Fabian Lewkowicz STOP YOUR WHINING: Complaints against Santa Monica police officers are seldom filed. Fear factor cited
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY When it comes to serving and protecting, the SMPD appears to be holding up its end of the bargain.
Crime in Santa Monica is at a 50-year low and morale is high, evident by the large turnout at last week’s block party hosted by City Hall and the Santa Monica Police Department to celebrate National Night Out, “America’s night out against crime.”
Even more telling, however, is the relatively small number of personnel complaints filed by residents against officers and civilian employees for alleged misconduct. So when a Pico Neighborhood grandmother filed a complaint against a local police officer for allegedly being abusive during a gang sweep last month, the charge hit with a thud.
Over the last three years, members of the Santa Monica Police Department have responded to 248,641 calls for service, according to Lt. Al Venegas with Internal Affairs, the division responsible for logging and investigating complaints filed both externally and internally. During that period, only 76 complaints (or.03 percent of reported contacts with the public) have been filed, the majority of which dealt with rude behavior or remarks made by department employees.
The Los Angeles Police Department, while considerably larger than the SMPD, received 6,716 complaints in 2006, according to an annual report to the Police Commission.
“It isn’t by accident that we receive so few complaints,” said Lt. Alex Padilla, public information officer for the SMPD, who pointed out that calls for service do not include all interactions with the public, such as when a tourist asks an officer for directions to the beach or an ATM machine.
“It is because of the training we provide to our employees and the relationships we’ve built with the community,” Padilla said. “Are we perfect? No, we are not, but our personnel understands that we are held to a higher standard.
“We take complaints very seriously and investigate each one thoroughly to find out the facts and move in the direction that the facts lead us.”
The SMPD released figures on complaints and calls for TIDE FORECAST FOR TODAY IN SANTA MONICA service at the request of the Daily Press. The request was made after Pico resident Charlene Gowers filed a complaint against an SMPD officer for allegedly being abusive when she was arrested for child endangerment and assault on a police officer.
Gowers, 50, said she was walking with her 3-year-old grandson and some neighborhood children on 1900 block of 17th Street the evening of July 28 when she found herself in the middle of a multi-agency raid on a suspected gang member’s home.
Gowers said several undercover officers from Los Angeles, Culver City and Santa Monica jumped out of a van with their guns drawn and began cursing at her, the children and her adult son, who had met the mid-block, for failing to stay clear of the raid.
Gowers claims there were no signs or barricades that would have led her to believe an investigation was in progress, just a standard police car parked with its lights flashing.
Before she knew it, Gowers said she and her son were being handcuffed, with police officers yelling in her face, “The kid is gone. You will never see him again,” referring to her grandson, who was taken from Gowers by a representative from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and later released to his mother.
While she was more upset with officers from Los Angeles and Culver City, Gowers said she filed the complaint against the Santa Monica officer because he should have better blocked off the area to protect the public from potential danger.
Gowers has since withdrawn her complaint,Venegas said. In a telephone interview Thursday, Gowers said her attorney advised her to no longer comment on the incident or the complaint. In a previous interview conducted three days after the incident, Gowers said she planned to file complaints against Culver City and Los Angeles police and was contemplating suing all agencies involved.
Venegas said Internal Affairs was prepared to investigate Gowers’ complaint and called her to conduct an interview, but she refused.
When investigating a complaint, Venegas said Internal Affairs approaches it with the same vigor as any other investigation involving a homicide or a robbery.
“We take complaints very seriously,” Venegas said.
Investigators conduct field interviews, take pictures, gather witnesses and submit findings to the chief of police, who then determines what type of discipline to dish out. Punishment could include everything from a written reprimand to outright dismissal.
Officers have the right to appeal. Padilla and Venegas said they could not remember when a SMPD officer was last fired for misconduct on the job, but do recall a couple of officers being released for improper conduct when out of uniform.
Of the nine complaints filed by Pico Neighborhood residents, some of whom have been the department’s biggest critics, one was sustained, or found to be true,Venegas said. In that incident,the officer in question misplaced the complainant’s personal property. Three complaints are still under investigation.
Critics contend the number of complaints does not tell the whole story. Many people are afraid to file out of fear of retaliation, or may be intimidated by the process. Also, there is a law on the books that makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly file a false complaint, and that could have caused some to remain silent.
Venegas said that law is no longer enforced after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that making false complaints is a form of protected speech.
Supporters of law enforcement continually point out that complaints are more often filed out of spite and contain false accusations as a way to retaliate against officers. If enough complaints are filed against a particular officer, that may force commanders to transfer that cop to another beat or assign them to a desk.
To make it easier to file, the SMPD has added a link on its Web site where people can make complaints electronically. Complaints can also be called in over the telephone, mailed in a detailed letter to Internal Affairs or filed in person, Venegas said.
“We take complaints no matter how they come,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.