Torrance Police Chief Joe De Ladurantey calls the boundary a geographic crust and freely acknowledges that his 249 officers patrol it aggressively.. The sum was upped to $9 million by a judge and the case finally was settled for $6.5 million. I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2017. Thanks so much for your help with this request! The council, however, is opting instead to rely on other models of police oversight including Police Chief Jeremiah Harts recently established Advisory Board, an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into allegations of TPD officer misconduct, and a soon-to-be established statewide oversight board which they said will provide ample opportunity for departmental reform moving forward. I questioned whether there was any other things that would lead us to believe that this is not sort of a single crime event, he said. Such claims represent one of the most sensitive areas of police-citizen relations and were cited as a fundamental cause of both the 1965 Watts riots and the broader 1992 Los Angeles riots. Through interviews with sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, public records requests and a review of district attorneys office records, The Times examined some of the contents of the until-now secret texts and identified a dozen Torrance police officers under investigation for exchanging them. Still, in the span of one week in November, the Los Angeles County public defenders office received about 300 letters from prosecutors disclosing potential misconduct by officers implicated in the scandal, said Judith Green, an office spokeswoman. Improving the availability of complaint forms to the public by making them available in multiple locations with clear signage indicating where they specifically can be found. If citizen complaints are not taken seriously, it does increase the sense of impunity that officers who are inclined toward misconduct have, he said. Any documentation or reports that detail the annual number of officer-involved shootings in your department for the past 10 years would be sufficient. His work has been recognized by the National Headliner Club, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association and the Orange County Press Club. Medical examiners ruled Ross died of cardiac arrest resulting from methamphetamine use and his struggle with the officers, according to autopsy records. . During an interview with investigators, tow driver Dunn initially said he didnt know anything about the damage, but later broke down and said he saw Tomsic spray painting the outside of the car. Police officials say they were investigating Daniels claim and could not comment. Ponegalek argued that The Times analysis was incomplete, as it did not include statistics involving complaints filed by other officers. Torrance, however, has spent more than $1 million so far to defend its hiring practices, with City Atty. Daniels said the officer approached him three days later at a local mall. Mitchell, who was Black, was suspected of driving a stolen vehicle when he pulled into a Ralphs parking lot in Torrance in December 2018, according to a district attorneys office memo clearing the officers of wrongdoing. Animal Control: 310-618-3850. for having expired tags, for having a taillight out. Simple traffic stops often result in crimes being solved and wanted criminals apprehended, he added. The City Council, in a 6-1 vote on March 15, voted against the proposed city survey, arguing that existing oversight measures will be enough to eradicate any misconduct systemic or otherwise in the police department. Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated). Torrance Police Department mission is to preserve public safety and quality of life within the City of Torrance, to respond effectively to the changing needs of the community, and to promote mutual respect between the Police Department and the people we serve. In December of 2011, a Superior Court judge ruled that the California Assembly must also disclose budget records of individual lawmakers, after some California newspapers filed a lawsuit accusing legislators of flouting the states open records laws. It is really a surprising abdication of their responsibility as elected officials to respond to their constituents and to express the will of their constituents, said Jody David Armour, a lawyer and professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in an interview Friday. oil spill, Column: Column: Hydrogen cars should be a bigger part of Californias battle against carbon emissions, Sikh motorcyclist joins a cross-country ride against hate: I have to do this, How to connect formerly incarcerated people with jobs in L.A. County. They say, in their complaint, that during a protest in the city council chambers against the Torrances handling of Mitchells death, police officers used excessive force against them, resulting in numerous injuries including, the complaint says, a fractured vertebrae for White and a partially amputated finger for Pesikov. Other departments include intentional and accidental shootings; others do not. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Torrance--as well as others against El Monte, Alhambra and Pomona--claiming that the police and fire departments discriminated against minorities during hiring. You would want to consult them, figure out what their values and viewpoints are, then legislate and implement their values not yours.. Its a deep-seated cultural problem, Price said. Some critics say the citys most recent vote against a survey is a show of the councils unwillingness to address the concerns of the Torrance community. Torrance removed two warnings on its police complaint form that threatened the complainant with legal action for making a false report after a county grand jury investigation concluded they were intimidating. Which one doesnt belong? the caption asked. WebTorrance, CA 90503-5056 310-618-5529 The Records Division is a service support unit within the Services Bureau. Mark Ponegalek, a Torrance police spokesman, could not confirm or deny the identities of the officers involved, but said 15 have been placed on administrative leave in relation to the scandal. Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed. During the struggle, Tomsic said, Ross tried to gain control of his gun, according to a district attorneys office memo clearing the officers of criminal liability. I think they mean new black faces, 21-year-old Willy Daniels said. The grand jury also said that only three police departments in the county have any sort of civilian oversight. The broad scope of the racist text conversations, which prosecutors said went on for years, has created a crisis for the Torrance Police Department and could jeopardize hundreds of criminal cases in which the officers either testified or made arrests. The officers comments spared no color or creed: They joked about gassing Jewish people, assaulting members of the LGBTQ community, using violence against suspects and lying during an investigation into a police shooting, according to district attorneys office records reviewed by The Times. Gen. Usually, conversations always seemed to circle back to vile insults or depictions of violence against Black people. Its one of the most exhaustive reviews that one could ever do in the state of California, and its a very important step for us, he added. The fate of two former Torrance police officers may rest Monday with a Superior Court judge who has been asked to throw out evidence that the officers shared racist and homophobic text messages. The city prevailed. If you wish to file a formal complaint, it will be necessary for you to complete a personnel complaint form (provided below). When the jury returned with its massive award to the Rastello family, it said the department had a pattern and practice of whitewashing incidents of officer misconduct. Torrance Police Department Two of the officers under investigation as part of the scandal Anthony Chavez and Matthew Concannon are also under investigation for the controversial 2018 slaying of Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, a Black car theft suspect they fatally shot while he was holding an air rifle. Torrance recorded fewer violent crimes in 1993 than many neighboring cities of comparable size, according to the FBI. The fate of two former Torrance police officers may rest Monday with a Superior Court judge who has been asked to throw out evidence that the officers shared Chavez and Concannon were cleared of wrongdoing by former Dist. What is the total number of complaints police officers made against their peer officers (sometimes called internal complaints) in department annually for the last 10 years? An attorney for the union said the officers were barred from commenting on the investigation. In Torrance, the Police and Fire Departments costs make up 65% of the citys general fund budget. We are located at: 3300 Civic Center Dr. Torrance, CA 90503, 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503 | P: (310) 328-5310 | Contact | Login. Although the Rastello case shocked much of Southern California, equally startling was a string of other cases--long kept in private police files and brought up at the trial--that offered a rare peek into disciplinary procedures at the department. What those text messages revealed was an extraordinarily hostile attitude toward people of color, people who are nonbinary, people who have different sexual orientations, said Walter Katz, a former independent police auditor in California who now serves as a vice president of criminal justice for research firm Arnold Ventures. I dont want to have a board that is nothing more than a place that people come and give their complaints.. The department has also hired an The officers repeatedly ordered Mitchell to get out of the car, but he did not comply, according to the report. In the course of my work I regularly defend police officers and police policy, Cramer wrote. Ashcraft also mentioned her concern that Torrance simply doesnt have the money to create and operate an oversight board with investigation power. The Times identified 13 officers in its investigation, including Tomsic, Weldin and Schroeder, meaning there are an additional five Torrance officers under investigation whose identities remain unknown to the public. He said, You little ----, you went to my watch commander and made a complaint against me. Within weeks, Torrance police provided the district attorneys office with more than 200 gigabytes of data, which showed the officers had been exchanging racist messages since at least 2018, according to Teran, the advisor to the district attorney. in communication and M.S. Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. One year later, Tomsic was one of several officers involved in a deadly altercation with Deautry Ross in the Del Amo Fashion Center, according to district attorneys records. Several of the Torrance officers under investigation as part of the scandal have also used serious or deadly force against Black and Latino men while on duty in recent years, according to district attorneys records. . The council also referenced Senate Bill 2 which will allow the state to decertify police officers who commit serious misconduct, and will establish a statewide oversight board as a reason not to pursue a locally-controlled oversight body. Towing Services (Van Lingen): 310-370-4533 / 310-326-9220, Torrance Mental Evaluation Team: 310-618-5683, 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503 | P: (310) 328-5310 | Contact | Login. Katz said the text messages call into question the credibility of the officers accounts of any past use-of-force incidents involving Black or Latino suspects. And new officers, according to claims in the court papers, are often instructed by their training supervisors to stop and question black motorists without cause. The two officers responded to a report of mail theft in the South Bay city and directed a car linked to the crime to be towed from the scene, authorities said. The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. A Justice Department official said the agency broadened its inquiry because of complaints such as those in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in September by three teen-agers with no criminal records who are now students at prestigious East Coast universities. Morgan Ricketts, the attorney for Pesikov and White, said the councils vote was deeply disappointing., The city of Torrance doesnt even want to know what its own residents think about this issue, she said, and I think that was a fair compromise between the parties.. Good job sticking to the script, he wrote. Rob Bonta announces an investigation into the Torrance Police Department after a Times report on racist texts between officers. The officers did not necessarily testify in each case, so its unclear how many of those cases could be affected. In 1988, two Torrance police officers were caught on video choking and clubbing Thomas Tice, 20, at a Sunday afternoon party. The department has refused to identify them. 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