Political Gumbo: Hometown Policing in Pasadena and Altadena

[Updated] Pasadena Police Chief John Perez had already planned to bring investigations of local officer-involved shooting incidents home before Friday’s incident.

It’s a good move.

Pasadena residents and media should be able to get information on these incidents.

Former Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez decided to have the LA County Sheriff’s Department investigate such matters after local activists complained about the PPD investigating its own officers.

Sanchez had good intentions when he made the move. Unfortunately what followed was a process fraught with unanswered emails and calls to the county that left local residents with less information.

During my time at the PW getting information on these incidents from the LASD was brutal. According to James Macpherson, reporters at PNow were facing the same hurdles.

Even Pasadena Police officers could not reveal information on these investigations without first getting permission from the Sheriff’s Department.

After the death of JR Thomas, sheriff’s officials held a meeting on the Pasadena incident in Los Angeles the next morning. Of course, they informed the networks but nobody bothered to inform the local press.

The Sheriff’s Department never said it, but I still believe the meeting was held in LA because Jasmine Richards showed up outside the scene of the incident and raised hell.

Meetings on important incidents shouldn’t be moved from Pasadena to avoid questions. Truth to tell, they should be held here so the community can get answers and if the protestors decide to yell some, the city has to deal with that.

On another law enforcement matter: The decision to close the Altadena substation of the sheriff’s department is lame, and obviously the result of a sheriff pouting because the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is examining how he is spending his allowance.

Villanueva’s actions bring to mind a conversation that PW Editor Kevin Uhrich and I frequently had.

“Should the sheriff be elected or appointed?”

Makes sense the people can approve him, but as we learned in the Baca debacle with the FBI, if he decides not to heed the calls of the supervisors, nothing can be done about it.

I say appointed.

Villanueva has to be held accountable for his actions and so does the board. In that respect, good for the civilians commission using their subpoena power to compel Villanueva to appear before them.

Town halls are great, but still he has to sit before the commission and answer questions about his refusal to cut staff in the prisons despite a drop in the prison population, his Coronavirus response and budgetary issues. These are all issues the average person attending a town hall meeting may be informed about.