The Los Angeles Office of Independent Review Board released their report to the city council and the citizens of Fullerton last night. Ron Thomas, the father of Kelly Thomas only argued with a few things about the report. Namely, that he believed that all six officers were culpable in his sons death and all six needed to be terminated. The 53 page report presented by Michael Gennaco seemed to cover some very important points which included the lack of action by then Fullerton Police Chief Mike Sellers after the events and death of Kelly Thomas.
In the meantime, the two officers facing involuntary manslaughter charges have their attorney asking for dismissal of the case based on “their facts” which “they say” indicates that Kelly was not responding to their lawful and reasonable questions or demands at the time of the incident. Ramos and Cicinelli are still awaiting a trial date for the various charges they face.
The LAOIRB Report covered a great deal of ground. They said there was no cover-up by the Fullerton Police Department, yet faulted Supervisors and the Chief for not dealing with the issues “almost immediately”. It also faulted the DA’s office for not getting involved quicker. What seems to be missing was any action by the City Council or lack of leadership in that regard. The comments of the Mayor at the time seemed overlooked as well as the Recall and Public outrage that was forthcoming within a month of the July 5th, 2011 incident. We wonder whether the Cash Settlement offers – one that was accepted by the mother of Kelly Thomas and another that was not accepted by the father – Ron Thomas; became part of the report.
The Gennaco Report seems worthy as a great starting point for change and re-organization of city policies and procedures wherein supposedly 34 of the 59 suggested changes to Fullerton Police Department Policies have already been implemented. It is good to see change come quickly. The current temporary leadership of the Fullerton Police Department seems to be responding to the desires of the Board and the public. The ultimate leadership changes for the PD may still be necessary to resestablish belief in the system and the certainty that Fullerton has a truly professional department and standards.
We are looking forward to seeing the full text of the Report and the responses from the public, various activist groups, the OC D.A.’s Office, the Fullerton Police Department and the City Council of Fullerton.
*All we have for the time being:
http://www.cityoffullerton.com/depts/police/updates/default.asp
I watched Mr. Gennaco’s presentation and the Council questioning afterward. His presentation was professional and certainly not tilted in favor of the police. The mindsets of the various Council members revealed themselves in the questions. I thought Kiger was the most interesting in a weird car-wreck sort of way. I think he was trying to channel Clarence Darrow as he picked out several phrases, trying his best to make the PD look as bad as possible. But almost all his questions were about the actions of officers who are gone. As Mr. Gennaco said, the Fullerton PD of today is much different than the one of July 2011. Even Kiger chum Whitaker said he’s more interested in the PD’s future than what happened before. It really seemed like poor Travis, still rubbing his behind from the sparking Jan Flory gave him during public comments, was disappointed there was no evidence of a culture of corruption. He really wants there to be a crisis he can jump on. If I were him, I would have stopped when Gennaco said “I was a prosecutor in the US Attorney’s office of public misconduct, so I know corruption when I see it.”
What I heard last night and read in the report was the story of a department that abdicated its leadership to second and third-tier supervisors. The former Chief’s lack of action was appalling, and his apathetic response just made a tragic situation worse. As Gennaco said, the problems he outlined were not unique to Fullerton, but that’s no excuse. The way he contrasted Ramos’ unprofessional and provocative behavior with that of other FPD officers who dealt with the homeless and mentally ill was especially interesting. As he himself pointed out, this incident did not have to happen. There were–and are–many officers on the force as dedicated to protecting the rights of the homeless and mentally ill as Ramos and compnay were in violating them.
We can take some solace from the report, since Chief Hughes and the new leadership seem to take their responsibilities seriously, and have already implemented most of the reforms recommended in the report.
There are some people who will never be satisfied with any actions or any reforms; never enough apologies, never enough officers fired or prosecuted, never enough vitriol to spew. But they seem to be losing steam and more reasonable people coming forward.
There is much work to be done, but progress means stopping the pointless reopening of wounds that some in the crowd and some on the Council clearly want to continue. If the only way Kiger can justify himself is by badgering people at the podium and inflaming the crowd, then maybe he’s not the person Fullerton needs right now.
Noclib! – Excellent comments…thank you. Sounds positive in many ways. Our position, sitting outside the box is simply this: Go out and recruit a proven new professional chief from anywhere in the country. New Leadership will bring that point and appearance of impartial appraisal to the process. This would surely relieve the political pressures off the new City Council. A new City Manager needs to happen as well – because the City Manager at that time failed to bring a suggested solution to the party when seemingly….no one else had one.