“The Investigator” Leaves the News-Press

Katich, who has been in charge of news operations for about five months, said, "I want the News-Press to be the source for information vital to the community's needs, where we represent both sides of the issue and let our readers determine for themselves the merits of either side. Personal attacks and hearsay has not been what this paper has been about and it's not what it will be about."

And then he woke up....

Has Don Katich met Travis Armstrong?

As usual, flimsy attempts are being made to divert attention away from the Chief of Police, who is the culprit. Pointing the finger at a newspaper and a columnist is denying the reality that our community stands at risk, because the top cop has no problem falsifying police reports, fabricating a case and lying to a jury. Hello? That's a bad cop.

Sanchez is damaged goods. His politically correct legacy is escalating gang violence, murders and mayhem as well as a weakened and distrusted police department.

As for the columnist, one may criticize his writing technique and style, but he's an honest man on a worthy mission: Sniffing out corruption, especially among public officials that everyone else is afraid to touch. All citizens should give him accolades for that. Thank you, Mr. Eringer.

Do people still read the News-Less? ur um News-Press my bad.

Robert Eringer was hired as "the Investigator", to look into and report issues of public interest that may not generally be known. The title speaks for its self. I am sorry to hear the News Press has guidelines for who and what is fair game; we as readers and residents of Santa Barbara have a right to know if our Police Chief is dishonest personally or professionally. He is in the unique position to lead by example the troubled Latino youth of our community. His integrity is in question. Fact, not hearsay.

The removal of Eringer's column will only serve to raise more questions and further investigation of this issue.

The writer of this article has lost focus of the most important issue in this story. Whether or nor Eringer followed all the correct rules of journalism is NOT the most important issue. Whether or not Scoles was guilty of a crime is NOT the most important issue.

The most important issue, a hundred times over, is the character of our head law enforcement officer, Chief Sanchez. The jury determined that he was untruthful on the witness stand, under oath. He clearly fabricated false accusations as to what Scoles said to him--witnesses corroborated Scoles' version; no witnesses corroborated Sanchez' version. He was caught cold lying about what call he made (Code 3 or Code 2) when the dispatch tape proved other than what he testified. He obviously trumped up false charges against Scoles in order to justify his mishandling of the situation and arresting Scoles for complaining to a public official in a public place, which he has every right to do under our Constitution.

Eringer's column simply documents further incidents reflecting Sanchez' weak character. Even if only some of those things are true, Sanchez has some serious character flaws. A police chief, above all, must be an honorable person. If he is not, our system of justice is very seriously compromised and public confidence in the police is gravely undermined. Santa Barbara expects and deserves more, much more, in a police chief than what Sanchez represents.

The real threat to our society and our individual civil rights is not Eringer or Scoles. The real threat to us is Chief Camerino Sanchez. And that is the most important issue.

"against police investigator Jaycee Hunter, claiming he used deceitful methods when interrogating Scoles."

Someone should tell Scoles that the Supreme Court has said that it's ok for police to lie during interrogations, specifically of the sort that Hunter told Scoles -- that they had witnesses whose testimony would nail him. (But you can't tell lies like "Your wife said she'll kill herself if you don't confess".)

Typical News-Press tactics! I stopped my subscription 2 years ago. That is how I found The Independent..Thank you for your great coverage online and we are saving paper too. The old News-Press papers I saved for my dogs cleanups!!!

Some of the prior comments regarding Eringer's column have touched on the key issue -- is Chief Sanchez honest and credible? Or, is he a prevaricator, an embellisher, a fraudster, a tax cheat, and an elder abuser. If what Eringer wrote in his News-Press column submission about the chief is true, regardless of whether the chief was contacted so he could lie once again, they are still true despite the News-Press firing him and refusing to print the column.

As other comments above also pointed out, aside from conning the city out of a half million dollars of taxpayer money in order to buy a house while concealing his ability to soon buy two rental homes in far-away cities, the legacy the chief is building for himself is quite disturbing. It is punctuated by rising crime rates in terms of increased gang activity and murders, and growing community dissatisfaction with his lagging leadership, and not to forget the questions about his truthfulness. Doesn't all of this sound familiar when put under the same spotlight as the AIG bonus scandals?

But it's not fair to cast aspersions on the whole police force due to the chief's increasingly apparent shortcomings and lack of ethical values. They're doing the best they can despite the odorous lack of leadership wafting out of the chief's office these days.

It's departure time, Chief.

Zorro, bellefox and Scoop have got it right - Time for this disgraceful excuse for a chief of police to go - misrepresenting what happened or was said (which we call "lying" or, under oath, perjury, is beyond inexcusable from someone sworn to uphold the law), and the thin-skinned overreaction of this pompous little wind-bag are all signs he is not fit for the job. The fact that gang violence, rampant public drunkenness and a host of other problems on the streets of this town are becoming commonplace are all clear evidence he cannot and/or is not carrying out the job. How much longer is he in office? Does he have a fixed term? Who appointed him?

JayB -

The Supreme Court did NOT broadly condone cops lying during investigations. They only ruled that evidence gathered by such lying, in limited cases and under tightly restricted circumstances, may be admitted in court. The defense is then free to impeach (discredit) the cop and argue to the jury that the evidence is tainted because of the lying.

In the Scoles case, the cop assigned to investigate it by Sanchez was Det. Jaycee Hunter. Hunter has a history of improperly coercing and manipulating witnesses, exceeding authority, and other abuses of police power. He admitted in court that he lied in the investigation. This is undoubtedly why Sanchez picked him for the job of trumping up a bogus case against Scoles in order to punish him for his audacity to question Sanchez in public.

Just because the Supreme Court has said that evidence gotten by cops lying can sometimes be admitted in a trial, it does not excuse the proven lying by both Sanchez and Hunter. Scoles' civil rights were clearly violated by their abuse of police power, and if allowed to continue any of us could be next. Both should be fired.

You are welcome, bellefox.

Justice: If you read my unpublished column on the "columns" page of my website--www.roberteringer.com--it has the answers to your questions. In a nutshell, the police chief has no fixed term; he can be dismissed "at will"--at any time, for any reason--by the City Administrator.

To other astute commentators: You are correct. The issue that media should now focus upon is neither "The Investigator" nor the News-Press, but Santa Barbara's police chief. Don't be distracted by those who would alter the spotlight I shined upon a dark place.

I stand ready to answer any questions in support of the column I wrote. Its three main points are fully documented; the facts speak for themselves.

The height of hypocrisy! News Press major domo Katich with regard to firing The Investigator said "I want the News-Press to be the source for information vital to the community's needs, where we represent both sides of the issue and let our readers determine for themselves the merits of either side. Personal attacks and hearsay has not been what this paper has been about and it's not what it will be about." So, is he going to apply that "policy" to Travis Armstrong as well. I can't recall more than a couple of editorials by that buffoon that were not personal attacks on his favorite punching bags, the Mayor and another female councilperson.

When someone like the Investigator, for one of the first times in years at the News Press, courageously exposes abusive, unethical and maybe criminal behavior by the chief of police, it seems to me that he should be applauded, but then there's the old adage about "kill the messenger". Ok, that was done, but now what about the Chief? There's another old adage that the truth shall prevail. I hope that's true in Santa Barbara.

Firstly, just because the chief may be a bad guy, does not mean you get to ignore journalistic standards. That's called a blog.

Secondly, I find it laughable that the News-Press states they "represent both sides of the issue and let our readers determine for themselves the merits of either side." Yeah, sure you do ... like when you accused Jerry Roberts of child pornography (on the front page) and didn't get his side?

So what can be done to get rid of this pathetic excuse for a police chief. Clearly, our indifferent, do-nothing Mayor (sorry but her suggestion that Ehringer not only investigate evidence of official corruption and misconduct by Sanchez but also "allegations of good conduct" is an inexcusable, laughable and pathetic response by an elected public official - shades of "see no evil, hear no evil," etc.) won't lift a finger to investigate the circumstances of the city's loans to Sanchez much less lead an effort to sack him. What pressure can be brought to bear on Armstrong or others?

I don't know Cam Sanchez personally and can't honestly say whether he's doing his "best", but I can say that someone is seriously dropping the ball on dealing with the gang violence in this city. TWICE in the past two weeks my 20 yr old son and his friends, while on private property, were assaulted by what appear to be gang members passing by. In one instance, one of my son's friends was beaten in the head with a brick, and in the most recent incident, two nights ago, one of my son's friends was stabbed 6 times in the chest, and rushed to the hospital. The police brought my son home, covered in his friend's blood (he was trying to keep pressure on the wounds). My ordinarily confident, happy kid was terrified and distraught. These kids were minding their own business, and they were brutally attacked. If profiling is what you call stopping a group of young thugs "cruising" our neighborhoods looking for trouble, SO BE IT!!! Violence is escalating rapidly, in my opinion partly because these kids don't fear enforcement. FYI, this latest attack happened blocks from our home on the Mesa, not downtown. Oh, and also FYI, neither assault was mentioned by any local media (and they DO listen to police dispatch). Our city officials have got to do something! And as neighbors, we need to call and report suspicious behavior. 2000+ people have been murdered in Mexico just since January of this year. I'm starting to realize that there is a cultural shift taking place in this city because it is being tolerated by those in charge. It can and will get worse if something isn't done, and soon!

Hey, any of you guys ever see the movie Death Wish?