According to a Times review of public records, Concannon has shot only one person during his career: Christopher DeAndre Mitchell. The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. Other departments include intentional and accidental shootings; others do not. From 2016 to 2019, Torrance police upheld just three citizen allegations of police misconduct and zero allegations of racial profiling made against officers, according to data submitted to the California attorney generals office. The exact number of officers involved in the scandal is unclear. However, Jackson rejected the grand jurys request to initiate an appeal process if the complainant is dissatisfied with the disposition of an investigation. The current administrative investigations are confidential. Gen. In total, the officers were listed as potential witnesses in nearly 1,400 cases in the last decade, according to district attorneys records The Times obtained through a public records request. Chavez, Williams, Satterfield and Tomsic all opened fire on Michael Lopez in 2017 after a vehicle pursuit that started in Palos Verdes Estates. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton, in 1981 with a bachelor of arts in communication. Which one doesnt belong? the caption asked. A report to the city council estimated the potential cost being anywhere from $233,000 to $711,000. Torrance, however, has spent more than $1 million so far to defend its hiring practices, with City Atty. . Jackie Lacey, but the case is one of several that Gascn has hired a special prosecutor to review for possible criminal charges. The officers hit Ross with a Taser and handcuffed him, but he continued to struggle, according to the report, which then described two officers kneeling on Ross shoulders. Torrance Police Department is notin compliancewith: This information has been curated by journalists andprivate citizens; and, this platform is available as-a-service to allPeace Officer Standards & Training [POST] Departments,Prosecutors, andLaw Enforcement Organizations [LEOrgs]. Complaints were filed directly with the department because, unlike a number of Southern California cities, including Los Angeles, Torrance has no citizen commission overseeing its Police Department. Attorneys for Weldin and Tomsic did not return messages seeking comment. . To assist us in achieving this goal, you, as a citizen, can help by letting us know if you have a complaint. Sgt. Daniels, who is black, moved to Torrance from Michigan this summer to pursue an acting career, and claims that he was pulled over seven times in three months yet never cited. The tape showed them continuing to choke and beat Tice, who is white, well after he became unconscious. 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. The text messages were not on one continuous thread, according to two of the sources. Even if the results of investigations are inconclusive, tracking complaints can provide an early warning system to identify and take corrective actions to improve employee conduct.. Webbyot port allen how common is a false positive herpes test; free teen tubes stnr disposable not charging; asriah queen sue lightning lost stream; legolas and thranduil fanfiction lemon 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. Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated). Chavez and Concannon were cleared of wrongdoing by former Dist. Rich L.A. homeowners are snapping them up, Left-handed pitchers offer gold-like value for high school teams, Column: How I finally learned to care about Orange Countys crumbling coastline, Shipping firms to pay pipeline company nearly $100 million in O.C. Tony Saavedra is an investigative reporter specializing in legal affairs for the Orange County Register. The Rastello familys attorneys, Browne Greene and Brian Panish of Santa Monica, had alleged that fellow officers protected Green by not testing his blood-alcohol level, altering witness statements and using one of the departments few untapped phone lines to report the accident to commanders. When Gascn charged Officer David Chandler with assault in late August for allegedly shooting an armed man in the back, sources told The Times that Chandler was also under investigation as part of the scandal. 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. Admonitions/warnings on complaint forms that may intimidate or discourage persons from completing complaints should not be used. Additionally, they say, investigators allegedly reviewed confidential attorney-client messages on the phones as well as the officers medical information. Dunn also received a text message from Weldin apologizing for the damage, the affidavit said. The grand jury found that Torrance was one of only two police departments among those it reviewed that warned complainants that filing a false claim against a police officer is a misdemeanor. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. One of the suspects arrested there owned a Silver Hyundai Elantra parked on Maricopa. 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. In some of those cases, the plaintiffs are members of the same ethnic groups the officers espoused hatred for in the texts. Investigators had Dunn phone Weldin while they listened in on the call. If I were a citizen, youre damned right Id want people stopped . 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. GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. . Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. Ross fled from Torrance police when they responded, and became violent when they tried to arrest him, district attorneys records show. in journalism from the University of Southern California. James Queally writes about crime and policing in Southern California, where he currently covers Los Angeles Countys criminal courts and the district attorneys office. The car owner arrived two days later to pick up his Hyundai at the yard and found the back bumper was spray painted white, a side mirror also was painted and a swastika and smiley face were drawn on the upholstered seats. 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. A Torrance police officer has been charged with assault for his role in a 2018 shooting. The department has refused to identify them. Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? An attorney for the union said the officers were barred from commenting on the investigation. . We expect that as police officers, our members should be treated like any other citizen considered innocent until proven guilty, the union said in a statement. We are aggressive, and sometimes we get some lawsuits, he said. Former Daily Breeze reporter and columnist Nick Green retired in 2021 after more than two decades with the newspaper covering Torrance, Lomita, Carson, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, soccer and the craft beer industry. The most controversial incident involving officers linked to the racist text scandal is the 2018 shooting death of Christopher DeAndre Mitchell. Maybe its a taillight out . 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 officer has also been implicated in a racist text message scandal involving a dozen other officers. Chief De Ladurantey said he receives as many citizen complaints from whites as minorities. In the mid-1990s, Torrance was hit by a spate of civil rights lawsuits and complaints, including one that contended a Black employee found a hangmans noose dangling above his desk. In Torrance, the Police and Fire Departments costs make up 65% of the citys general fund budget. . The idea that there is no need for a local commission because theres a state process is patently inadequate, because were talking about a nine-member panel that will only be able to deal with the most egregious, flagrant cases that break through, Armour said. 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. 1. Usually, conversations always seemed to circle back to vile insults or depictions of violence against Black people. On July 2, the Torrance City Attorneys Office filed a criminal complaint charging Lena Hernandez, with battery, a violation of California Penal Code Section 242. You dont hang the star, someone wrote back. This isnt just a lone wolf, this is a huge group.. Those people spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could candidly discuss an ongoing investigation. Emergency Services: 310-618 As such, we do not have access to facts of the underlying investigation, or the alleged inappropriate materials. Collecting this information is very important to our research, so we would like to emphasize, if you have questions about my request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with you. The Torrance Police Department has made vigorous efforts to achieve this status, and it is our desire to provide the means whereby it might be sustained. Mark KickbuschPolice Operations SupervisorRecords DivisionTorrance Police Department3300 Civic Centre DriveTorrance, CA, 90503E: mkickbusch@TorranceCA.govP: 310-618-6347F: 310-618-2355. Torrance recorded fewer violent crimes in 1993 than many neighboring cities of comparable size, according to the FBI. Newly disclosed text messages in which a trio of San Francisco Police Department officers referred to minorities as barbarians, cockroaches and other slurs should trigger an even larger review of past criminal cases for signs of racial bias, according to the citys public defender. (and) until the City Council and the city manager recognize that theres a problem, there wont be a solution.. Hutchings holds a B.A. Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails seeking information about the criminal case against the homeless man. The answer, according to the caption, was to break a tail light on his car so the police will stop him and shoot him., Someone else sent a picture of a candy cane, a Christmas tree ornament, a star for the top of the tree and an enslaved person.. Please fill out, sign and mail or submit at our station lobby. Dunn then placed a monitored call to Tomsic, who tried to blame Weldin, saying, Weldin is the instigator of all this. Minutes later, firefighters on scene noted Ross pulse was beginning to weaken. From what I can tell . District attorneys records reviewed by The Times showed Tomsic sent a slew of racist images and messages, including a picture of former President Reagan feeding a monkey with a caption stating Reagan used to babysit [former President] Obama.. For example, some departments do not count misses while others count all discharges; some include shots at animals. Concannon and Chavez pulled in behind him, exited their vehicle and yelled police! Mitchell initially placed his hands on the steering wheel, according to the memo, but when the officers approached him, they noticed his hands move toward his lap where Concannon saw what he believed to be a firearm. Critics of the department have a different term for the line of demarcation: the Great White Wall, they call it, a racial boundary that they believe is patrolled with apartheid vengeance by the overwhelmingly white Torrance Police Department. Torrance police sustained 35 out of 43 internally generated complaints of officer misconduct from 2016 to 2020, Ponegalek said. The purpose of that board, according to the bill text, is to make recommendations regarding police officer decertification and to protect the public and all constitutional and statutory rights.. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, New: California Attorney General to investigate Torrance Police after racist text scandal, Ex-Torrance police officers charged with spray-painting swastika on car, How the theft of 44 firearms from an L.A. gun store exploded into an LAPD scandal. First, three officers were suspended, and now face firing, for allegedly socializing--in uniform and on duty--with strippers at a private Torrance residence. Several of the officers have also been named as defendants in lawsuits alleging excessive force, false arrest and wrongful death, court filings show. 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. Torrance Police Chief Joe De Ladurantey calls the boundary a geographic crust and freely acknowledges that his 249 officers patrol it aggressively.. The officers either declined to comment through their attorneys or did not respond to messages left by The Times at their homes or through their union, the Torrance Police Officers Assn., which represents rank-and-file officers. Armour said its unlikely that misconduct reminiscent of the TPD texting scandal would ever make it to a state oversight board without a more localized oversight commission that is equipped to keep a close watch on the departments policies and procedures. Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer, Subject: RE: California Public Records Act Request: Torrance, CA PD Citizen Complaints. 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