Pasadena Council Got Little Warning before Army Exercise at St. Luke’s, Police Chief Acknowledges

[Updated]  The Pasadena’s City Council got roughly five minutes’ warning before residents were alerted to a U.S. Army special-operations exercise that filled a residential neighborhood with low-flying helicopters, flash-bangs and simulated gunfire on June 3, Vice Mayor Jess Rivas said Wednesday as the City Council’s Public Safety Committee pressed for a policy requiring earlier notice of such operations.

No member of the City Council had been told the operation was coming in advance, Police Chief Eugene Harris acknowledged — “not that I’m aware of.”

The exercise, staged at the shuttered St. Luke’s Hospital, ran from the evening of June 3 into the early morning hours of June 4 —much to the consternation of residents and city officials alike.

Rivas, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the committee would take up the matter again at its next meeting, calling last night’s session only the beginning of the discussion. 

Committee members said the city needs a notification policy so that the council — and, in turn, residents — are warned before federal military activity occurs in Pasadena.

“This council really got no notice,” Rivas said as she opened the discussion. “We got maybe five minutes’ notice before the residents did.” 

Rivas said earlier notice could have let residents avoid being “terrified” and make plans, and could have given the city time to work with its federal representatives on timing.

Harris laid out a timeline that began, in general terms, back nearly a year. The first “indicator,” he said, came in July, 2025 through informal conversations between officers about the possibility of military training somewhere in Los Angeles County. There was no formal request and no details on timing, location or which cities would be involved, he said.

Communications in March involved only the Rose Bowl, where the military discussed a licensing agreement to train, Harris said. 

On May 20, department staff were copied on an email that raised the “possibility” of an operation at St. Luke’s, though the military said it had not reached an agreement with the property owner. Attached to that email, Harris said, was a letter the military had drafted to Mayor Victor Gordo that, apparently, was never sent.

The military finally confirmed the date on May 28 — the Thursday before the exercise — but offered few specifics beyond plans for “platoon size” training delivered by helicopter, Harris said. 

The next day, May 29, the military’s public information officer began discussing how to brief the city on the operation, he said. 

Harris said he was fully briefed on the commitment to use St. Luke’s on June 1, the same day he first notified the City Manager.