Wednesday, March 26, 2014

PC 148 / Fremont Bail Bonds / Penal Code 148 Resisting Arrest

I am noticing a trend in large cities toward their police force using PC 148 as a means to justify an arrest. The penal code section 148 is widely use for arrest but very seldom pursued in court. This leads me to believe that the police are over stepping their powers and "showing" the public who's in charge instead of doing their job to protect and serve as the public pays them to do. 510 Bail Bond has bonded many clients out of jail where their only charge was for resisting arrest. Lets take a look at what's at play here with regarding to PC 148.
  Resisting, Delaying, or Obstructing Officer
148.  (a) (1) Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician, as defined in Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code, in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
The above section of the penal code PC148 (a)(1) is so broad that just about any encounter with a police officer, you could be charged with resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer. Not showing your drivers license fast enough could be seen as cause for delaying an officer and makes you subject to arrest under PC 148. In February 2014 a CHP Officer detained an on the job fire fighter at the scene of an accident in hand cuffs citing PC 148 as his justification. The officer ordered the fire fighter to move his truck that was protecting the victim from on coming traffic. When the fire fighter refused he was put in cuffs and placed in the back of the CHP's car. I ask you, "Is this in the best interest of the public. Or does the CHP Officer have a chip on his shoulder?"

Law enforcement has shown time and time again that they can not be trusted with the powers given to them to protect and serve the public. PC 148 needs to be rewritten to protect the public interest first, then applied in such that it truly protect law enforcement from someone "Resisting" an arrest. An arrest form someone for something other than a PC 148 charge.

With regards to the CHP officer notice that section e would have the CHP officer in violation of PC 148 (e).
Here is the rest of PC 148 :

(2) Except as provided by subdivision (d) of Section 653t, every person who knowingly and maliciously interrupts, disrupts, impedes, or otherwise interferes with the transmission of a communication over a public safety radio frequency shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) Every person who, during the commission of any offense described in subdivision (a), removes or takes any weapon, other than a firearm, from the person of, or immediate presence of, a public officer or peace officer shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(c) Every person who, during the commission of any offense described in subdivision (a), removes or takes a firearm from the person of, or immediate presence of, a public officer or peace officer shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(d) Except as provided in subdivision (c) and notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 489, every person who removes or takes without intent to permanently deprive, or who attempts to remove or take a firearm from the person of, or immediate presence of, a public officer or peace officer, while the officer is engaged in the performance of his or her lawful duties, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
In order to prove a violation of this subdivision, the prosecution shall establish that the defendant had the specific intent to remove or take the firearm by demonstrating that any of the following direct, but ineffectual, acts occurred:
(1) The officer's holster strap was unfastened by the defendant.
(2) The firearm was partially removed from the officer's holster by the defendant.
(3) The firearm safety was released by the defendant.
(3) The firearm safety was released by the defendant.
(4) An independent witness corroborates that the defendant stated that he or she intended to remove the firearm and the defendant actually touched the firearm.
(5) An independent witness corroborates that the defendant actually had his or her hand on the firearm and tried to take the firearm away from the officer who was holding it.
(6) The defendant's fingerprint was found on the firearm or holster.
(7) Physical evidence authenticated by a scientifically verifiable procedure established that the defendant touched the firearm.
(8) In the course of any struggle, the officer's firearm fell and the defendant attempted to pick it up.
(e) A person shall not be convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) in addition to a conviction of a violation of subdivision (b), (c), or (d) when the resistance, delay, or obstruction, and the removal or taking of the weapon or firearm or attempt thereof, was committed against the same public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician. A person may be convicted of multiple violations of this section if more than one public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician are victims.
(f) This section shall not apply if the public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician is disarmed while engaged in a criminal act.
(Amended Sec. 258, Ch. 15, Stats. 2011. Effective July 1, 2011.)

Bail - It's what we do. Any Jail Any Bail www.510Bailbond.com

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Fremont Bail Bonds 510-760-9409

Fremont Bail Bonds


Computers vrs. Man as it relates to Bail.


Sitting at my desk in our Fremont office I came across an article relating to bail man vrs. computer as to what does a better job regarding bail. Here is an excerpt...

               "As technology has advanced over the years, many debates and questions have been asked around the topic of machine versus man.  These questions include things like can computers do a task better than a man? Can computers make thoughtful decisions that involve experience and emotion?  Can man be as effective and as accurate as a computer without the ability to process and analyze millions of data points?  While no one has been able to completely answer these questions, and trust me when I say that I do not plan on answering them in this blog post, I will, however, give my thoughts on the current man vs. machine debate that is happening in the criminal justice system." Brian Nairin

When working with a 510 Bail Bond Agent  you can expect someone who is an expert in bail. A 510 Bail Bond agent will be able to answer any of your questions that may come up where as a computer program will only be able to work as programmed. What if someone enters information that is incorrect - the defendant is lying, most bail agents are able to ascertain that where as a computer can not. 

Commercial bail is working and is serving the people equally in an unbiased way. The bail agent's best interest is to have the inmate released on bail. Our clients want to be released, we are motivated to see that happen. If the government were to take over bail I see a big conflict of interest. They arrest, they pick who gets released. Not good for the people in my opinion.   

"The concept of pretrial release is not something that can be distilled down to common statistics across a broad range of different environments.  Every defendant is different; every state is different; every county is different; every criminal act is different; and every reason a person commits a crime in the first place is different.  Criminal Justice is not that simple.  Additionally, the people who make the ultimate decisions in the criminal justice system are judges.  And judges don’t just become judges; they earn a judgeship through experience and practice.  Sitting in front of thousands of unique defendants is more valuable to understanding how criminals think and act than just looking at questionnaires and statistics.

The same goes for the bail bond industry.  Bail bond agents deal with thousands upon thousands of defendants.   These are defendants that they understand and are familiar with.  Why?  Because they have grown up and live in the communities that they serve.  They know the people; they know the families; they know the employers and the businesses.  They have a world of local knowledge and insight that no computer program or public sector pretrial risk assessment can quantify and make sense of.  Call it gut or call it experience, but the bail bond industry brings an intangible component to their own decision making process that is not merely about risk assessment but rather about something more important “risk management.”  Ultimately when a bail agent decides to financially secure a defendant’s release, they are focused on managing the risk of the defendant and ensuring they show up for court as opposed to just assessing the risk and trying to play a guessing game of whether that person will show up or commit another crime." from Brian Nairin
And as licensed bail agents at 510 Bail Bond we make the whole process human friendly. People like to deal with people. When it comes to bail - People like doing business with 510 Bail Bond.



Bail - It's what we do. Any Jail Any Bail www.510Bailbond.com