The Fullerton DUI Machine. An Essay

Fullerton Mayor Greg Sebourn, third from left, with Fullerton PD officers being honored for their contribution in getting drunk drivers off the road. FPD officers include Miguel Siliceo, left, Corporal Ryan Warner, Mayor Sebourn, Lt. Mike Chlebowski, Cary Tong, Jonathan Munoz and Timothy Gibert.
Fantastically overpriced taxpayer funded photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC

The constant public glorification by the city government of the Fullerton cops who hand out the most DUI citations has become parody worthy: public awards ceremonies at council meetings, plaques, gushing adulation from representatives of MADD. And of course there are the saccharine and witless write-ups in the taxpayer funded cop PR outlet Behind the Badge.

It’s really pretty amusing, all that self-congratulation. But when it comes to the issue of how come the FPD didn’t arrest Joe Felz for DUI in the early morning of November 9, 2016, all we hear are the proverbial crickets from  Bill Rams and Lou Ponsi. Instead of arresting Felz, they deliberately refused to collect evidence, drove him home, and tucked him into bed. And that’s not amusing at all. That’s obstruction of justice – a felony – and absolute proof that there are two sets of rules – rules for the cops, and the rules by which they are only too happy to arrest citizens. It’s obvious that this big Fullerton DUI-fest has nothing, or very little to do, really, with public safety

What does it all mean? I think I figured it out. Arresting DUI suspects is comparatively easy. And the results are fun to trot out at council meetings. Since downtown Fullerton has all sorts of bars with lots and lots drunks the game is even easier. But does anybody propose curtailing the culture of booze, barf, and binge? Of course not. Arresting drunk drivers is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s easy.

It’s profitable to provide the liquor to get the losers get drunk, and it’s profitable for the cops to haul ’em in. Except when it’s one of their own. Or the City Manager.

It’s also an excellent distraction from all the bad news generated by bad behaving Fullerton cops, including, ironically, many who have been publicly honored for their DUI heroics. It sure seems like the celebrations of DUI arrests have risen parallel to the numbers of Fullerton cops identified for their own lawlessness.

Being a good cop is really hard, supposedly. At least that’s what Behind the Badge and all the police apologists keep telling us. So let’s talk about other sorts of crime – apart from the barrel fish, that is.

How many crimes does the FPD halt or reduce? How many crimes does the FPD prevent? Who knows?  More easily quantified: how many legitimate crimes (not “resisting arrest,” sorry boys)  are actually solved? How come the FPD never publishes such statistics? I am much more interested in a statistical analysis of the FPD’s success in solving crimes than I am in the number of drunks they pull over. But we never ever hear about that. Why not? As we pay out ever greater salaries and benefits to cops whose jobs are getting demonstrably safer, is there any indication that these extravagant increases are getting us anything other than a bigger unfunded pension liability?

Honored by MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving) for their efforts in getting drunk drivers off the road are Fullerton PD Officers Cary Tong, left, Timothy Gibert, Jonathan Munoz, Corporal Ryan Warner and Officer Miguel Siliceo.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
*** Officer Siliceo’s name on the plaque is misspelled as Sihiceo. ***

Please review the picture of Fullerton’s DUI Heroes, above. You may recognize some familiar faces. On the left, Cary Tong. Second from left, Timothy Gibert.  Over there on the right, Miguel “Sonny Black” Siliceo. 

Famous Miguel “Sonny Black” Siliceo and his good pal, on-duty sex perv “Officer” Albert Rincon enjoying downtown hospitality. Hat courtesy of Roscoe’s Famous Deli and Bar.

The parade of DUI dog and pony shows at council meetings will no doubt continue. Of course the next one will be acutely embarrassing for the cops, and for people like Jennifer Fitzgerald and Doug “Bud” Chaffee – unswerving loyalists of the FPD Culture of Corruption; and embarrassing even for Bruce Whitaker, no friend of bad cops, but who seemingly lacks the courage to confront the issue of the taxpayer funded Behind the Badge, as it peddles its bullshit in the face of embarrassing reality.

24 Replies to “The Fullerton DUI Machine. An Essay”

  1. Sonny Sihiceo was a real role model for me. We stay in touch all the time, even when I’m in GOD ACTIVATED MODE. I keep hoping for a double-date in the back of the squad car.

    1. Poor Sebourn. He wants so badly to be liked by everybody. When that happens you generally end up being liked by nobody.

      I actually hope Silva runs against him next year. Sebourn will lose. And good riddance.

  2. If you consider the percent of people driving under the influence versus the number actually arrested for DUI , FPD is doing a poor job of keeping the drunks off the road. Someone too drunk to drive getting behind the wheel is a common sight Thursday through Sunday nights. Based on the view from Malden Station, I say it was the norm rather than the exception.

  3. DUIs are not easy. They are a pain in the ass that require more paperwork than any other type of “routine” arrest. More likely to get called to court or a DMV hearing (contrary to what you like to portray, most cops hate having to be on call or go to court on their day off, even though we bank overtime).

    The general population has a greater chance of being a victim of a DUI traffic collision than being a victim of other violent crimes. So DUI enforcement helps prevent DUI TCs, which prevents citizens from being injured or killed and becoming crime victims.

    1. “DUIs are not easy. They are a pain in the ass that require more paperwork than any other type of “routine” arrest.”

      Hmm. Maybe that explains why our boys in blue let Felz go. Just too darn much trouble.

      1. Translation, DUI = Overtime

        And of course, the complete proof:

        Cracking down on bar owners = fewer DUI arrests = fewer patrols = less overtime = smaller paychecks = pissed off union membership = no campaign support = replaced councilman to restore status quo = more bars = more DUI arrests = more patrols = more overtime = bigger paychecks = fat and happy union membership

        It is not reasonable to expect a solution from individuals or an institution that profits from the status quo.

    2. Mr. CCCB, what you describe doesn’t make sense. DUI arrests may be a comparative nuisance to the cop (as opposed to just driving around aimlessly), but that doesn’t make them hard.

      And the payoff is institutional approbation because we have a civilian government AND a police department that would rather aggrandize DUI arrresters than attack the real problem – the out of control bar culture.

      1. Right. “Easy” is a relative term. Easy compared to sleeping off the rest of your shift under an overpass? No.

        Easy compared to calculating the risk of a stock portfolio, writing a computer program or assembling scaffolding? Maybe so.

          1. More people are hurt – and badly hurt – assembling and disassembling scaffolding in this State each year than police or “fire fighters” on the job.

            And it’s not even close.

            1. Scaffolding erectors – the new Heroes! Now wait for it: “try calling a scaffold erector next time you or your family need help!”

            2. Many jobs are more dangerous than fireman or policeman – that is a distraction from the issue. As Joe said ‘we have a civilian government AND a police department that would rather aggrandize DUI arrresters than attack the real problem – the out of control bar culture.’ The city makes NO attempt to create uniform codes and licenses for the bars and no attempt to enforce standards that would control the situation. Blatant ineptitude that the obiscating bueracrates are able to keep from the citizens.

              1. It’s worse than you may know. The police department has actually created its own “entertainment” permit that has nothing to do with the Municipal Code. So douchebags like Popoff think they can break the law with impunity because he;’s the the cop stamp of approval. It’s a freaking mess and NOBODY has the courage to address the real issue.

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