Police oversight under scrutiny – Pasadena Now

The role of city commissioners has come to the fore after a member of the Pasadena Police Officers Association publicly voiced his complaints against the city's Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) during a public hearing held during a city council meeting.

The conversation stems from comments made by members of the PPOA. Aaron Villicana said officers leave the department because they have fewer employees and are better paid in other departments. Another officer pointed to discussions with the Oversight Commission. Kyle Hazen said that while oversight can be seen as a positive, it can be a deterrent if Oversight Commission discussions are perceived as hurtful, inflammatory or even dangerous. This level of scrutiny leads officers to seek employment with agencies that do not subject their every action and intention to such intense scrutiny, control and bias.

In at least one public incident, a member of the Oversight Commission received a cease-and-desist letter after using the word “murder” to describe the death of a man killed by police officers involved in a police-involved shooting in the area.

The officers were never charged with a crime.

“The officers' comments likely refer to a specific council meeting where I referred to the death of a Pasadena resident at the hands of police as a 'murder,'” said Commissioner Raúl Ibañez. “Up until that point, my knowledge of legal formalities was limited, so I did not know at the time that the term 'murder' was technically considered inaccurate – I even had to consult with attorneys who initially also thought I had used correct language. And after consultation, I now know that the more appropriate term would have been 'killing' or 'death.' And I have refrained from using the word 'murder' since then.”

Ibañez made the statement at the May 13 City Council meeting. He spoke to the City Council after several council members questioned the CPOC's activities and opposed a reform of the city's charter that would have allowed the independent auditor to serve as an observer.

“I want to remind you that for three years there were residents here who cursed, insulted and demanded that you fire a city employee who murdered one of our residents,” Ibañez said.

Ibañez's testimony came the same evening that Pasadena Police Officer David Llanes complained about the conduct of Chairman Esprit Jones. Llanes accused Jones of being “combative, belligerent and unprofessional” during his tenure as chairman of the commission.

“Every time we as an organization have extended the olive branch to say let’s try to achieve something together, that branch has been taken and slapped in our face,” Llanes said.

Jones did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Council member Gene Masuda also called for an investigation based on Llanes' comments.

“I am concerned about what he said and I think we need to do an investigation to make sure [commissions] are being managed properly,” Masuda said.

“The purpose of the Community Police Oversight Commission is to improve, develop and strengthen community-police relations and to review the ongoing operations of the Police Department and make recommendations thereto to the Chief of Police, City Manager and/or City Council.

“The CPOC should provide oversight of the Pasadena Police Department,” said Mayor Victor Gordo. “I am very concerned that individual City Council appointees are using their position to unfairly attack police officers by making public statements that are unfounded and inaccurate.”

However, Gordo also said council members should pay attention to their commissioners.

“Unfounded and baseless derogatory statements about officials and the ministry defeat the purpose,” Gordo said. “If the statements attributed to the chairman and other members are true, the appointment of these commissioners should be reconsidered.”

Ibañez contradicted Gordo's statements on Tuesday.

“If the Police Department got what it wanted, why are we bringing this back up, and why is our city's mayor, of all people, bringing this back up? Pasadena's commissions were created to amplify citizen voices and strengthen engagement with voters,” Ibañez said. “So Mayor Victor Gordo's statement that council members should 'rethink' commission appointments based on unproven claims by the Police Department is not only damaging to Pasadena's democratic principles, but it also hinders the ability of city staff to have the tough, respectful and necessary conversations to ultimately work with Pasadena's most vulnerable communities. It is very disappointing to see Victor considering abandoning proven government practices in order to further silence the city commissions. I think we as Pasadena are better than this, and our mayor is better than this.”

At the May 13 meeting, Council Member Tyron Hampton asked about the training of city commissioners.

“The city is conducting ethics training for all commissioners and individual training for specific commissioners,” City Attorney Michele Bagneris announced at the meeting.

There are plans to resume ethics training for citywide commissioners.

Council concerns

Hampton said Pasadena now last week that appointments to the commission are not the sole responsibility of any one council member, but of the entire City Council.

“The job of a commissioner, just like the job of a council member, is a privilege,” said 1st District Councilman Tyron Hampton. “With that privilege comes a certain level of expectation and responsibility. Respect and dignity should always be paramount when dealing with community members and city staff.” Hampton said it is the City Council's responsibility to ensure commissioners have the appropriate training to effectively perform their duties.

The City Attorney's Office is responsible for ensuring that commissioners receive the necessary training and that this training is improved annually to make it more comprehensive.

“I believe more can be done to ensure our commissioners treat people with dignity and respect,” Hampton said. “Council may need to update our policy in this regard. Once commissioners have received the appropriate training, if there are commissioners on a commission who violate decency, they should be removed by City Council.”

“I propose working with the Attorney General's Office to update the training guidelines for our commissioners. It is important to note that commissions are advisory in nature, so they do not have the ability to hire, fire or create policies that would be detrimental to the community and staff.”

Hampton used a community process via Zoom to select Jones for the CPOC.

“The Council must encourage productive conversations in the CPOC without stifling them,” said Council Member Jess Rivas, who nominated Ibañez to the commission. “Conversations about critical incidents involving injuries and deaths caused by our officers are some of the most difficult conversations we have in the city, but they are also the most necessary. Restricting free speech by firing commissioners is a drastic measure that would deter these important and necessary conversations. Such calls to restrict free speech by firing do not make sense as a first response as we help guide the new commission into maturity.”

The beginning

The Supervisory Commission has been working on developing a guideline for the mobile phone location simulator and, in cooperation with the Ministry, has also revised its guideline on body-worn cameras.

Local calls for a civilian police oversight commission began in the early 1990s after a jury acquitted the four LAPD officers who brutally beat Altadena resident Rodney King in 1992, sparking the Los Angeles riots. After the riots, local residents Meta McCullough and Karen Hooks Roon led the call for an oversight commission.

However, these demands fell on deaf ears at Pasadena City Hall.

The debate received more attention a year later after popular local barber Michael Bryant was killed in a police chase. Police officers from Pasadena, San Marino and Los Angeles pursued Bryant to an apartment complex in Highland Park. According to police, Bryant fell into a swimming pool. Los Angeles and San Marino police reportedly beat Bryant with batons, but Pasadena police said their officers merely carried Bryant to a police car. While he was in the pool, LAPD officers shot him with a Taser stun gun as he stood in the pool, handcuffed him and placed him on his stomach in the back seat of a San Marino patrol car, according to LAPD reports. Bryant died shortly afterward of asphyxiation and cocaine intoxication.

The issue was raised again after Maurice Clark and LaMont Robinson were killed in police-involved incidents ten days apart in 2004.

In 2012, the issue was raised again after 19-year-old Kendrec McDade was shot and killed by a police officer.

The city council finally voted to establish an oversight commission in 2021 after George Floyd was murdered by multiple police officers in Minneapolis. The African-American motorist was killed by police after being accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. During that incident, a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd's death sparked protests across the country, including several in Pasadena.

Council members John Kennedy and Jacque Robinson had repeatedly urged the City Council to take on an oversight role, but at that point the City Council was at times reluctant to even discuss the issue.

“There wasn't even the political will of the majority to discuss the matter in a public forum,” Robinson said. “Let alone go to the trouble of establishing a community-based commission to oversee it. Before 2020, there was no diverse chorus of voices advocating for the issue. Since George Floyd … it's more accepted today to see the humanity in people who have been treated unfairly by the police.”

At the same time, there were calls to prosecute the police officers who killed George Floyd. Locally, there were also calls to charge Psasadena police officer Dumaguindin in the Anthony McClain case. McClain was shot dead by Dumaguindin after a traffic stop near La Pintoresca Park.

For more than a year, residents called the City Council, which met virtually during the pandemic, demanding the firing of the officers who “murdered” Anthony McClain.

In 2022, prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove the officer did not act in “lawful self-defense.” Dumaguindin was disciplined for not turning on his camera, was required to attend an 8-hour training session at the Axon Academy, and received a written reprimand.