James T. Butts Jr.: Difference between revisions
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'''James T. Butts, Jr'''. (born August 1, 1953) is an [[United States|American]] police officer and politician, the 12th and current Mayor of the City of [[Inglewood, California]]. Previously he served the City of Inglewood for 19 years where he received several promotions until he was sworn in as Deputy Chief of Police for the City of Inglewood. In September 1991 he was sworn in as Chief of Police for the City of [[Santa Monica, California]] serving from 1991 to 2006. In August of 2006, after a nationwide recruitment Butts was selected to be the first Deputy Executive Director of Homeland Security and Public Safety for the [[Los Angeles World Airports]] system. |
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Butts is a graduate of [[Cal Poly Pomona]] where he received an MBA in June 1994. He was a [[California State University-Los Angeles]] (CSULA) graduate with a Bachelor's Degree before earning his MBA. He also holds a number of command and management certificates from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). He is a graduate of the POST Command College and a past president of the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County. |
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Butts was Inglewood's first black Motorcycle Traffic Enforcement Officer, 1st black Lieutenant, Captain and only black Deputy Chief in the history of the Department. |
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During James T. Butts Jr.'s time in IPD, the number of violent crimes rose steadily. Coincidentally or not, in 1991, the last year that James T. Butts Jr. was in a position of authority in IPD, the number of violent crimes committed in Inglewood, 2,722, was the highest number of violent crimes in Inglewood recorded in IPD's posted crime statistics, (http://www.cityofinglewood.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=4365) it was a number that began decreasing the year that James T. Butts Jr. left IPD as Deputy Chief of Police, and it is a number of violent crimes that has never been matched since in Inglewood. |
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Butts would leave Inglewood in September of 1991 at the age of 38 to become the first person of color to command the [[Santa Monica, California]] Police Department as Chief of Police, and the youngest ever to do so. Until his arrival as Chief no person of color or female gender had advanced beyond the rank of sergeant. When he left, females and males of color were represented among the population of all supervisory, middle management and the highest command ranks of the SMPD. By 1997 the SMPD had been named by the ACLU as one of the five most integrated police departments in the State of California. After a 20 year absence, on February 1, 2011 James Butts would return to serve the citizens of the City of Inglewood as mayor. |
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== Career == |
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James Butts served in the City of Inglewood Police Department (IPD) from 1972 to 1991 starting as a Community Service Officer (CSO/Police Cadet) at the age of 19, he became a sworn Police Officer September 12, 1974. During his career in Inglewood, he worked in or commanded every operation in the IPD, including serving 12 years as an Officer, Team Leader and Commander of the SWAT team. During 1986 the then Captain Butts was a pioneer in using community-based policing concepts to suppress crime and disorder. He developed and commanded a task force in the summer of 1986 that obliterated street narcotics trafficking in the City resulting in nearly 900 arrests with a 92% conviction rate. In 1991 Chief Butts became the youngest chief of police in Southern California when he was sworn in at the age of 38 as the Chief of Police for the City of Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD). Mr. Butts served for 15 years from 1991 to 2006 as Chief. During his service there, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) also adopted the concepts of Community-Based Policing. When James T. Butts left the City of Santa Monica, he had slashed the Part I crime rate (UCR) by 64%. The only year on record when he left in December of 2006 when crime was lower was 1956, the first year crime statistics were archived for the City of Santa Monica. |
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As the Police Chief of Santa Monica, California, James Butts gained significant negative national notoriety in the area of Civil Rights as the lead defendant in the landmark Civil Rights case entitled “California Attorneys for Criminal Justice v. Butts,” (http://www.romingerlegal.com/ninth_circuit/9th_circuit/1765ninthcircuit.html) whose Constitutional issues were eventually addressed in the case “Butts v. McNally.” |
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Butts v. McNally involved a request to California’s Ninth Circuit Court by James T. Butts Jr. and the case’s other defendants, for a preliminary ruling on the case. James T. Butts Jr., and the other defendant officers, asserted that they were immune from being sued as individuals because they were law enforcement officers, and law enforcement officers are usually given “Qualified Immunity” (https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Qualified_immunity) from being sued as individuals for any actions they take while on duty; plaintiffs are usually required to sue whatever agency, City, County, State, etc., for whom the officers are employed. |
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The basis for a defense of “Qualified Immunity" is that officers are not held personally liable for their actions while on duty, because it is assumed that the officers are legally carrying out their duties. So, the defendants, including James Butts, asked that the Court rule in favor of the defendants and dismiss the case. However, the Court did not agree and denied the defendant's request. |
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James T. Butts Jr.’s involvement in the case focused on the fact that, as Chief of Santa Monica’s Police Department, James Butts approved and oversaw a department policy of, and therefore helped train officers to, question suspects “outside Miranda.” In other words, officers were formally trained to continue questioning individuals who were in police custody even after they had been read their “[[Miranda rights]] and had then asserted their Constitutional Right under the Fifth Amendment to “remain silent” and/or to speak to an attorney. |
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An article entitled “Are Police Free to Disregard Miranda?,” from volume 112 of the Yale Law Review, from December 2002 (http://www.yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal/volume-112,-issue-3,-december-2002/) (http://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/112-3/ClymerFINAL.pdf) states on page 490, quote, “The defendant police departments and officers conceded the existence of both the training materials and the policy of deliberately violating the Miranda rules. The policy was designed to obtain statements that, although inadmissible in the prosecution’s case-in-chief, could be used to impeach suspects who chose to testify in their criminal cases,” unquote. |
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The Court denied the requests of Butts and the other defendants for a summary judgment, saying that the officers were not eligible for the same “Qualified Immunity” against being sued as individuals that all law enforcement officers usually receive, because it was highly unlikely that any reasonable officer would have honestly believed that what these officers were doing was legal. |
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Having lost their appeals to California’s Ninth District Court of Appeals, James Butts and the other defendants then made a request for Certiorari (a review of the lower Court’s decision) to the United States Supreme Court. However, in October 1999, the Supreme Court denied that request to review the case. ([http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes/530bv.pdf www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes/530bv.pdf]) (Butts ET AL v. McNally, page 1261). |
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The Civil Rights implications of Butts v. McNally and Butts ET AL v. McNally were very significant. The Court clearly condemned the inappropriate and illegal police tactics used by James T. Butts Jr.'s police department because those tactics violated the Fifth Amendment Rights given to United States citizens by the U.S. Constitution. Even though there had been at least one previous court case before Butts v. McNally where the Court ruled that the Rights given to American Citizens under “Miranda” were clearly established law, some law enforcement agencies, including the one ran by James T. Butts Jr., continued to maintain policies which sanctioned and/or trained police officers to illegally violate the Miranda rules just to obtain a tactical advantage at trial. |
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However, after California's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made its decision in Butts v. McNally, and after the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to even review the case, a clear message was sent to law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Law enforcement officers and agencies could no longer claim ignorance that individual police officers could be sued by citizens for violating the Miranda rules and violating citizen’s Civil Rights. |
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To quote a Law enforcement advocate’s website about the practice of officers questioning suspects “outside Miranda” after the results of Butts v. McNally, quote, “…the bottom line is, just don’t do it.” |
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When he retired, he left a City (Santa Monica) notorious upon his arrival for its struggles with homelessness, disorder and crime a safe and thriving, international tourist destination. Complaints against police officers declined by 50% during his tenure and police department liability payments by the City fell from $3.5 million dollars in 1991 to under $2,150 (two-thousand-one-hundred-fifty dollars) in 2005, a 99.9% decrease. |
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In 2006 Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) named Butts its newly established Deputy Executive Director for Public Safety (DED), an Assistant General Manager position. Butts was issued an intelligence classification of Secret by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. While serving as the leader of the LAWA police and security forces Butts served as the intergovernmental counterterrorism liaison coordinating the activities of 4,000 counterterrorism, police and security personnel. He oversaw a budget of 116 million dollars. In 2009, [[Los Angeles International Airport]] (LAWA's flagship of what at that time was a four-airport system) was named the #1 most secure airport in the United States by the [[Transportation Security Administration]]. |
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His campaign for Mayor of the City of Inglewood, California began in March 2010, and after a close and difficult campaign against incumbent Mayor Daniel K. Tabor he was elected. After defeating Tabor in a City of Inglewood Special Municipal Runoff Election on January 11, 2011 the results were certified by the Inglewood City Council on January 25, 2011. He took office February 1, 2011. |
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During James T. Butts Jr.'s time as Mayor of Inglewood, the city has suffered several significant set backs. Nearing insolvency, the Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) was taken over by the State of California and all School Board members were relieved of all of their legislative powers and duties (http://www.lasentinel.net/index/php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9817:state-takes-over-inglewood-unified-school-district&catid=80&Itemid=170), (http://www.dailybreeze.com/education/ci_21548079/state-takes-over-financially-strapped-inglewood-unified-school), (http://www.losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/10/03/state-takes-over-inglewood-unified-school-district/). |
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Also, in 2011, the Civil Rights Division of the United States Justice Department began, at least, its second investigation into the Inglewood Police department (IPD) in three (3) years. This most recent investigation by the Justice Department focused on whether IPD had established a pattern of denying adequate police protection to Inglewood's residents, who are primarily people of color. The specific areas of denial were alleged to be the improper or non-existent investigation of some violent crimes, which, coincidentally, were at their highest levels when James T. Butts Jr. left IPD as Deputy Chief of Police two decades earlier. |
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After inheriting a $17.6 million dollar structural deficit, Butts balanced the budget and has overseen two consecutive financially balanced budgets. In 2012, Butts negotiated a development agreement with [[Madison Square Gardens]] of New York that resulted in the purchase of the Forum by MSG from Faithful Central Bible Church. The Forum will re-open January 15, 2014. The initial act will be [[The Eagles]]. The purchase and anticipated reopening of this iconic entertainment and sports venue was quickly followed by an influx of investor capital (over $180 million dollars) into the Hollywood Park Tomorrow project, a proposed $2 billion dollar development. In 2013, Mayor Butts negotiated an agreement with Los Angeles World Airports to restore lost Residential Sound Insulation funding. The City of Inglewood is on pace to insulate 1,000 homes by May of 2014. In 2012, Butts coordinated the travel of the Space Shuttle Endeavour through the streets of Inglewood enroute to its final home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The shuttle stopped at the Forum on Manchester Blvd where the largest outdoor event in the history of Inglewood (estimated 20,000+ persons) was held to greet the Shuttle and the astronauts that piloted her. |
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== References == |
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<!--- See http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically --> |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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*[http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11599:msg-banking-100-million-the-forum-will-be-fabulous-again&catid=80&Itemid=170 Mayor Butts' Bold Vision Becomes reality] |
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*[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-madison-square-garden-125-million-irving-azoff-firm-20130904,0,4880103.story MSG Azoff Unveil New Entertainment Venture] |
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*[http://www.planningreport.com/2013/05/08/inglewood-s-mayor-butts-both-talented-lucky-his-city-beneficiary Inglewood Mayor Butts is Talented - Inglewood is the Beneficiary] |
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*[http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/10/local/la-me-inglewood-mayor-20110110 Longtime Politician and Retired Police chief Vie for Inglewood Mayor] |
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*[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-forum-renovation-20130730-dto,0,7822933.htmlstory The Forum Will Be Fabulous Again] |
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* [http://www.cityofinglewood.org/city_hall/mayor/default.asp Inglewood City Mayor Website - Mayor of the City of Inglewood] |
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* [http://www.santamonicapd.org/Content.aspx?id=6594 Santa Monica Police Department - Retired Chiefs of Police] |
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* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200605/ai_n16409646/ Los Angeles World Airports Names James T. Butts Jr. to New Airport Law Enforcement Executive Position] |
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* [http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Los-Angeles-World-Airports-Names-James-T-Butts-Jr-New-Airport-Law-Enforcement-Executive-690699.htm MarketWire LAWA names James T. Butts to Law Enforcement Executive] |
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* [http://wavenewspapers.com/news/local/west_edition/article_61c1edea-134e-11e2-94ed-001a4bcf6878.html Space Shuttle Endeavour's Final Journey] |
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* [http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2990:james-butts-mayor-elect-of-inglewood&catid=80&Itemid=170 James Butts is Mayor Elect of Inglewood] |
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*[http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10560:local-workers-at-inglewood-forum-with-mayor-butts&catid=80&Itemid=170 Local Workers at Forum with Mayor James Butts] |
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*[http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=562:mayor-butts-has-inglewood-on-the-move&catid=80&Itemid=170 Mayor James Butts Has Inglewood On The Move] |
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*[http://lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2565:inglewood-mayor-james-t-butts-jr-gives-state-of-the-city-address&catid=80&Itemid=170 Mayor James T. Butts Jr. gives State of The City Address] |
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*[http://www.dominiquediprima.com/?p=4868 KJLH Radio Interview With Mayor James T. Butts, Jr.] |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Butts, James |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American mayor |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = August 1, 1953 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
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| DATE OF DEATH = |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, James}} |
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[[Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard]] |
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[[Category:1953 births]] |
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[[Category:Living people]] |
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[[Category:Mayors of Inglewood, California]] |
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[[Category:African-American politicians]] |
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