Community Corner
Police Chief's Hypocritical Advisory Committee
Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell has announced the formation of an advisory committee to examine department's use of force.
In 2012, County Supervisor Knabe appointed CHIEF MCDONNELL to lead the Citizen's Commission on Jail Violence investigating excessive use of force in LA County's Sheriff Department Jail Systems. If you read McDonnell's letter at the below link, he states the identical reasons for investigating excessive use of force in his OWN department that he stated in 2012 when investigating the Sheriff's Department for the same reason.
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McDonnell's 2012 Commission criticized the Sheriff's department for a culture of violence and persistent pattern of unreasonable force through its entire chain of command dating back many years. McDonnell personally wrote about Sheriff Baca's claim that he was unaware of the problems identified in the Sheriff's Department. McDonnell was especially critical of Baca's statement to "don't re-elect me" when asked how he was to be held accountable. The ever ambitious McDonnell then used HIS scathing report critical of Baca's oversight to launch his OWN election bid for Baca's position.
http://www.presstelegram.com/g...
McDonnell wrote that his 2011 Commission investigating the Sheriff's Department, "could only make recommendations for improvement and had no authority to implement change in the Sheriff departments excessive use of force." McDonnell further stated, "we worry that this report will end up like many others that preceded it." This obviously begs the questions of how does his former 2011 Commission differ from the Committe McDonnell has now appointed? Will McDonnell implement the changes recommended by his own committe? Or will this simply be another PR ploy to quiet the public's outcry.
What the public should be asking themselves is whether we really want taxpayer's dollars spent on ANOTHER committee overseeing the police. Keep in mind, a supposedly public commission already exists in Long Beach to address this issue. Its called the Citizen Police Complaints Commission (CPPC). Its specific charter says a police officer can NOT serve as a Commissioner on the CPCC. Yet, Anitra Dempsey, a long time officer in the Long Beach Police Department, now oversees the CPCC as its Executive Director. It is a terrible conflict of interest for a former Long Beach Cop to decide which police misconduct cases are to be investigated. The CPCC is supposed to be a Citizen oversight commission, not a City/Police controlled oversight commission. This issue recently came under increased scrutiny when a former CPPC investigator's claimed he was "fired for uncovering too much police misconduct." Shouldn't the city first clean up and restore confidence in the CPPC before its spends money on yet another Committee that's suppose to be doing the same thing?
http://greaterlongbeach.com/09...
McDonnell also wrote in his report about his 2012 Commission investigating the Sheriff's Department, "I am confident we can overcome any obstacle and rise above the challenges of today to restore public trust." Considering 18 LA Sheriffs were recently charged by federal authorities with multiple civil rights abuses, maybe someone should ask McDonnell exactly what level of confidence he had in 2012 and whether he has likewise confidence in the success of his new Commission.
In my eyes, the ONLY good thing about McDonnell's announcement of a new commission is its indication police misconduct is finally coming under pressure from our local politicians. McDonnell would never take such an action on his own without being forced to. His announcement of this commission is indeed a black mark on McDonnell's resume, fittingly bestowed upon the leader of the 2012 Commission so critical of Sheriff's Department misconduct.
