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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.. 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. In some of those cases, the plaintiffs are members of the same ethnic groups the officers espoused hatred for in the texts. in communication and M.S. 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, 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance CA 90503. Black Lives Matter activists have attended nearly every City Council meeting since the fatal police shooting of Christopher DeAndre Mitchell in 2018 to demand Torrance establish an oversight commission. Johao Miguel Chavarri, 26, threatened the victims through social media platforms if they refused his request for explicit photos or videos. . 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. 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. If you wish to file a formal County prosecutors had tossed 35 felony cases as of mid-November, and the Torrance city attorneys office has dismissed an additional 50, officials said. This project requires us to request data from your department. Since 2013, the group of officers identified by The Times has been involved in at least seven serious use-of-force incidents in Torrance and Long Beach, including three that ended in the deaths of Black and Latino men, according to police use-of-force records and court filings. But theyve hit a snag, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, A $150,000 executive protection dog? 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. We dont have the money to do it at the level they (California) do, Ashcraft said. The city indicated the forms previously only available at the Police Department can now be found in the City Clerks Office and City Hall lobby as well. Please provide a link to any and all publicly available reports containing the data above. The database is always in development and more organizations, POST Departments, and officers are being added daily. 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. Gen. 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. TheCalifornia Public Records Actdoes not regulate the use of records obtained from public agencies. 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. I think they mean new black faces, 21-year-old Willy Daniels said. Weldin and Tomsic got the call and rushed to the scene. Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. Torrance is no stranger to allegations of racist conduct by its police officers. 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 court documents recently filed by the government, former officers--some of whom are minorities fired after probationary periods--said two epithetic slogans are commonly used within the department. The complaint form and process should not in any way intimidate or discourage potential complainants, the report said. WebThe Torrance Police Department (California) Brady List is the definitive public-facing database of information about: police misconduct, public complaints, decertification, do WebTorrance, CA 90503-5056 310-618-5529 The Records Division is a service support unit within the Services Bureau. 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. According to a Times review of public records, Concannon has shot only one person during his career: Christopher DeAndre Mitchell. 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. Please feel free to try again. Torrance police vehicles outside the Gable House Bowl after a shooting in 2019. 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. 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. Now every time I see you, Im going to arrest you, Daniels recalled. They have every complaint in California theyre not picking and choosing what theyre responding to, she said, adding that the state board will provide huge oversight.. The findings were outlined in a grand jury report titled Policing the Police that investigated how the public could make complaints against police officers in a dozen county cities, including Inglewood and Culver City in addition to Torrance. . 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. SB 2 is very expansive, Hart said, noting that the American Civil Liberties Union of California recently announced its support for the bills expanded approach to police accountability. - William O. Douglas, Associate Justice (1939 - 1975), Peace Officer Standards & Training [POST] Departments, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, Supreme Court of the United States [SCOTUS]. 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A goal of the Torrance Police Department is to ensure that the public is served in a most efficient and effective manner by highly trained police officers, bearing in mind that the police officer of today works in an extremely complex society. I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2017. Our members have a right to due process and should be protected from illegal and unnecessary intrusion into their private lives.. However, the investigation has already produced statements by several former officers claiming that the department not only tolerates racism, but teaches it. For assistance please contact our Records Division at (310) 618-5529, or you may place a request, pursuant to CPRA, directly to the Torrance City Clerk located in City Hall, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503. You can also visit their webpage to make a Public Records Act Request online. Rob Bonta announces an investigation into the Torrance Police Department after a Times report on racist texts between officers. Review comes amidst allegations of excessive force, racist text messages, and other discriminatory misconduct. 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. Certainly, 1994 brought more unwanted attention to the department. 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. In 1988, two Torrance police officers were caught on video choking and clubbing Thomas Tice, 20, at a Sunday afternoon party. From: Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer, Subject: California Public Records Act Request: Torrance, CA PD Citizen Complaints. Other departments include intentional and accidental shootings; others do not. City officials report an exceptionally high level of public support for the departments practices, saying that politically conservative Torrance expects and even demands a hard-line approach to law enforcement. According to the affidavit, obtained by the Southern California News Group, the chain of events started at 4:07 a.m. Jan. 27, 2020, on Maricopa Street, where three men allegedly were stealing boxes from an apartment mail room. Medical examiners ruled Ross died of cardiac arrest resulting from methamphetamine use and his struggle with the officers, according to autopsy records. Whenever it appears that somebodys chipping away at that crust, were going to rise to the occasion.. A Torrance police officer has been charged with assault for his role in a 2018 shooting. The first spate of costly lawsuits began in the late 1980s. Plaintiff. The results of that investigation, though, likely wont be made public for another two years or so although Hart said he is working on a new collaborative reform model never before done in the state of California, which would allow quarterly or biannual updates on the status of the investigation. Dan Mason, Lohren Price and Nicholas Cramer had just celebrated their graduation from a pricey Studio City prep school by taking in a screening of Beverly Hills Cop III. On their way back to Inglewood, where two of the youths lived, they were stopped, ordered from the car at gunpoint, patted down and made to sit cross-legged on the sidewalk while two Torrance officers searched the car for nearly an hour. MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests Torrance, CA 90503-5056. 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]. Schroeder used a carotid restraint hold sometimes referred to as a blood choke to subdue a homeless Black man in a park in November 2018, according to Long Beach police records The Times obtained through a public records request. What constitutes an officer-involved shooting in your department? Which of the above data are published publicly? Torrance police officials acquired evidence of the text message threads during their investigation of Weldin and Tomsic, according to Ponegalek, though he declined to give a specific timeline of when they obtained the data. maybe its something else. 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. Weldin did not deny painting the car even after the tow driver asked him to come clean, said the affidavit. 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. 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. 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. Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer, Subject: RE: California Public Records Act Request: Torrance, CA PD Citizen Complaints. Attorneys for the former officers contend the phones were obtained through a search warrant that was overly broad and violates Californias digital privacy law. The Records Division is a service support unit within the Services Bureau. 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. for having expired tags, for having a taillight out. Simple traffic stops often result in crimes being solved and wanted criminals apprehended, he added. Torrance police sustained 35 out of 43 internally generated complaints of officer misconduct from 2016 to 2020, Ponegalek said. 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. 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. City officials say they are highly skeptical of both stories. 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503. 3300 Civic Center Dr. 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. James Queally writes about crime and policing in Southern California, where he currently covers Los Angeles Countys criminal courts and the district attorneys office. (Please list officer firearm discharge directed at a person separately from a shooting involving an animal and separately from accidental firearm discharges). This isnt just a lone wolf, this is a huge group.. WebNon-Emergency Police Response: (310) 618-5641 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance CA 90503 . 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. Three years into De Laduranteys tenure, though, critics question whether much has changed. 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. 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. California Atty. Torrance police sustained 35 out of 43 internally generated complaints of officer misconduct from 2016 to 2020, Ponegalek said. 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. 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 . 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. 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. NIT stands for Nigger in Torrance, they said; NITAD stands for a black person spotted in Torrance after dark.. 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Out of hundreds of pages of documents, the judge allowed the Rastello familys attorneys to present 14 cases of alleged misconduct that resulted in little or no punishment, including an off-duty officer who fired 22 shots at a car, many of them out the window of his personal vehicle; a lieutenant who allegedly molested several children; evidence of rapes and beatings by officers, and officers driving drunk while on duty. One of the suspects arrested there owned a Silver Hyundai Elantra parked on Maricopa. The following services are available at the public counter without an appointment: Additional services available only by appointment, or mail-in / drop-off options: 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503 | P: (310) 328-5310 | Contact | Login. 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. Ex-Torrance police officers move to suppress, 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), Ex-Torrance police officers move to suppress use of offensive texts, Hermosa Beach Police arrest 2 men suspected in shooting attempt, LA County serial rapist sentenced to 310 years in prison, Man wrongly imprisoned for decades declared innocent in killing of woman in Inglewood, Gov. 2016 to 2020, Ponegalek said those cases, the investigation has already produced statements several. 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