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June 30, 2011· scvtalk.com · WordPress (SCVTalk 3.0) · Wayback capture

Paseo Violence

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Some beer drinking busters roughed up a Valencia homeowner after the homeowner confronted them for carrying on at 6:30am:

After heading down the path with his dog, he got into a confrontation over the noise with three 20-something men and one woman who were drinking there, Blake said.

The argument apparently escalated, leading the three young men to start punching and kicking the man, according to the sheriff’s report.

This is the kind of thing that brings out the righteously angry suburbanite in me, because despite my liberal tendencies, I value peace, quiet, and order just like everyone else. I’m so angry about this I feel like starting an all-volunteer Citizen’s Auxiliary Paseo Patrol (CAPP), complete with an official insignia, red or black arm (or head) bands, and, of course, billy clubs. We could divide up Valencia’s paseos into patrol districts, and monitor our districts on bike or foot, looking for trouble. We won’t wait for trouble to find us; we’ll find it and CAPP it promptly.

Valencia’s paseos are an interesting piece of SCV transportation infrastructure. They were built by a private company, but function as public walking paths. Yet, unlike sidewalks, they are mostly secluded and hidden from view. This makes them very pleasurable places to stroll on (my sister in law can’t wait to have her baby and push her around on a stroller on a paseo), but also can encourage or provide shelter for bad, non-Valencia-conforming behavior.

So the question is, how do you manage safety on such paths?

In the past the Sheriff’s Station has approached this problem by using Deputies on bikes and, lately, by purchasing the goofy police trikes. I’m just one guy and everyone has an anecdote, but in all my years of walking and biking on paseos or bike paths, I’ve never seen a Deputy (nevermind Frank Ferry) patrolling a paseo or bike path. But, let’s be real. The Sheriff’s Station only has so many resources and it’s probably a waste to pay a Deputy or two or three to patrol the paseos constantly, which is what would be needed to make the busters feel like it’s not a safe place to carry on.

That’s why if I was a homeowner in Valencia, I’d be pushing for part of my HOA dues to pay for private security patrols of paseos. For all its faults and hassles, a hyper-local and ever-vigilant HOA + security company patrols is probably the best way to ensure safety on quasi-private paseo system.

Comments (36)

  1. yourwebguruJune 30, 2011 at 7:47 am
    I’m sure I’ll be thumbs-downed for “Monday morning quarterbacking” here, but would the man have saved himself a beating had he simply called the Sheriff’s department as opposed to trying to be a one-man vigilante against 3 alcohol-fueled guys that early in the morning? Just sayin’…
  2. TaTonkaJune 30, 2011 at 8:00 am
    CCW is my 911
  3. MikeJune 30, 2011 at 8:07 am
    Relax Walter, this isn’t Vietnam.
  4. NateJune 30, 2011 at 8:44 am
    So True. You confront 3 drunk low-lifes and then are surprised when they give you a beat down?
  5. CCJuly 1, 2011 at 7:35 am
    Yeah, probably should have called the HOA security patrol at the very minimum. I’ve done so to break up large gaggles of rowdies in the past. As a side note, my back yard backs up against a Paseo and in all the years I have lived here I have not seen one single Sheriff’s department patrol it bike or not. Obviously more foot/bike patrol is needed.
  6. SaugushomeownerJune 30, 2011 at 8:00 am
    You got a thumbs up from me. He should have just let it go.
  7. MikeJune 30, 2011 at 8:05 am
    Is Valencia the new Ventura?
  8. JeffJune 30, 2011 at 8:06 am
    ROL. Looking around Valencia, it’s becoming more and more like Ventura everyday. I moved here to escape Ventura!
  9. yourwebguruJune 30, 2011 at 8:26 am
    Are there more incidents of violence reported on the paseos that I’m missing or something? Jeff, you’re usually not the reactionary type. Vigilante squads? Really? I’ll give it to you that the idea might have been a light-hearted goof, but what statistics warrant more private security enforcement of the paseos other than the vigilance of the neighborhood citizens to properly report incidents of this type to law enforcement?
  10. JeffJune 30, 2011 at 9:15 am
    Of course the vigilante squad was in jest. Damn, what do I have to do to make you people crack a smile. The point I was highlighting is that the paseos occupy this strange sort of space: public, but quasi-private transportation infrastructure that’s specific to certain parts of the SCV. Then I discussed strategies to patrol such spaces to discourage bad behavior, and I ended up recommending that the HOAs, which have the most to gain and lose from the paseo system, invest in their own security rather than relying on public law enforcement.
  11. Mr PerezJune 30, 2011 at 9:24 am
    The HOAs don’t even enforce the “No Alcohol” rule at the pools. I did however, get a good show one late night as I was biking home from work and observed a security guard kicking out a young couple who were “buttering the muffin,” from one of the pools.
  12. VenturanJune 30, 2011 at 10:57 am
    We’re much more brazen and prefer nicknames for our perps . Thuggery near the Ultima-like paths committed by a nameless band of drunken bards? Not in my RPG. Not now, not eva.
  13. JayceJuly 1, 2011 at 10:05 am
    Ultima yay, brings back fond memories
  14. MikeJune 30, 2011 at 8:19 am
    I grew up in the heart of paseo land and in my travels, I’ve never seen anything like it. The paseos in Valencia built pre-Summit pwn all others. But they do, and always have, evoke a medieval highway kinda feel, like so spooky path in an 80s RPG. You never know when a gang of goblins is hanging around the bend or if a troll is guarding the bridge.
  15. JeffJune 30, 2011 at 9:18 am
    Brilliant. I literally ran into a wandering wastrel a few years ago on a Paseo in VV. She was in her teens and it was late at night, and she was walking along the paseo with her guitar, just singing to herself. It was spooky and wonderful all at the same time. My wife and I stopped and had a chat with her, then she wandered off around a bend and just vanished
  16. PetzJune 30, 2011 at 8:37 am
    CA has a very “liberal” open carry law that responsible citizens should take advantage of.
  17. yourwebguruJune 30, 2011 at 8:44 am
    I can just see the headlines now: “Local man shoots self in crotch trying to defend himself against three drunken toughs on paseo.”
  18. PetzJuly 1, 2011 at 2:54 am
    YWG- CA open carry requires the gun magazine to be empty, so unless you’re aiming at your crotch (and you need to have a target anyway), you probably won’t see that headline.
  19. yourwebguruJuly 1, 2011 at 6:16 am
    So then that defeats the purpose of carrying one for protection. “Hold on, don’t hit me yet. I have to load my gun!”
  20. NateJune 30, 2011 at 8:53 am
    So this guy should have shoot them? WTF Seriously this is the reason I am against “Open Carry”, This isn’t the wild west. People are too stupid to carry guns, this is a prime example. This guy felt entitled to confront these people, then when he antagonizes them into violence, he would then feel equally entitled to shoot them. NO. The guy should have done the right thing and called the authorities.
  21. Mr PerezJune 30, 2011 at 9:25 am
    At a minimum you go for a junk shot so the obvious Mensa members can’t breed
  22. Leon WordenJune 30, 2011 at 8:37 am
    >>This makes them very pleasurable places to stroll<< Hear ya, Jeff, but if your thugs are patrolling the Valencia paseos, you're likely to chill other types of "pleasurable" activity that routinely takes place there.
  23. NateJune 30, 2011 at 8:54 am
    Jeff we don’t need a vigilant squad. We need people to call the authorities and go about their business.
  24. spineflower2June 30, 2011 at 9:01 am
    I would not walk the paseos without pepper spray. Whether for stray dogs, their owners, strangers threatening me, or drunken a-holes, it might come in handy some day. I would not expect patrols to be financially viable, but this may spur spycams along routes with a single central monitoring station. This IS the 21st century, not the 19th; the corner Irish Dick is a thing of the past.
  25. Mr PerezJune 30, 2011 at 9:18 am
    I have ridden the paseos daily and the only time(s) you see potential issues are in certain spots with those certain individuals. They are too young to be renters/ home owners and are more than likely just those kids that some parent wouldn’t make stand on their own two feet and embrace life and it’s scary challenges. And some parent either doesn’t care that their adult child is living in their home drinking alcohol or smoking weed on the paseo. But then again this same parent probably set this example, or lack thereof, so what do you expect.
  26. spineflower2June 30, 2011 at 9:40 am
    I guess spawn-of-Awesome isn’t so awesome after all.
  27. ToddJune 30, 2011 at 9:38 am
    Don’t forget the pith helmets!
  28. lvogelJune 30, 2011 at 9:51 am
    When the paseos in our little ‘village’ started getting graffitied, along with certain inappropriate items, we banned together and started a neighborhood watch. This was in part due to our HOA. We also asked a representative from the Sheriffs to come speak to us homeowners on the do’s and dont’s when trying to deal with this situation. First thing; DO NOT confront the suspects that are doing something illegal, call the Sheriffs. However, not every neighborhood has an HOA and unfortunately some people will not get involved on any level. I had a simular incident happen behind my home (on the paseo) several years back. I placed a call to the sheriffs at 3:15 am and they were here within 5 minutes. That’s not to say that the sheriffs would have come as quickly in this case, but the gentleman would not have been attacked either. I hope he was able to get a good look at his attackers, they can be identified, and justice will be served.
  29. LindaJune 30, 2011 at 10:29 am
    Very amusing, Jeff. I immediately thought of Phil Hendrie’s character, Jay Santos, and his group, Citizens Auxiliary Police. But seriously, we do have volunteers who paint out graffiti, and I imagine if paseo violence gets to be a problem, there will be volunteers willing to walk the paseos and report problems as well. I admire people like the guy who got roughed up. People should be willing to step in and do something when they see trouble. But you have to know when to back off and call in someone with a badge.
  30. Whiskey Tango FoxtrotJune 30, 2011 at 8:58 pm
    As Jay would say “It’s about savin lives, Linda”.
  31. Timothy Myers SR.June 30, 2011 at 10:33 am
    My tale of Sheriff Heroics: About 8 years ago my Nebraska bride and I were walking late one night across the Decoro bridge between McBean and Dickason (Valencia High School). This was during the short time it was open to foot traffic but not cars and was very quiet and spooky. A gentleman came walking from the other direction on the other side of the bridge, stopped and stared at us, and then started to follow us eventually breaking into a loud song. I called the SD non emergency number and they told us to walk briskly (not run) to the nearest place with lights and people (Ice Station at that time). I stayed on the line and 90 seconds later two patrol cars boxed in the gentleman and two deputies scooped him up. Very impressive.
  32. Mr PerezJune 30, 2011 at 10:42 am
    Was he a good singer?
  33. lvogelJune 30, 2011 at 5:28 pm
    Wondering…when did this happen?
  34. lvogelJune 30, 2011 at 10:29 pm
    I get a thumbs up and a thumbs down, but not an answer? Seriously?
  35. LindaJuly 1, 2011 at 6:50 am
    Which incident are you asking about? The article that Jeff links to says the beating he wrote about happened on or about June 18. The incident Tim wrote about happened 8 years ago. No thumbs either way from me!
  36. lvogelJuly 1, 2011 at 8:26 am
    Thank you Linda! I didn’t read the link (big mistake, which I would be willing to give myself a thumbs down for), and it kind of confirmed what I was thinking when I asked the question. This ‘story’ was in our local paper/websight on June 30. The attack happened on the 18th. Yet the public was notifed what, 12 days later? Okay, there were posters on lightposts around the area, but seriously who reads many of those flyers as they go running/riding/walking by? Why was the public not informed sooner? Perhaps someone who may have been around the area in question that morning might have seen this individuals at some point, but because of the time that has passed had forgotten. You have 4 individuals drinking on a paseo at 6:30 am. I just wonder how many people also heard or saw these people around the same time or earlier?

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