It was like the night before Christmas for Kenneth Crump. He could hardly sleep the night before graduating from a program he hoped would help set his life back on track.
Called Links to Law Enforcement, the five-week course run by a Sacramento nonprofit enrolled at least a dozen participants this year. Crump, 45, hoped classes taught by Sacramento County public safety agencies could foster a career in law enforcement while also building trust between authorities and his community.
He felt bereft of hope after losing many family members and spiraling into homelessness and drug addiction over the years. Staying at the X Street Navigation Center homeless shelter, Crump decided to join a program that bills itself as a way to learn about law enforcement and inspire participants to join their ranks.
So Crump flashed a joyous grin earlier this month as his cousin cheered while watching him receive a diploma and a lei.
But those ebullient feelings vanished when a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy put a hand on him, apologized and locked him in handcuffs in front of loved ones who came to cheer graduates, Crump said.
“It was a kick in the face.”
In an interview, Crump didn’t deny the reason behind his May 1 arrest, arising from allegations levied about two years ago. He pleaded no contest May 15 to violating a restraining order and was sentenced to time he served in jail, according to court records.
But he wonders why deputies handcuffed him at the graduation, which he said brought shame and embarrassment.
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies just cannot ignore a felony warrant seeking to arrest someone for violating a restraining order. If deputies wait to execute a search warrant — which often relies on the element of surprise to issue an arrest — a suspect may escape and commit more crimes, he said.
“I don’t feel any sympathy for him,” Gandhi said.
Asian Resources Inc., a Sacramento-based nonprofit, hosts the classes and invites officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Sacramento Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Sacramento County Probation Department and Elk Grove Police Department as instructors.
Participants can access “valuable information, resources and mentorship” from active and former officers during the annual program, Jackie Yoon, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit and the program, wrote in an email.
Crump, who is African American, said he sought to enroll in part to mitigate the effects of harassment by law enforcement that he said he saw and which he alleges are racially biased.
Perhaps after finishing the program he would become a correctional officer. He went to practice interviews and job fairs, saying he built a rapport with Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies who knew he resided at the X Street Navigation Center.
Instead, Crump said, he missed interviews he had scheduled for jobs at fast food places during the time he spent in jail.
‘Step to square one’
Zena Brent-Daniels watched Crump grow up in North Sacramento and knew him as a churchgoer and outstanding Grant Union High School athlete.
But that all changed once his family members died and he transformed into a different person, she said. Crump allegedly strangled and beat Brent-Daniels’ daughter, who sought a restraining order against him in March 2021, according to court records.
Crump denies the accounts of abuse, but a judge granted a three-year restraining order against him, which Crump acknowledged he violated.
The couple dated for about two years when the woman learned she was pregnant with their first child and saw her boyfriend’s attitude change, according to the restraining order filing.
He started belittling her daily, accusing her of cheating while hurling insults like “b—-” and “whore,” she wrote in the filing.
Crump’s behavior worsened in 2021 when he became possessive as she tried to leave a bar, the woman said in court documents. He pushed, shoved and began to strangle her as patrons yelled at him to stop, she alleged.
Crump eventually let go but then screamed, “I am going to put a bullet through this b—— head!” and walked away, the restraining order filing said. The next day, the woman said she woke up to more than 100 calls and text messages from him.
The woman, who declined to comment for this story, added in the restraining order petition that she sought the protective order because she was terrified Crump would kill her. The Sacramento Bee is not publishing her name because she is an alleged victim of domestic violence.
In granting the restraining order, the court ruled Crump must stay 100 yards away from the woman, her home, her vehicle and their child. He was allowed visitation with their son.
In February 2022, Crump violated the restraining order. The circumstances surrounding him breaking the no-contact order are unclear.
He was booked into jail and then allowed to be released on his recognizance.
However, Crump did not show up to court. Crump told The Bee he thought the case was resolved due to his public defender never calling him to show up to court.
Felony and bench warrants were issued for Crump after he failed to appear in 2022, and he was arrested May 1 of this year.
Crump’s cousin, Onterrio Smith Jr., declined an interview request but shared with The Bee photos he took of Crump at the graduation ceremony, just before his arrest.
Brent-Daniels said the law is the law, and that Crump’s actions divided her family.
But she also said she has empathy for him. It must have been embarrassing for Crump to get arrested during the graduation, a celebratory moment of triumph and a step toward piecing together his shattered life.
Deputies could have addressed the situation differently, Brent-Daniels said.
“For that to be stripped from him,” she said, “it’s almost like a step to square one.”
Embarrassment or accountability?
Yoon wrote in an email that the nonprofit was not aware of the arrest until told by a Bee reporter. She declined to comment on whether the arrest was appropriate at the graduation, saying the organization didn’t have sufficient information about what happened.
Gandhi noted the seriousness of the crime.
“If we arrest him in front of his mom or if we arrest him in front of the pope, it doesn’t matter,” Gandhi said, later adding: “That’s something he’s got to take accountability for. Not us.”
Gandhi said he didn’t know how investigators pieced together it was Crump who was wanted for violating the restraining order. Links to Law Enforcement is not run by the Sheriff’s Office and therefore investigators didn’t run background checks on participants, he added.
“Don’t parade around like you’re something you’re not,” Gandhi said. “Take care of your stuff.”
Crump, when asked about taking accountability, blamed no one but himself and said he was acting like an “idiot” when he violated the restraining order.
“I f—– up everything,” he said.
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