.
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. If I got something wrong, please let me know via comments or email. Ditto if I got something right.
If you’re interested, there’s a fluff piece on Payne after the jump. It was in the April 2009 El Pueblo newsletter, which is “The publication of the All City Employees Benefits Service Association.” The full 24-page newsletter is here as a pdf, but it’s big and not much worth the bother. And yes, there are typos (um, South Pass?), but I’m too tired to clean it up.
Men like Retired Police Lieutenant Joseph Payne are spoken of in tall-tale form. “Stalwart” and “workhorse” comes to mind as does the simple elegance of “dedication.”
To have the esteemed record Joe enjoys, one has to have the qualities listed above. In short, to achieve a thirty-five year career as a police officer, where never once has a day of work been missed, a person needs the stuff Joe has.
And what is that stuff? Easy: it’s called heart.
Of course, as one can expect, Joe modestly qualifies his success: “I never went AWOL,” which indirectly means Joe never irresponsibly left his position. Sure, he may have called in sick once in a while, or missed a day or two for other uncompromising reasons. But Joe never simply left a day’s work without explanation, and in 35 years, that says something.
By and large, Joe, who has worked as a background investigator with the Los Angeles Police Department for the last six years, existed as an agent of dependability
while with his former long-term employer, the South Pasadena Police Department. Regularly, he picked up shifts for other officers who for various reasons could not make it into work.
“Ours (South Pasadena) was a small police force. So when one guy called in sick, it affected almost everything.”
A 1972 graduate of both Pasadena Community College and then Rio Hondo Police Academy, Joe’s career as an officer began as a Police Explorer, then after the academy and the rigorous training involved there, at 21, he became a full fledged cop.
During the following three-and-a-half decades, the Temple City native worked virtually every division South Pass had to offer: from beat cop to detective, watch commander to training officer, Joe had done it all with the force up until 55 when he voluntarily retired.
He credits his prolific career with SPPD with the diminutive size of the force. By contrast, LAPD is a much larger and different entity.
Joe is no longer a cop. He now recruits individuals who he believes would best suit the role of a cop. Undoubtedly if Joe’s recruitment skills hold fast, and if his number of successful recruits stays on track, he will be instrumental in the LAPD achieving the 10,000 police officers Mayor Villaraigosa proposed for the City.
Of course as a recruiter, Joe’s stellar record undoubtedly comes into play, particularly for his experience and understanding of the psyche a police officer should have in a city like Los Angeles.
When asked what makes a good cop today, Joe responds, “They have to be curious, understanding and tolerant.”
Are the recruits much different today than years ago when he started?
“They’re older,” he states, citing the economy as one reason the hiring landscape has changed for the LAPD. “Many more are professionals.” In that, Joe brings to light that not only does he meet individuals who were once in finance and real estate, but he even sees people with law degrees.
All this hedges toward situations where an older age group now seeks the stability found in a law enforcement career. And to this end, Joe’s plate is full. At the time of this interview, he was in the midst of reviewing twelve cases, six of which seemed promising. And that’s only the tip of the hiring iceberg for the LAPD.
On occasion, Joe is a volunteer police officer with his old South Pasadena force. But when asked if he would perform the same duty for the Los Angeles Police Department, his “no” is emphatic.
Granted, he loves the work, but the size and intensity of Los Angeles is, at this time in his life, not his cup of tea. As is, recruitment has its own set of challenges, particularly in regard to generational differences from today’s recruits and when Joe himself was a recruit.
But even so, Joe maintains a good cop knows no age boundaries.
“The reasons are all the same. It’s fascinating work. They (a good cop) want to help. They want to make a difference. Hopefully during the training process you find good ones and get rid of the bad ones.”
And who should know better than a 35-year vet who has never missed a day.
Posted: February 12th, 2010 under Politics, Public Safety, South Pasadena, Uncategorized.
Tags: Chief Dan Watson, David Sifuentes, Joe Payne, Michael Berkow, Mike Ten, South Pasadena, South Pasadena Police Officers Assn., SPPD
Comments
Comment from Mike Ten
Time February 13, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Feeder and Mr Earl
as for the comments of Larry Wilson in his latest editorial regarding South Pasadena , they were not Larry’s comments or thoughts but a ‘clip and paste’ of a letter written by local citizen, who was at that meeting. Larry Wilson never attended our council meeting and to my knowledge never viewed it for himself, so he just repeated a passionate impression of that comment session that included a video news clip. I have since talked one on one with the original author and have come to a mutual understanding of my intent. the meeting was Feb 3, for years I have received comments, complaints, thanks and admiration for our police department. lately its been very critical of our officers… too aggressive, too eager to issue traffic tickets… just want the revenue… nothing to do so they pull over motorist with three cars.. etc.. add that with rumors of political deals and “unsustainable wage and retirement demands” have taken a toll on front line morale and tainted the perception of the public which has only rumors and assumptions printed in the press and blogs such as this one. After a article appeared in the Star News on Thursday Jan 28 detailing a carjacking at gunpoint in South Pasadena, and a news piece which aired Friday Jan 29 (Fox News – “Police Under Attack” which focused on though a reduction of overall crime in the US approx 20% nationwide, just as in South Pasadena, officers were dying at a higher rate and frequency and why that is occurring. I felt that it explained many of the complaints I had received on our police officers tactics and behavior better than I could ever do by just describing it. I ask both the City Mgr and the Chief of Police to view it and see if it merited showing. They both agreed and Chief wanted to participate in the comments after it. I think Larry Wilson accented the “Fox News” origin as to sensationalize the use of the “propaganda”, I was sensitive to the controversial topic of Fox and asked the
City Clerk to edit out the lead in and the summation by the Fox host.. On the Monday and Tuesday Feb 1 and 2 the Star News showcased Gang Violence and Injunctions in Monrovia and Duarte all local communities with “lower” stats too…. If this had aired six months ago or even a year ago I would have still aired it not as “propaganda” but as information my constituents should have available to them.
Remember we have had two murders in the city in the past two years, both involving non-residents, along with an increase in HOT burglaries (while residents are home) just because crime stats are down and you personally haven’t been part of the stats, we can’t be lulled into ignoring the potential.
That is way I showed the video clip, it was timely and I believed it was informative. There will undoubtably be critics of these comments and will find some “sinister” motive behind this, but so be it……. and Mr Earl… it will not take 1.5 miles of surface disruption to build a portal…..
Comment from Mister Earl
Time February 13, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Mr. Ten, your timing could not have been worse. Coming on the heels of an outrageous ouster of the police chief, it smacks of demagoguery and manipulation. If the morale of the police department is down, what the Council and the POA have done in the last few months, could not have been worse. Do you think the citizens feel better about the front-line police officers now? I sure don’t. I have nothing against the police officers’ right to earn a decent wage, but the tactics of the last few months, by the POA and the Council are unacceptable. It’s undeniable that the POA has contributed significant money to your campaigns, and now you’re doing what they apparently want. There’s something called circumstantial evidence, and there’s piles of it against the Council. Believe me, I don’t take my cue from Larry Wilson, but he always seems to be talking about the right things. How is it that the very day he talked about a law firm’s guide to police unions about how to get footholds in city governments and to manipulate the public with scare tactics, you did the exact same thing? You want to talk? Reinstate Watson and apologize for the outrageous events of the last few months, then we’ll talk. By the way, I have no idea what your last comment to me means.
Comment from Mister Earl
Time February 14, 2010 at 9:34 am
And another thing, Mr. Ten. I have a performance review in my job every year. Funny thing, but never once have I been told that the process involves my job being announced for others to apply and interview for. Calling what you did to Chief Watson a “performance review” is simply a lie of the 1984 double-speak variety. Start talking Mr. Ten. Start telling us what really happened here. Why does Sifuentes have such influence over you guys? What’s the real agenda here? Is it just about Sifuentes and Monocle making good on a deal? What’s in it for you? Do you really think the union could not have gotten more pay and better benefits under Watson? Do you really think they’ll do better under a new chief? Do you really think a new chief will do better coming in under the cloud that the Council has created? You and your cronies have tainted this town. Unfortunately, neither you, Cacciotti, or Putnam has the character to stand up and do the right thing. It’s really sad.
Comment from Mister Earl
Time February 13, 2010 at 12:06 am
Nice work, Feeder. That’s pretty much the story we’ve been hearing for months. My question is: If South Pas is so much in the grips of dangerous criminals, why would we get rid of an experienced police chief, and put in a man who has never run a department? Rumor has it that Joe Payne was planning to run for City Council, but changed his mind. Do you think that David Sifuentes or his man, Jeff Monocle, convinced Payne not to run for Council in exchange for the Police Chief job? That would explain why the Council needed to move Dan Watson out, in spite of his good record. That’s the rumor that’s going around, and it’s known that Sifuentes and Monocle have tried to convince other candidates not to run in the past. So far, every single rumor in this ugly mess has proved true, so I think it’s a safe bet that there was a deal in place all along. I would have thought that the exposure of Joe Payne’s name would cause the Council to back off of him, but it’s now clear that the Council is so arrogant and unconcerned about what the citizens want or what’s good for South Pasadena, they simply are beyond caring how bad anything looks. And this looks bad.