John L. Fellows III calling the Justice Departments allegations totally groundless. Although a current racial breakdown of officers was not available, the government said that in 1992 only three of the departments 233 sworn officers (1.2%) were black, 15 (6.4%) were Latino and six (2.5%) were Asian. What got them pulled over, the three allege in their suit, was not erratic driving or outstanding warrants. Civil rights activists and police watchdog groups claim that the department is among the most The department has also hired an outside law firm to conduct a review of the scandal, he said. Torrance also reported fewer rapes, robberies and other violent crimes. 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. The accountability measures are very clearly laid out, and has benchmark measures that the police department will have to meet, he said, noting that the TPD will submit complaints dating back to 2020 to the state board. If you would like to file a formal complaint for an officer that is not yet listed, please contact us and we will add that individual immediately. 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. Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. About 13 Torrance officers are on paid leave as the city and the state attorney general investigate the offensive texts, which include jokes about lynchings, gassing Jews and shooting Black men. Web47 6 thatphanom.techno@gmail.com 042-532028 , 042-532027 A Torrance police officer has been charged with assault for his role in a 2018 shooting. Emergency Services: 310-618 The homeless man was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest, being in the park after dark and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to a Long Beach police spokesman. 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. He declined to offer a timetable on that review and would not say whether the officers involvement in the text scandal would affect that probe. Torrance police sustained 35 out of 43 internally generated complaints of officer misconduct from 2016 to 2020, Ponegalek said. Daniels said the officer approached him three days later at a local mall. Ross fled from Torrance police when they responded, and became violent when they tried to arrest him, district attorneys records show. The department has also hired an To assist us in achieving this goal, you, as a citizen, can help by letting us know if you have a complaint. Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated). WebThe Torrance Police Department is happy to assist you in obtaining or reviewing any records, documents, or reports to which you are legally entitled. There are no results that match your search. Non-Emergency Police Response: (310) 618-5641 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance CA 90503 Animal Control: 310-618-3850 Community Affairs : 310-618-6392 The grand jury also said that the Torrance warning regarding the civil suit that could be filed if a false report is submitted was found to be unconstitutional in 1999 because of its chilling effect and the court ruling has been upheld on several occasions since then. Sgt. However, Jackson rejected the grand jurys request to initiate an appeal process if the complainant is dissatisfied with the disposition of an investigation. Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed. Another photo asked what someone should do if their girlfriend was having an affair with a Black man. Council nixes proposed resident survey on, 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), Council nixes proposed resident survey on civilian oversight of Torrance Police, 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, Ex-Torrance police officers move to suppress use of offensive texts, Torrance officials, police critics differ on new advisory commissions ability to effect change, Police say patrols wont be affected by 13 officers on leave in Torrance, 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? It creates a tremendous amount of concern for me. Los Angeles, Randall Emmett, Ambyr Childers settle domestic violence restraining order dispute, Column: Supreme Court conservatives may want to block student loan forgiveness. 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. According to their lawsuit, the students were driving through Torrance in a 1979 Chevrolet strewn with history and calculus texts. 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. 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. . In a four-page letter written earlier this month to Superior Court Presiding Judge Daniel J. Buckley, City Manager LeRoy Jackson said the city had complied with the grand jurys recommendation and removed such warnings from its complaint forms and related materials.. it. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton, in 1981 with a bachelor of arts in communication. WebCurrent Announcements for Positions. Youll get pulled over.. Our members have a right to due process and should be protected from illegal and unnecessary intrusion into their private lives.. Its unclear what the results of that investigation will require the TPD to do, or how those changes may be enforced once the investigation is complete. Those people spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could candidly discuss an ongoing investigation. When the motorists asked why they were stopped, they claimed that officers would reply, We do a routine check on new faces in town.. Sincerely,Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer. The Records Division public counter is located in the main lobby of the Police Department. 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 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. A Long Beach police spokesman said Schroeder was assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation, but would not say why. 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. . 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. A city of 137,000, Torrance had 12 homicides while nearby Inglewood, with 112,000 residents, had 45. things have not changed, said Tim Rastello, brother of the motorcyclist and a Denver civil rights attorney. 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. Sometimes youve got to do things your own damn self, Kawamoto replied, later adding a comment that he wanted to always make Torrance great again, a reference to former President Trumps ubiquitous political slogan. Without that officer, you couldnt prove that case.. in communication and M.S. According to an investigation by The Times, the theft of 44 guns from an L.A. gun store has spurred a cascade of allegations against LAPD officers and a roiling department scandal. 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. The first spate of costly lawsuits began in the late 1980s. 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. Protein powder and dry cereal were scattered throughout the car. If I were a citizen, youre damned right Id want people stopped . If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead. Which of the above data are published publicly? The governments current inquiry into allegations of racial harassment of the public is simply an effort to bolster its discriminatory hiring case against Torrance, one Justice Department official said. 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. Jose Esparza, 19, Luis Ortiz, 20, and Jose Rodriguez, 21, described similar comments by police in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the department last month. 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. Torrance Police Chief Joe De Ladurantey calls the boundary a geographic crust and freely acknowledges that his 249 officers patrol it aggressively.. The comments represent a sliver of a trove of racist text messages exchanged by more than a dozen current and former Torrance police officers and recruits. 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. Before they start complaining too loudly about how much it But the blow that many believed would force change in the department came in 1989. Torrance recorded fewer violent crimes in 1993 than many neighboring cities of comparable size, according to the FBI. Your complaint will be quickly, professionally, and objectively investigated in order to arrive at an appropriate conclusion. I think they mean new black faces, 21-year-old Willy Daniels said. California Atty. From: Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer, Subject: California Public Records Act Request: Torrance, CA PD Citizen Complaints. We are aggressive, and sometimes we get some lawsuits, he said. Good job sticking to the script, he wrote. SB 2 would create a nine-member Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board within the existing Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). 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. Any police department mirrors the community, said Wally Murker, head of the departments detective division. GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. . We have a group of officers who, apparently in addition to harboring very biased and racist beliefs, also may be engaging in inappropriate force that could be illegal in some cases, he said. 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. Many of the officers under investigation as part of the scandal also have use-of-force histories involving the communities for which they expressed hatred. Schroeder initiated contact with the man because he was sleeping in a park after it closed, the records show, and used the choke to take him down after an altercation. TheCalifornia Public Records Actis a series of laws meant to guarantee that the public has access to public records of governmental bodies in California. In both cases, plaintiffs alleged that the officers leveled guns at their heads, tore apart their vehicles with no probable cause and without permission, intentionally and painfully yanked their testicles during body searches and made numerous racist threats. 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. In the texts, the officers showed little concern about getting caught and even less about the citizens they were assigned to protect, routinely joking about using force and mocking internal affairs. 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. Judge Amy Carter will decide whether to suppress evidence from the personal cellphones of ex-officers Corey Weldin and Christopher Tomsic. The proper administration of law enforcement can be insured only through a highly professional police agency which respects itself and earns the respect of the public. Animal Control: 310-618-3850. . Three years into De Laduranteys tenure, though, critics question whether much has changed. Detectives: 310-618-5570. You would want to consult them, figure out what their values and viewpoints are, then legislate and implement their values not yours.. The city also pointed towards Harts recently established Chiefs Advisory Board which aims to serve as a forum for discussion to foster understanding between the police department and the community as another means of oversight as the city awaits the investigation results and the official establishment of the state oversight board. 1. One should allow 10 days for an agency to comply with a records request. 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. Rob Bonta said Wednesday his office will investigate the department in the wake of the scandal. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. 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. 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. The impound yard agreed to pay the owner $2,750 for the damage, although there was no evidence the business was at fault, said the affidavit. Although the current race-related lawsuits have shined a stark and unflattering light on the force, it is not the first time that Torrance police have come under legal scrutiny. What is the total number of citizen complaints (allegations of misconduct) made against your departments officers annually for the last 10 years? 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. The condition of anonymity so they could candidly discuss an ongoing investigation arrest. Agency to comply with a bachelor of arts in communication violent when they tried to arrest him district! 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torrance police department complaints