Finally, the numbers on crime in San Leandro are out.

Police Chief Dale Attarian and Capt. Ian Willis spent much of Monday night reporting to the City Council how much crime is really going on in the city.

This is after Councilman Bill Stephens last month called for the Police Department to report back to the council on what crime trends have been occuring in San Leandro, after several brazen robberies and a number of other crimes made some residents very concerned about public safety.

Stephens (who showed up late to the meeting because of other obligations at his job, he said) still wasn't satisfied. He said he wants to see more data on whether crime has been on the rise or decline over the past several years.

If you ask residents in certain neighborhoods around town, they will also tell you that those figures aren't totally accurate and that there has been an increase in crime recently.

You can see for yourself on the city's Web site by checking out the police report.

And check out Sunday's Daily Review for a more in-depth look at this topic.

If you caught "The Girl Next Door" on CBS's "48 HOURS" last weekend, about the Castro Valley Jane Doe case, a couple of pieces of the puzzle were missing.

Lone Tree Cemetery was identified as the place where Yesenia Nungaray Becerra, 16, was buried after her body was found on May 1, 2006, in the rear of a Castro Valley restaurant parking lot. Program producers only mentioned Castro Valley and Hayward in the program, and Lone Tree is in Fairview.

Also, the television show mentioned the Alameda County Sheriff's Department is looking for a suspect who lived in the same Hayward cottage as Yesenia. The small home actually is on Smalley Avenue in Cherryland.

Cherryland area reader Diane Eberhardt e-mailed us, Mayor Mike Sweeney and schools superintendent Dale Vigil about problems neighbors have been having at and around the Hayward Adult School. Sweeney responded today with a return e-mail, telling Eberhardt that he is "sorry to read about what you and your neighbors are experiencing. What you describe is unacceptable behavior. I have asked the City Staff to work with the school district, the county, and the sheriff, to clean things up. Please let me know when you see some improvement."

Here is Eberhardt's letter:

Those of us who live closest to Hayward Adult School are being pushed beyond the limits of our patience by the environment that the school creates; constant noise in residential areas, open drug dealing and drug use on school property and in residential areas, trash left by "students" in residential areas, threats of violence against residents, reckless driving by students and their non-student associates, loitering in residential areas and on school property by students and non-students, and overall disrespect for the Read the rest of this entry »

If you've taken the Estudillo Avenue exit off of Interstate 580 lately, you might have noticed something different about the entrance sign to San Leandro: It's gone.

During my many trips into downtown from I-580, I've noticed bits and pieces of the sign missing. But never the entire sign.

Well, apparently, there's a reason the whole thing is gone — and you probably already guessed what it is.

At a town hall meeting last week, Police Chief Dale Attarian told residents that metal thievess had lifted the precious letters, leaving the entrance sign nearly bare.

But Attarian said the brazen theft hasn't gone unnoticed. He said the Police Department has dispatched a metal theft investigations team, and thieves are now "aware" that they are being watched.

Does anyone out there know Jonquel Brooks? He's a Hayward High graduate who was on the track and basketball teams. If you have any information, please contact me at (510) 293-2468 or ksantos@dailyreviewonline.com.

Police search for Hayward man suspected in Fresno State shooting

By Garance Brooks, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Police today arrested a college student suspected of opening fire at an apartment complex near California State University, Fresno, killing one man and wounding two others in a dispute over a video game console.

Jonquel Brooks, 19, of Hayward was taken into custody after a morning of intense phone negotiations with police, his parents and an attorney, said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

"The suspect had altered his appearance significantly," Dyer said. "He shaved his head and also changed his clothing apparently in an attempt to avoid being recognized."

Brooks, who was majoring in criminology at Fresno State, was arrested after police and federal agents launched a manhunt for him. Investigators initially believed he was still inside the apartment complex where the shooting occurred, but expanded the search to other parts of Fresno after they determined he had fled.

The incident began when Brooks got into a confrontation with four men over a Sony PlayStation console shortly after 11 p.m. Monday, Dyer said.

It happens at banks, bars, gas stations and pot clubs, but something about robbing a guy who makes pies and cookies for a living seems particularly sinister. On Wednesday morning, armed robbers invaded downtown Hayward's newest bakery and demanded cash. Despite the scary experience, the owner — who said he's moved on and didn't really want to talk about it with the newspaper — made it to the Hayward Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo on Wednesday afternoon and reopened the shop today. Chamber organizer Peggy Collett said he should "get a medal."

Anyone with information about this or other crimes can contact the Hayward Police Department at (510) 293-7000. Downtown also has a new bike/walking patrol officer who began this year.

Hayward and San Leandro got the lowest grade available, an F-, in an audit examining the openness of California police departments. The Alameda County Sheriff's Department, which protects Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and places in between, also received an F- in the report published today.

The grades are the result of an investigation by a coalition of journalists, including the Review's own Martin Ricard, who visited police departments across California to find out if they were releasing public information when asked. Many were not.

In San Leandro, according to the report, an "officer who wouldn't give her name told the requester she wouldn't accept a written request unless she knew what the records would be used for." In Hayward, the requester was asked multiple times for identification and what the information would be used for. Similar problems arose at the California Highway Patrol branch office in Hayward.

The audit also gave departments a numerical ranking. Dixon, a small city in Solano County, did the best in the state with a score of 94; East Palo Alto was the worst in the Bay Area, with a score of 5. East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis, who lives in Hayward, told a reporter he was dismayed by the score. Local scores were as follows: Alameda County Sheriff's Department (20), CHP Hayward (10), Hayward police (25), San Leandro police (20).

Want to read more about the audit? Check out how it was done, what the law says and how different departments scored.

Have you had positive or negative experiences trying to get public information from local government agencies? Please let us know.

Now that the Californians Aware police audit has been released, I'd like to share some thoughts from my personal experience, since I was one of the journalists who visited some of the public safety departments.

First, I learned that it really is difficult sometimes to get information from police, sheriff's and CHP offices. I visited four agencies on my road trip to the Peninsula: Redwood City CHP, San Carlos police, Half Moon Bay police and Pacifica police. At almost each agency I visited, I got suspicious looks and reluctant public records supervisors when I asked to look at the simplest of information, such as the department's recent arrest or crime information.

At one department, I asked to see the statement of economic interest for its senior officer, which tells you his income, property holdings and investments. They had no clue what I was talking about. One agency even denied, after the fact, that I even went there.

On the other hand, this experience taught me how difficult it is to be a regular citizen seeking public information. Now, mind you, all of the journalists involved in the audit had to "act" like regular citizens to do the audit so that police departments could be tested on how they respond to the average Joe. But it reminded me that for that one day we had to take off our reporter hats. Always staying true to our "citizen" selves is what keeps journalists grounded.

This can be a refreshing exercise for all journalists. They should try it sometime.

Although I didn't have a totally terrible experience, I still feel like I got rejected (like Shaquille O'Neal). In most cases, I only had to spend about 10 minutes in each department to find out what I already knew: Police are here to protect and to serve, but sometimes, all they're protecting are themselves.

After busting the Local Patients Cooperative for alleged conspiracy and other crimes, federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration did what many others do after leaving a Foothill Boulevard pot club.

They went and got a pizza. Or maybe a sandwich or salad. We're not sure.

But their appearance at the popular Buffalo Bill's Brewpub in full DEA regalia on Tuesday definitely caused a bit of a stir there.

A waitress yelped when she turned around and saw a masked and armed agent dressed all in black, according to Read the rest of this entry »

Many staffers at the Daily Review were just arriving at our Foothill Boulevard storefront office Tuesday morning when masked federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and local police came swarming into a medical marijuana clinic down the street. Suffice it to say, crime reporter Alejandro "Alex" Alfonso and photographer Anda Chu were swiftly on the scene.

The full story will be in Wednesday's newspaper. What's your take on the medical marijuana clubs in the Hayward area? Leave us your comments.