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Deputy ► From A-1 shooting deaths of three women whose bodies were found on South Central streets during the last three months of 1988. In a recent employee evaluation, Ross' supervisor described him as the airport's "ambassador of goodwill" because he consistently took time out of his detective duties to help others, according to sherifTs Capt. Robert. Wilbur. "He would help passengers when he could, he would give people directions," said Wilbur. Ross' supervisor on and off for the last 15 years. "I've never heard anything negative about him. I've met with his supervisors across the board and people are unable to believe he would do something like this." Los Angeles police Sgt. Walt Burke, a task force member who has known Ross about six years, described his colleague as a gentle, tenacious detective whose greatest passions were his work and his motorcycle club. "He's a great guy, a great police officer and we're just shocked." Burke said. "This is so out of character, so inconsistent with the Rickey I've known. It's so bizarre. I can't fathom it." At the time of his arrest. Ross lived with his wife. Sylvia, and 5- year-old daughter, Lisa, in a $300,000 two-story Spanish-style home with a red tile roof overlooking the El Rancho Verde , Akiii-Casunarii Rtmsrss/Herstd £*amin»r: San Bernardino County home of.serial murder suspect Deputy Rickey Ross overlooks country club. Country Club in Rialto. "He's a nice guy." said James Crawford. 47, a Compton firefighter who lived directly across the street from the Ross family on the 5700 block of Sycamore Avenue. "He's a church-going, family man. I would speak with him across his driveway, on weekends mostly. He was a friendly guy. "He wanted me to take him out and show him how to hack (on the golf course)." Crawford said he spoke often about Christianity with Ross. "We would talk about the word together." Crawford said. "We would share." Paul Aitoo. 43, a real estate agent who arranged the Ross family's purchase of their Rialto home, said Sylvia Ross worked as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She was unavailable for comment. Another neighbor. Tim Schep- pers. 43, described Ross as "a soft-spoken guy" who was "very polite." -> '■ "Sylvia, his wife, was very courteous," Scheppers said. "She would wave and say hi. I talked about karate with him once. He said that he studied it at one time as a young man." ■ Ross was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a duplex near Baldwin Hills. The home was located within the boundaries of Dorsey High School, but school officials did not confirm he attended there. Before moving to Rialto. the 6- foot, 230-pound murder suspect lived in a tiny, one-window apartment overlooking five acres of wrecked cars on a desolate dust lot in Gardena. He watched over the property in his off hours. "Oh my God. I can't believe it" said Wanda Otten, a bookkeeper at Underwriters Salvage Co.. the junk yard below Ross' old apartment, when told of his arrest Otten said that Ross was "kinda mean-looking. You don't want to mess with him." While news of Ross's arrest sent rank-and-file officers reeling with disbelief, some officers worried that it would erode people'5 faith in law enforcement. "If you can't trust the police, who in the hell can you trust?" Burke said. r* Arrest ► From A-1 presence." s Ross was arrested and booked op suspicion of murder shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. ? Gates said Ross had not been a suspect in any police investigations until after the confiscated handgun was tested. The prostitute did not know Ross was a deputy until after he identified himselr to police. •, Ross, a narcotics investigator and 18-year veteran of the sheriffs department, was being held without bail. ' "This is a very sad day for the Los Angeles County SherifTs Department," said Sheriff Sherman Block, who accompanied Gates at the press conference. % > "In law enforcement, the most devastating thing that can happen to any organization is the death of one of its members," said Block, "and close behind that is an incident where one of the agency's members is involved in serious criminal activity." It was disclosed last week that police are investigating the deaths of nine lo 12 prostitutes in South Central Los Angeles from August 1985 through 1988. The women were known as "strawberries." prostitutes who provide sex for rock cocaine. Police are trying to determine whether Ross may be linked to other-slayings. Ross, who is married and has a "A sad day": L.A. County Sheriff Daryl Gates announce arrest of 5-year-old daughter and adult stepson, faces charges in the deaths of three prostitutes in late 1988. Judith Simpson, 27, was found dead Oct. 14 at 88th and San Pedro streets. Cynthia Walker. 35. was discovered slain Nov. 18 at Flower and 46th streets. The body of LaTonya Johnson, 24, was found Dec. 11 at 200 W. 94th Street. Although Gates said Ross waived his rights and talked freely to investigators, a motive has yet to be disclosed. While Gates refused to describe the confiscated firearm. Block said il was not a sherifTs department service revolver. A police source, however, said the firearm was a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Ross, a narcotics officer for 13 Michael Haering/Hen.o t.»amm«r Sherman Block and LAPD Chief deputy in prostitute killer case. years, had been assigned to different units. Since July 1987. he was an investigator on a multi- agency task force targeting drug trafficking at Los Angeles International Airport "It's disbelief and surprise," sherifTs Capt Robert Wilber said of reaction to Ross' arrest. "He was a good policeman and hardworking. He was excellent His evaluations and commendations are laudatory." Once the string of killings was disclosed. Los Angeles Councilman Robert Farrell and community activists criticized the poiice for keeping the investigation secret, arguing that the public had a right to know if a serial killer was plaguing the predominantly black and Hispanic South Central area. "I'm shocked that this person is a law enforcement officer." Farrell said. "How do we know if we don't have more serial killers in that community?"";";^ ^p, .-* - .Margaret Prescod."one of Jhe activists, perceives the silence as a coverup, arguing that if suet a string of slayings were involving non-prostitute victims and* in more affluent areas, the poEre would act differently. ,c'->-"n%> - -JThere is too much of the *us against them' mentality m 'ihe LAPD," added Mark Ridley- Thomas, executive director of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "It just points to the fact that they have blinders on and they simply don't trust the community on how these things should be dealt with." ■• . * VaW Gates, however, again cited the concern that any publicity could jeopardize the investigation. He refused to comment further on any other investigations. Community activists are still concerned that many of the so- called South Side Slayer killings remain unsolved. At least 17 prostitutes found strangled and stabbed from September 1983 through July 1986 were linked to that investigation. Twelve of the deaths are still unsolved. Meanwhile, the Rev. Carl Washington of New Commandment Baptist Church was continuing to caution prostitutes. Ross "is only linked to three of the murders." he said. "We don't want the girls to be relaxed. There could be a copycat. There's still the possibility someone else is still out there."
Object Description
Title | Counting women's lives, 1991-03-10 |
Description | "Counting Women's Lives: Organizing for Police Accountability in Black Communities - Sample Organizing Packet from The Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders". Public session, 1991-05-29: materials from organizations, 2.5, 1986 - 1991 May 29. PART OF A SERIES: Materials in the series fall into one of several categories related to the Independent Commission's work product: (1) Commission meeting materials, which include meeting agendas, work plans, memoranda, and articles about police misconduct that were circulated and reviewed during the Commission's internal meetings; (2) public correspondence, which includes citizen complaints against the LAPD in the form of written testimony, articles, and an audio cassette tape, as well as letters drafted by citizens in support of the LAPD; (3) summaries of interviews held with LAPD officers regarding Departmental procedures and relations; (4) public meeting materials, which include transcripts, supplementary documents, and witness statements that were reviewed at the Commission's public meetings; (5) press releases related to the formation and work product of the Commission; and (6) miscellaneous materials reviewed by the Commission during its study, including LAPD personnel and training manuals, a memorandum of understanding, and messages from the LAPD's Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT) system. |
Coverage date | 1991-03-10 |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
Date created | 1991-03-10 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 55 p.: ill. |
Format (aat) |
reports articles clippings (information artifacts) |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991 |
Series | Independent Commission File List |
File | Public Sessions |
Box and folder | box 25, folder 8, item 1 |
Provenance | The collection was given to the University of Southern California on July 31, 1991. |
Rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Repository name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository email | specol@dots.usc.edu |
Filename | indep-box25-08-01 |
Description
Title | Counting women's lives, p. 19 |
Format (imt) | image/tiff |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | Deputy ► From A-1 shooting deaths of three women whose bodies were found on South Central streets during the last three months of 1988. In a recent employee evaluation, Ross' supervisor described him as the airport's "ambassador of goodwill" because he consistently took time out of his detective duties to help others, according to sherifTs Capt. Robert. Wilbur. "He would help passengers when he could, he would give people directions," said Wilbur. Ross' supervisor on and off for the last 15 years. "I've never heard anything negative about him. I've met with his supervisors across the board and people are unable to believe he would do something like this." Los Angeles police Sgt. Walt Burke, a task force member who has known Ross about six years, described his colleague as a gentle, tenacious detective whose greatest passions were his work and his motorcycle club. "He's a great guy, a great police officer and we're just shocked." Burke said. "This is so out of character, so inconsistent with the Rickey I've known. It's so bizarre. I can't fathom it." At the time of his arrest. Ross lived with his wife. Sylvia, and 5- year-old daughter, Lisa, in a $300,000 two-story Spanish-style home with a red tile roof overlooking the El Rancho Verde , Akiii-Casunarii Rtmsrss/Herstd £*amin»r: San Bernardino County home of.serial murder suspect Deputy Rickey Ross overlooks country club. Country Club in Rialto. "He's a nice guy." said James Crawford. 47, a Compton firefighter who lived directly across the street from the Ross family on the 5700 block of Sycamore Avenue. "He's a church-going, family man. I would speak with him across his driveway, on weekends mostly. He was a friendly guy. "He wanted me to take him out and show him how to hack (on the golf course)." Crawford said he spoke often about Christianity with Ross. "We would talk about the word together." Crawford said. "We would share." Paul Aitoo. 43, a real estate agent who arranged the Ross family's purchase of their Rialto home, said Sylvia Ross worked as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She was unavailable for comment. Another neighbor. Tim Schep- pers. 43, described Ross as "a soft-spoken guy" who was "very polite." -> '■ "Sylvia, his wife, was very courteous," Scheppers said. "She would wave and say hi. I talked about karate with him once. He said that he studied it at one time as a young man." ■ Ross was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a duplex near Baldwin Hills. The home was located within the boundaries of Dorsey High School, but school officials did not confirm he attended there. Before moving to Rialto. the 6- foot, 230-pound murder suspect lived in a tiny, one-window apartment overlooking five acres of wrecked cars on a desolate dust lot in Gardena. He watched over the property in his off hours. "Oh my God. I can't believe it" said Wanda Otten, a bookkeeper at Underwriters Salvage Co.. the junk yard below Ross' old apartment, when told of his arrest Otten said that Ross was "kinda mean-looking. You don't want to mess with him." While news of Ross's arrest sent rank-and-file officers reeling with disbelief, some officers worried that it would erode people'5 faith in law enforcement. "If you can't trust the police, who in the hell can you trust?" Burke said. r* Arrest ► From A-1 presence." s Ross was arrested and booked op suspicion of murder shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. ? Gates said Ross had not been a suspect in any police investigations until after the confiscated handgun was tested. The prostitute did not know Ross was a deputy until after he identified himselr to police. •, Ross, a narcotics investigator and 18-year veteran of the sheriffs department, was being held without bail. ' "This is a very sad day for the Los Angeles County SherifTs Department," said Sheriff Sherman Block, who accompanied Gates at the press conference. % > "In law enforcement, the most devastating thing that can happen to any organization is the death of one of its members," said Block, "and close behind that is an incident where one of the agency's members is involved in serious criminal activity." It was disclosed last week that police are investigating the deaths of nine lo 12 prostitutes in South Central Los Angeles from August 1985 through 1988. The women were known as "strawberries." prostitutes who provide sex for rock cocaine. Police are trying to determine whether Ross may be linked to other-slayings. Ross, who is married and has a "A sad day": L.A. County Sheriff Daryl Gates announce arrest of 5-year-old daughter and adult stepson, faces charges in the deaths of three prostitutes in late 1988. Judith Simpson, 27, was found dead Oct. 14 at 88th and San Pedro streets. Cynthia Walker. 35. was discovered slain Nov. 18 at Flower and 46th streets. The body of LaTonya Johnson, 24, was found Dec. 11 at 200 W. 94th Street. Although Gates said Ross waived his rights and talked freely to investigators, a motive has yet to be disclosed. While Gates refused to describe the confiscated firearm. Block said il was not a sherifTs department service revolver. A police source, however, said the firearm was a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Ross, a narcotics officer for 13 Michael Haering/Hen.o t.»amm«r Sherman Block and LAPD Chief deputy in prostitute killer case. years, had been assigned to different units. Since July 1987. he was an investigator on a multi- agency task force targeting drug trafficking at Los Angeles International Airport "It's disbelief and surprise," sherifTs Capt Robert Wilber said of reaction to Ross' arrest. "He was a good policeman and hardworking. He was excellent His evaluations and commendations are laudatory." Once the string of killings was disclosed. Los Angeles Councilman Robert Farrell and community activists criticized the poiice for keeping the investigation secret, arguing that the public had a right to know if a serial killer was plaguing the predominantly black and Hispanic South Central area. "I'm shocked that this person is a law enforcement officer." Farrell said. "How do we know if we don't have more serial killers in that community?"";";^ ^p, .-* - .Margaret Prescod."one of Jhe activists, perceives the silence as a coverup, arguing that if suet a string of slayings were involving non-prostitute victims and* in more affluent areas, the poEre would act differently. ,c'->-"n%> - -JThere is too much of the *us against them' mentality m 'ihe LAPD," added Mark Ridley- Thomas, executive director of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "It just points to the fact that they have blinders on and they simply don't trust the community on how these things should be dealt with." ■• . * VaW Gates, however, again cited the concern that any publicity could jeopardize the investigation. He refused to comment further on any other investigations. Community activists are still concerned that many of the so- called South Side Slayer killings remain unsolved. At least 17 prostitutes found strangled and stabbed from September 1983 through July 1986 were linked to that investigation. Twelve of the deaths are still unsolved. Meanwhile, the Rev. Carl Washington of New Commandment Baptist Church was continuing to caution prostitutes. Ross "is only linked to three of the murders." he said. "We don't want the girls to be relaxed. There could be a copycat. There's still the possibility someone else is still out there." |
Filename | indep-box25-08-01~19.tif |
Archival file | Volume84/indep-box25-08-01~19.tif |