West Hollywood, California (Thursday, June 4, 2009) - With the exception of the election of Barack Obama, the year 2008, reeked like that men’s room at the Minneapolis Airport where Idaho GOP Senator Larry Craig got busted in a sting operation after playing footsy with a strange man in the next stall. 
WeHo News. |
WeHo News. |
The swamp stench from that ‘08 compost heap of greed and corruption still lingers, thanks to the golden parachute boys, hedge hog fund managers, and those CEO fat cats with six chins whose portfolios ought to be drained and gutted like a Colorado River trout.
It was pure bi-partisan sleaze from Democratic presidential pretty boy, John Edwards cheating on his cancer-stricken wife; to former New York Democratic Governor, Elliot “the Luv Guv” Spitzer cheating on his, while screwing New Yorkers out of $80,000 with a high end hooker at $2000 a pop; to that repugnant “pay for play” former Republican Governor of Illinois, now booted out of office, Rod Blagojevich, whose last name sounds like he just blew lunch.
All culminating with the gag-inducing toxic fumes expelled from the once revered, now reviled Bernard Madoff who made off with $50 billion in a phony shell game, prompting the $50 billion question, now up from $64,000 in light of the savage plundering: “What ever happened to the good guys?”
The question’s a no-brainer, however to LAPD officer Ralph Sanchez of the Hollywood Division, pointing to the 50 good guys and gals who make up a multi-agency, preemptive strike squad known as the Cruiser Task Force.
WeHo News. |
Merging top cops from the LAPD, West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station and the California Highway Patrol, the Cruiser Task force is to the economic survival/revival of Hollywood and West Hollywood what Nasonex, Claritin Clear and Mucinex are to relieving nasal and upper respiratory chest congestion.
In full force during the three peak tourist months called summer, the Cruiser Task Force not only breaks up congestion to insure the flow of traffic and tourist dollars on two of the planet’s most famous and populated streets--Hollywood Blvd. and the Sunset Strip--but significantly reduces traffic related crime and the horror stories that go with it; while securing resident/tourist safety and our image as an international destination point and global hot spot.
Through high visibility enforcement, sobriety check points, strict anti-cruising laws, technologically increased response time, and their ever intimidating presence, the Cruiser Tasks Force is so indispensable to the economic vitality of the sister communities that without it, says Sanchez, the Hollywood and West Hollywood nightlife scene would quickly dissipate into what it was before their arrival: chaos congestion and crime.
As witness to that chaos, congestion and crime, having lived here for the past 25 years, Hollywood Blvd. and the Sunset Strip were so populated with drug pushers, pimps, hookers, and hoards of marauding invaders from Hell’s Angeles and Mongols motorcycle clubs to the infamous Crips and Bloods street gangs, that it looked like the opening scene from the movie “Blade Runner” without the replicants and flying cars.
Rick Sandack standing with LAPD officer Ralph Sanchez. WeHo News. |
In response to that chaos, congestion and crime, the LAPD launched the Cruiser Task Force as a pilot project in 2003 and in Hollywood where most pilots bomb, the CTF was an eye-catching hit, red lights flashing, throwing an all-encompassing dragnet over Hollywood and West Hollywood where a dragnet normally means a transvestite in fishnet hose.
The latest available stats back it up. In 2007 the Task Force wrote 3,450 citations, impounded 450 vehicles, made 55-felony and 198-misdemeanor arrests in yet another arresting summer, maintaining order and preventing any major incidents from happening.
How those stats translate into lives saved, twisted wreckage and catastrophic injuries avoided along with the fatal fallout from the euphoric concoction of alcohol and drugs can’t be calculated, thanks to the intervening action of the CTF, juxtaposed against the ultimate sacrifice they each face every time out, in laying their own lives on the line at Hollywood and Vine.
Now in its sixth action packed season, beginning the weekend of Friday, June 5 and ending the weekend of Aug. 29, the Cruiser Task Force brings their intimidating presence and educational awareness package with them, reconvening once again at the Bank of America parking lot on Sunset and Ogden, the epicenter of the action, complete with a state-of-the-art mobile command post, and an on-site catering truck.
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Photo by WeHo News. |
Not your typical backyard BBQ, it’s a welcome reprieve, however brief, to the throngs of officers buzzing in and out, partaking of the complimentary weekend spread, happily provided by local restaurateurs as thanks to the CTF for their reversing the trend in keeping crime down and business up.
Even still, Senior Lead Officer Ralph Sanchez knows that the stakes are higher this summer than ever before, in light of a crippled economy struggling to get back on its feet, as he prepares to brief officers on where the hotspots will be on opening weekend.
Characterized by an instant likeability among neighborhood volunteers, visiting out-of-towners and this curious journalist, the powerfully built, seasoned vet also knows that he has the manpower to insure the flow of traffic against what has become the most formidable foe to date, even more menacing and dangerous in creating chaos, congestion and crime than the Crips, Bloods, Hells Angels, Mongols and local politicians combined-- the Paparazzi.
May the Cruiser Task Force be with us!
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