Caught Red-Handed

Caught Red-Handed

TV reporter Stanley Roberts has his eye on you.

In our increasingly unsavory world, bad behavior has become commonplace. But for KRON 4’s Stanley Roberts, it’s not just something he has to endure—it’s his job. Five nights a week for the past six years, Roberts has chronicled the Bay Area’s worst miscreants on his evening news segment, “People Behaving Badly.” A 21-year veteran video journalist, Roberts shoots, edits, and writes his reports, but doesn’t appear on camera (although he does narrate). He’s even received emails from as far away as Sweden inviting him to catch people in the act. As a longtime picker-upper of McDonald’s bags, I have a special affinity for Roberts’s work. So, when he granted me a few minutes, I jumped at the chance. And I made sure I didn’t leave any gum wrappers behind.

Paul Kilduff: Exhibit A of bad behavior these days are all the Occupy movements, including in San Francisco. Your report summed it up as nothing more than a homeless encampment.

Stanley Roberts: When I go out to these places, I go out with one particular reason: to look for bad behavior. If it doesn’t exist, I can’t shoot it. Now, I’ve been to SF Occupy where I couldn’t find anything wrong and I walked away. [When] I came back again, it was a whole new ball game. You’d be surprised how much hate mail I’ve got from people about doing the Occupy stories, [saying] that I’m missing the point. I’m not missing the point. The point is, if you’re going to have a protest, then protest. If you’re going to have a drink fest, then call it what it is. When I was growing up, I was homeless for a little bit but I managed to pull myself out of that. Most times, with the homeless, they don’t want to follow rules; [they’d rather] . . . live out in the street and panhandle.

PK: How about music so loud your house windows are shaking when the car goes by?

SR: Yeah, I did a story about a school over in Oakland on MacArthur Boulevard and the teacher had ear issues. And cars would go by with the bass so booming that it would just hurt her ears. And then I did a story on something called grill speakers. You know what grill speakers are?

PK: No.

SR: Someone had the great idea to make speakers that go in the grill of your car. Not only does it bump inside your car, but it’s like the ice cream truck. Everybody around you hears it.

PK: So, did you actually end up interviewing any of the people that have these speakers?

SR: The funny thing is, when you say, “I’m doing a segment called ‘People Behaving Badly,’” they all run away. “I don’t want to be in your show.” That was in the beginning. Now, I got people saying, “Hey, can I be on your show?” I’m like, “No, you have to be doing something naturally. You just can’t behave badly just so you can be on TV.”

PK: Maybe I should just get over this, but the whole pants-below-the-ass thing . . .

SR: I did that story, and the funny part was I ran into a guy who swore over his mother’s grave that it came from slavery. He goes, “Well, because they took away your belt, and your pants sagged.” I go, “No, I think it came from jail.” I don’t remember Kunta Kinte ever saying, “Can I pull my pants back up?” But you know something else? You always hear about a shooting [by a police officer] in, like, Oakland, and they say, “He was reaching for his waistband.” And unfortunately, a lot of those shootings are because they’re [just] trying to pull their pants back up.

PK: People who are dressed that way, do they want to talk to you or not?

SR: I’ve had gangbangers with tattoos all over and they’ll come talk to me and they’ll say, “Well, why don’t you go after the police?” And I’m like, “Well, if they did something in front of me, I would. But if I don’t see it, it doesn’t happen.”

PK: A lot of this behavior, is it ignorance or is it willful?

SR: In many cases, it’s willful. If you see that many people doing that many things at one time, that’s not ignorance. That’s just, “You know what? I’m going to do what I want to do and nobody is going to tell me I can’t do it.” And a lot of times, they’ll come to me and say, “You can’t take my picture.” Well, actually, if you’re out in public, I can, and if you want to do something in public that is illegal or rude, you’re going to be on TV, if I can catch you. I ran into a guy yesterday and he goes, “Why don’t you do something about people behaving goodly?” That was his exact word, goodly. What I try to do is teach by using bad examples, to show what you shouldn’t do, and if you do it, there are some consequences.

PK: I’ve always subscribed to this theory that microphones and cameras either repel or attract people.

SR: I’m like a bug light for some reason. When they’re doing something bad and they see me videotaping them, the first thing they do is head straight to me. I did a segment called “Everybody Hates Stanley,” which shows how many times I’ve been attacked out doing a story. I’m the only guy I know that has been attacked in broad daylight by a buck-naked guy wearing a beanie and sunglasses.

PK: Can you tell me the circumstances?

SR: Well, it was San Francisco in the Castro. And one guy . . . is walking around and just like, “Look at me, I’m naked. I can get away with it.” And he saw me with the camera and decided that he didn’t want anything to do with the camera. And I’m telling him, “Put some clothes on and I’ll turn the camera off.” Turns out, this guy was a registered sex offender . . . in the East Bay. It’s not as liberal as San Francisco. He didn’t want to be videotaped. But if you’re going to walk around buck naked in San Francisco and I’m out there with a camera, I’m going to show it. And that’s exactly what I did.

PK: Does it give you more anonymity to not be on camera? When they’ve run the red light and there you are with your camera, they might recognize your voice but don’t necessarily know what you look like.

SR: One day I went to go check into a hotel in Gilroy. I told the lady at the register, “I’m Stanley Roberts.” And she goes, “No, you’re not.” And I said, “Well, I am Stanley Roberts.” She puts her hands over her eyes and she goes, “Say something!” So, I say, “This lady refuses to let me check in because she doesn’t think I am the real Stanley Roberts.” And then she goes, “Oh, my God! It’s really you!”

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STANLEY ROBERTS Vital Stats

Age: 48 Astrological sign: “Cancer, and my name is Larry.” Remember that song? The Floaters? “Float On.”

Birthplace: Philadelphia, Penn.

American idol? My mother. She went through a lot of stuff. She passed away a couple of years ago. She made me a better person.

When I grow up I want to be? I’m living my dream right now. I mean who wouldn’t like to do this?

Credo: If you don’t want to be on TV, stay home.

Faces of the East Bay