Oversight Commissioners Question Long Delays in Pasadena Police Shooting Reviews

Pasadena Community Police Oversight Commission Chair Esprit Loren Jones pressed Thursday for clearer timelines on police shooting reviews, after Jones noted that one 2024 case remains pending more than two years later and raised questions about how long the March shooting of Malcolm Buchanan could remain under review.

Independent Police Auditor Teresa Magula told commissioners that three critical incident cases remain in her review queue: the April 14, 2024, officer-involved shooting involving a man identified as ‘Mr. Andrade’; a Sept. 7 incident that occurred in the parking lot adjacent to Pasadena Police Department headquarters; and the March 2, 2026, officer-involved shooting involving Buchanan.

Magula said the Andrade and Buchanan cases are pending both criminal and administrative review, while the September incident is under administrative review.

Jones said the Andrade case is now “two whole years old and some change” and asked how that kind of timeline might apply to the Buchanan matter. Jones said she wanted a clearer understanding of what to anticipate in such timelines.

Magula said timelines depend largely on how each case unfolds. She said police departments may use “tolling,” which can pause the statute of limitations while other review processes proceed, and said the largest delays often come from review by the district attorney’s office to determine whether a criminal case will move forward. She said administrative reviews can sometimes proceed at the same time, but that decisions are made case by case.

Magula said earlier in the meeting that, under state law, the department was due to release video from the Buchanan shooting or issue an additional statement on or before May 18. The agenda presentation also listed the May 18 deadline for a video release or additional statement.

Police Chief Eugene Harris later told the commission that the department had exercised an exception to the 45-day timeline for releasing critical incident video from the March 2 shooting because an officer was injured and had not been able to be interviewed for some time. Harris said the officer’s injuries and treatment raised concerns about whether the officer was in a position to give his “best testimony” before an interview was completed.

Harris said the department issued a letter about the delay and contacted Buchanan’s family. He said the department had since completed the interview process. He said officials met this week with involved officers and family members, including Buchanan’s family, who were shown the critical incident video before its planned public release. Harris said the video had been completed “for a while” and was scheduled for release at 5 p.m. Friday.

Later in the meeting, Jones said she had attended Buchanan’s memorial service and repast and said Buchanan’s mother, grandmother and father told her they had no contact from the department during the first 45 days. Jones said she had concerns but would save the issue for a later conversation.

Harris also referred to another incident discussed earlier in the meeting, saying it had been the subject of a public records request that the department would honor. He said the department had used a similar exception because an investigation was still underway and a concurrent administrative investigation was taking place. He said that material would come out “in very short order,” estimating within a week or two.

Commissioner Lawrence Lurvey later asked Harris to discuss the challenges of conducting administrative reviews at the same time as district attorney criminal reviews. Harris said administrative investigations generally are completed promptly, but officer-involved shootings often involve multiple agencies and complications that can affect witness interviews and the overall investigative sequence.

Harris said the department has been pressing for criminal investigations to be completed within a year or less. He said the district attorney’s office has promised that cases without complications should be completed within 90 days.

Jones also asked about the Sept. 7 incident, noting that it was more than six months old and asking whether it might be exempt from rules under AB 748 and SB 1421. Magula said those laws apply to incidents classified as critical incidents and said that, in her reading, the September incident would fall under the criteria for those bills if there were a public records request for the data.

The discussion came during Magula’s monthly report to the commission, which also included updates on pending complaint reviews, a review of cases involving people experiencing behavioral health crises and an audit review related to automated license plate recognition. Magula said draft reviews of complaints and behavioral health crisis cases were under Pasadena Police Department review for accuracy and fairness, while the automated license plate recognition audit was also with the department for review.

The commission met Thursday as a special meeting in lieu of its regular May meeting.