Safety
The scene isn’t new, but the way the police officer driving by views them might be. Richmond is taking the lead on a county-wide project that views prostitutes as victims of their pimps.
One month into the state’s implementation of a major prison realignment, Contra Costa County’s parolee and inmate numbers are much higher than projected. Although the numbers themselves aren’t large, the percentages are. Parole violators in custody are almost double what was expected and so-called AB 109 commitments are 200 percent of what was estimated. “For parolees per month, the state said it was going to be 56,” Casten said. “We’re at 115. (For) AB 109 commitments, they said it was…
An apparent street race in Richmond early Sunday morning left a teenaged driver dead and another man in handcuffs. At 1:15 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a call at Richmond Parkway near Goodrick Avenue, said Capt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department.
Richmond Police Department Chief Chris Magnus and Captain Mark Gagan came to the Richmond Confidential newsroom Friday to discuss police-media relations and answer questions. Magnus has been chief of the RPD since January 2006. He served as a cop in Lansing, Michigan for 18 years and then as the chief of police in Fargo, North Dakota for six years before coming to Richmond. Gagan was promoted from a lieutenant to a captain last year, and is one of the RPD’s…
Richmond Police Department Officer Joey Schlemmer said it is difficult to determine what happened to the two cars discovered in the marina late last week due to the vehicles’ conditions. The two rental cars, one a Ford Taurus from Los Angeles County and the other a Chevy Malibu from Pinole, were reported stolen in 2001. Both are listed as property of Allstate Insurance. Schlemmer said, considering the cars went missing 10 years ago and that Allstate did not follow-up on…
The Richmond Police Department assisted with crowd control at the Occupy Oakland “general strike” Wednesday evening, marking the second time in two weeks that they have provided back up to the Oakland Police Department. Captain Mark Gagan said 12 Richmond officers were sent with the Contra Costa County Mutual Aid Mobile Field Force to support perimeter control. The group arrived on the scene around 8 p.m. “We basically waited to see where we were needed and what was needed,” Gagan…
The security guard charged with attempted murder after he allegedly shot his supervisor last month pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday. Doran Long’s preliminary hearing is set for the morning of Nov. 15. Wednesday he remained in county jail on $5.3 million bail. The 50-year-old Long, whose crew cut had grown disheveled after almost two weeks in custody following the Oct. 19 shootings that led to his arrest, appeared in a Richmond courtroom Tuesday morning before Judge Peter Berger….
The Richmond Fire Department is working to determine the cause of an in-home explosion that happened early Tuesday morning. Chief Michael Banks said that firefighters received a call about an explosion at 2:22 a.m. Tuesday on the 3000 block of Ohio Street. By the time they arrived the fire was small, he said, but damage done by the initial detonation was significant. The west-facing wall of the house was blown off, so that it now leans against the neighboring house….
My phone rings unexpectedly. It’s Richmond Police Captain Mark Gagan. “Lexi,” he says, “you know the dredging that’s been going on in the marina? I guess they just pulled two cars out of the water. I can ask if you can go out for a first look with the inspectors.” I start grabbing my camera and messenger bag. “Let’s hope there are no skeletons in the trunks,” Gagan jokes. A few hours later I pull into the parking lot at…