March 4th Protest- Civic Center SF

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Former police chief asserts professional values, disproves old stereotypes

Some associate cops with their widely known stereotype: sneaky, corrupt, lazy donut-devouring individuals. Culturally, Americans have learned to be skeptical of police officers, often believing that they do more harm than good. Or that they do absolutely nothing at all.

On another note, republicans are conservative. They all think the same and stand behind the same political ideas. Tony Ribera, who has been branded San Francisco’s scarlet letter of “conservative republican,” opposes the death penalty and a ban on assault weapons.

Former police chief, San Francisco born and bred Ribera, spoke on this idea and many related themes with a group of SFSU journalism students today.

Ribera never had a pool in his backyard or long blond hair. He was always more fond of sports then academia and when he returned from his brief deployment to Vietnam, he took to police work like “a duck to water.” He was drawn to the underlying values that the field offered him: comraderie, friendship, social networking, and "best of all, the ability to help people directly."

He has also learned to deal with the stigma of law enforcement taboo, such as the idea that police departments have too many secrets and that cops should only talk to media when forced.

The perception of police distrust originated when officers received much lower salaries, avoided the media at all costs, and engrained the idea of a “conspiracy of silence.” This reality changed tremendously after 1950.

Ribera is a strong proponent of ethical leadership in all fields and clings to the importance of being truthful, transparent, and above all, compassionate. “Lots of administrators miss this,” Ribera spoke of the essential element, and proceeded to pose the often ignored question, “how does power affect people?”

These words ring true to us all in some way, shape or form. And yes, a so-called conservative cop said that. Generalization busted.

Bottom line: give the police guys a chance. They are here to help.

The 2003 republican mayoral candidate is considered a media expert on the highly publicized and scrutinized New Year’s Day 2009 BART shooting. He is the director of the International Institute of Criminal Justice Leadership at the University of San Francisco.

Using skin as self expression at SFSU

Our theme: finding the wondrous things humans do to themselves in the form of piercings and tattoos, to represent themselves physically to the world.

Our team: Veasna Pich, Ronay Kong, Chararath Kong, and me (Lindsey).

Our mission: completed by deadline, under pressure.

We found some great people. We practiced the uncomfortable yet routine journalistic practice of having to ask people for their time.

Our first new friend and subject turned out to be a sister and cousin of two of our teammates. (I found this out, after the fact)....

Ravy Kong, student, sporting a monroe piercing (the one above the right or left side of the mouth)...
When asked by Chararath why she got the piercing, she responded: "It was for self closure, I've had it for a little over three and a half years."



Gine Galarce, another student, had crimson hair and another monroe piercing. When asked about dying her hair she explained that she "got tired of having black hair, so, naturally I dyed it red." Naturally.
Then we asked how old she was when she got her first piercing.
"14, a tongue ring. I got it because it was fun!"



Our third and final subject, Malila Young, we noticed because of her extensive ink on both arms.
Chararath asked her when she first got her tattoos.
"When I was 18, I started with a half sleeve."

According to Chararath "It was a great journey."


"We went through the struggle of asking people, that sort of thing. Interviewing them. And it was inspiring," said Ronay.