Weldin and Tomsic got the call and rushed to the scene. Gascn said he first became aware of the situation in July, when he was given a briefing about the pending vandalism charges. A city of 137,000, Torrance had 12 homicides while nearby Inglewood, with 112,000 residents, had 45. The Police Departments recent racist text-messagingscandal in which the officers responsible for Mitchells death participated has onlyfurtheredcalls for more robust police accountability. Tomsic filled out a California Highway Patrol form attesting that the vehicle had not been vandalized, and had it towed by driver Chris Dunn to the impound yard at Van Lingen Towing. The invisible line arcs southeast across the top of Torrance, a theoretical border separating the crime-addled heart of Los Angeles County from the relative peace of its coastal suburbs. Torrance settled some suits, lost others and won some, still spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements. 2. I actually made some comments about how, generally, when someone does this kind of stuff, there are bigger patterns of behavior. 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.. In another message reviewed by The Times, Alonso complained about the idea of having to work with a gay officer, and said hed straight punch a member of the LGBTQ community, using a common slur for gay men. MuckRock is a non-profit collaborative news site that gives you the tools to keep our government transparent and accountable. 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. Concannon, Chavez and fellow Torrance Police Officers Andrew Kissinger and Enrique Villegas are also under investigation as part of the scandal, according to three people with direct knowledge of the case and a review of district attorneys records. The database is always in development and more organizations, POST Departments, and officers are being added daily. Kawamoto also referred to Black men as savages in the texts, according to district attorneys records reviewed by The Times. Providing the complainant a copy of their own statement at the time a complaint is filed. It creates a tremendous amount of concern for me. 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. And its not new., De Ladurantey flatly denies that his officers pull over motorists because of the color of their skin, but acknowledges that part of a police officers job is to sense deviation. 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 text messages might have remained hidden if not for the alleged bizarre actions of Tomsic and Weldin in January 2020. Rollo Green--who, according to testimony, had a history of alcohol abuse--caused the death of Kelly Rastello, 19, of Long Beach, by making an illegal left-hand turn in front of the motorcyclist, jurors said. California Atty. And De Ladurantey said complaints and litigation are an inherent part of modern policing--even in suburban Torrance. The officer has also been implicated in a racist text message scandal involving a dozen other officers. 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. Gascn praised Torrance Police Chief Jeremiah Hart for moving quickly to provide information to prosecutors, noting he met resistance from police leaders when investigating similar scandals involving racist text messages among San Francisco officers. NIT stands for Nigger in Torrance, they said; NITAD stands for a black person spotted in Torrance after dark.. As such, we do not have access to facts of the underlying investigation, or the alleged inappropriate materials. According to district attorneys records reviewed by The Times, Concannon once sent a troubling text message referring to a deposition he gave in an officer-involved shooting., They believed our lies. We dont have the money to do it at the level they (California) do, Ashcraft said. So we totally racially profiled his ass, haha Shopping at 7/11 while Black, he didnt know the rules lol, Tomsic wrote, according to the records. They said they were stopped, pulled from their car at gunpoint, berated with racial threats during a 2 1/2-hour search, told to leave town and not come back--and escorted to the San Diego Freeway. A Torrance police officer has been charged with assault for his role in a 2018 shooting. Census figures at the same time said 1.7% of Torrance residents were black, 10% were Latino and 22% were Asian. Dunn also received a text message from Weldin apologizing for the damage, the affidavit said. Gascn has already publicly identified two of the men involved in the scandal as former Officers Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic, who were charged in August with conspiracy and vandalism for allegedly spray-painting a swastika inside a vehicle. 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. 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. While I am understanding of the pressures borne by the police, I do not wish my son to live in a world in which he and his friends are confronted and ordered about by two officers at gunpoint, in which he is intimidated and traumatized by uniformed thugs . 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. 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. PROOF OF SERVICE Executed by Plaintiff Robert Thomson, upon Defendant Torrance Police Department served on 8/2/2011, answer due 8/23/2011. Torrance police vehicles outside the Gable House Bowl after a shooting in 2019. The Times did not independently view documentation of racist text messages sent by any of those four officers, though the newspaper did review a document that showed Concannon sent messages that are part of the investigation. Please include documentation regarding how many of these officer-involved shootings involved disciplinary action. 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 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. Public records in theCalifornia Public Records Actare defined as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the publics business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. There is a separate category of purely personal information that, although it may be in the custody of a government agency, does not fall under the act. Weldin did not deny painting the car even after the tow driver asked him to come clean, said the affidavit. 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. Torrance will not survey residents to determine the communitys support for an independent oversight commission to monitor the police department effectively shutting down activists and residents years-long calls for more robust accountability of law enforcement in the city. 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. Truly favorable attitudes cannot prevail when a question of misuse of authority, either real or imagined, arises. The department has refused to identify them. One said that Torrance officers had shot Hispanic teen-agers before just for wearing big (street gang uniform) pants, Jose Esparza said. The tape showed them continuing to choke and beat Tice, who is white, well after he became unconscious. (and) until the City Council and the city manager recognize that theres a problem, there wont be a solution.. A Long Beach police spokesman said Schroeder was assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation, but would not say why. But theyve hit a snag, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, A $150,000 executive protection dog? Dunn said he was frustrated that he was getting blamed for the vandalism. I am writing to follow up on my original request made on 8/25/17. What constitutes an officer-involved shooting in your department? . 3. Torrance also reported fewer rapes, robberies and other violent crimes. The panel also found Torrance was the only city it studied that indicated a police officer may bring a civil action against a complainant who falsely accuses a police officer of misconduct, criminal conduct or incompetence. 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. But the severity of the misconduct amongst TPD officers, Armour says, speaks to a festering problem in the culture of the department, despite the citys countless admonitions that those officers do not represent the city, the police department, or its values. WebPOLICE DEPARTMENT DAILY CRIME LOG February 2023 Date Incident Reported Complaint # TSU - MPD Location Offense Classification Date/Time Incident Occurred on or Between Item(s) Stolen (Torrance Parking Lot) Destruction-Damage-Vandalism 2/14/23 14:00 2/14/23 13:45 Sentra Although the officers actions were found to be justified in each case, experts say those cases should be reexamined in the context of the hateful messages. Non-Emergency Police Response: (310) 618-5641 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance CA 90503 Animal Control: 310-618-3850 Community Affairs : 310-618-6392 A survey of records at Police Watch, a nonprofit Los Angeles group that monitors Southern California police agencies, revealed numerous complaints by minorities alleging that they were pulled over by Torrance police for no reason. In addition to Weldin, Tomsic and Chandler, The Times has reviewed district attorneys records detailing racist texts or images shared by six other police officers: Blake Williams, Brian Kawamoto, Joshua Satterfield, Omar Alonso, Christopher Allen-Young and Long Beach Police Officer Maxwell Schroeder, who is a former Torrance police recruit. The review will prioritize active cases in which a defendant is still in custody and one of the officers implicated in the scandal was a material witness., So that could be, for example, a single police officer is in a patrol car and sees an individual on the sidewalk and then says he had a bulge in his pocket and then pats him down and then recovers a gun, Teran said. 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. Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. for the Advancement of Colored People. For assistance . I am in receipt of your request and I am attempting to locate the information requested and will attempt to have it to you as soon as possible. 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. Share & Bookmark, Press Enter to show all options, press Tab go to next option, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), Consolidated Plan: HOME, HOME-American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP), Candidate Registration & Qualification Form, Torrance Police Department Quarterly Reports, Trust Building Campaign - Torrance Police Department Strategic Plan, Property Release from stored/impounded vehicle. Grand jury investigation spurs Torrance to, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Grand jury investigation spurs Torrance to change police-complaint forms, Hermosa Beach Police arrest 2 men suspected in shooting attempt, LAPD union wants to hand nonviolent calls over to to unarmed responders, Lunafest returns as a live event in Redondo Beach on March 5, Retired LA Kings star Dustin Brown honored in Hermosa Beach, grand jury report titled Policing the Police, Alpine Village, for decades a German American hub, faces unknown future, Real snow falls at Disneyland not the fake soapy stuff, Is there a problem with paying cash for a car? We are located at: 3300 Civic Center Dr. Torrance, CA 90503, 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503 | P: (310) 328-5310 | Contact | Login. Chavez, Williams, Satterfield and Tomsic all opened fire on Michael Lopez in 2017 after a vehicle pursuit that started in Palos Verdes Estates. The officers repeatedly ordered Mitchell to get out of the car, but he did not comply, according to the report. And he wrote De Ladurantey a letter after the incident. Community Affairs: 310-618-6392. WebIt is hereby declared to be the policy of the City to prohibit unnecessary, excessive and annoying noises from all sources subject to its police power. While no officers currently face criminal charges in direct relation to the text messages, the racist exchanges have led to the dismissal of at least 85 criminal cases involving the officers implicated in the scandal. Web47 6 thatphanom.techno@gmail.com 042-532028 , 042-532027 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 Torrance was one of four cities surveyed that were not in compliance with that policy, which the state penal code requires. That number did not include Tomsic, Weldin, or Schroeder, he said. Chavez and Concannon were cleared of wrongdoing by former Dist. This is a prime example of running away from local control and accountability and trying to delegate to some people far away who arent a part of the community.. MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. Daniels said he was taken into custody, placed in a cell for two hours and cited for driving without a California license and released. A report to the city council estimated the potential cost being anywhere from $233,000 to $711,000. in which police officers believe a white boy traveling with two blacks is unusual, or an indication of potential crime., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, 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? Chief De Ladurantey said he receives as many citizen complaints from whites as minorities. Kristy Hutchings covers all things Long Beach including local government, politics, and the environment. With fallout from the Rastello case still raining down, 27-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran De Ladurantey was brought in. We the Peoplehave aRight to Knowaccording to the Supreme Court of the United States [SCOTUS], past Presidents (of both major political parties), Congress, and the United States Department of Justice. WebServices include abandoned vehicle reporting/removal, adult fingerprinting, adult sexual assault prevention, business security evaluations, crime prevention, crime victim support, Officers called Black men savages,and several variations of the N-word, according to documents reviewed by The Times. The California Attorney Generals ongoing investigation into 13 officers who have been placed on leave for their participating in the exchange of racist text messages that joked about lynching Black men, among other things will provide a check to see where we can optimize performance and increase accountability, Police Chief Jeremiah Hart said during Tuesdays meeting. Gen. The result: citations for a defective turn signal and a passenger not wearing a seat belt, both of which were later dismissed, the suit said. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not. Two former Torrance police officers were charged with spray-painting a swastika inside of a residents car, and prosecutors are now reviewing hundreds of cases involving the ex-cops, officials said. 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. . Whenever it appears that somebodys chipping away at that crust, were going to rise to the occasion.. Statute 6255 states a catch all exemption, The agency shall justify withholding any record by demonstrating that the record in question is exempt under express provisions of this chapter or that on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.. Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer, Subject: RE: California Public Records Act Request: Torrance, CA PD Citizen Complaints. The officers did not necessarily testify in each case, so its unclear how many of those cases could be affected. According to their lawsuit, the students were driving through Torrance in a 1979 Chevrolet strewn with history and calculus texts. Civil rights activists and police watchdog groups claim that the department is among the most racially biased and militaristic in Southern California. The department has also hired an I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2017. One (Torrance officer) said, The white people pay us to keep Mexicans out, said Esparza, a night student at Inglewood High School. Some include all discharges and some exclude missed shots. WebThe 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. White, well after he became unconscious that gives you the tools to keep our government transparent and accountable,! Call and rushed to the report, he said documentation regarding how many of these officer-involved shootings disciplinary. Wearing big ( street gang uniform ) pants, Jose Esparza said our government transparent and.! That crust, were going to rise to the city council estimated potential! 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