Black Police Officer, City Disagree Over Claim Officer Has Been Denied Access to Her Personnel File

[UPDATED with City response.]

According to a claim filed by a Burbank attorney alleging that his client, a Black Pasadena police officer, was subjected to racial discrimination, harassment and retaliated against, the officer has been denied access to her police file and the chance to respond to charges that resulted in her being placed on administrative leave.

Taisyn Crutchfield was placed on administrative leave shortly after a February 20 incident near the police station.

During that incident, Pasadena police detained and handcuffed Carlos Towns, his mother Barsha Knox and a minor identified as CT2  on Walnut Street and Marengo Avenue, near the Pasadena police station.

No one was cited or arrested. 

“Crutchfield spent months on administrative leave,” according to a claim filed Thursday by attorney by Brad Gage, who represents Crutchfield. 

“She then had her probation extended. Eventually, Crutchfield was returned to work, but in retaliation for her actions, and in violation of the Peace Officers Bill of Rights, she has been denied access to her file, an opportunity to respond to any charges in her file, and even the right to see what the rationale was for keeping her on Administrative Leave for months. As such, the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights was maliciously violated allowing for civil penalties and attorneys fees in addition to economic and noneconomic damages and litigation costs. [Punitive damages are sought only against the individual defendants.]”

A City spokesperson characterized the claim as inaccurate and said the City would contest the allegations.

“Officer Crutchfield has access to her personnel file just as all other employees do,” according to Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Dederian. “The standard process is being followed in this instance. This involves a personnel matter and we will not discuss more details publicly.”  

During the incident, an argument ensued after Carlos Towns did not return home on time. 

In January, deputies in Altadena shot and killed Charles Towns after he allegedly stabbed several people with a pair of scissors. Pasadena police were not involved in the shooting.

During the incident in February Crutchfield, who had just arrived on the scene, appears in police videos to attempt to move Officer Ralph Palacios away from Knox. 

Palacios told Crutchfield several times not to “do that.”

A supervisor told them to move away from each other and ordered both back to police headquarters.  

A lawsuit later claimed a conspiracy “is now in the works to fire Crutchfield because of her intervention and her race.”

Crutchfield was placed on administrative leave and was not fired and was not a part of that lawsuit.

The Department has never released the official reason why Crutchfield was placed on leave and cannot do so due to state law which prohibits the release of personnel information.  

Derderian acknowledged the City had received the claim and said “the facts alleged about the incident are inaccurate” and referred to videos of the matter that were previously released by the City and may be seen online:

https://www.cityofpasadena.net/police/critical-incident-briefings/incident-information-video-incident-number-pa2023-13545/

“The City will vigorously defend itself in this matter and the facts will prevail,” Derderian said. “The Pasadena Police Department proudly serves the residents of Pasadena with honor and integrity, and is proud of its diversity throughout all ranks of the Department.”