Deputy Union Muddying the Waters on Police Transparency

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Deputy union muddying the waters on police transparency – Press Enterprise

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OPINION Deputy union muddying the waters on police transparency

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The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s headquarters in San Bernardino. (Photo via Google Maps Street View)

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | [email protected] |  PUBLISHED: December 26, 2018 at 6:00 pm | UPDATED: December 27, 2018 at 9:31 am

https://www.pe.com/...arency/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_campaign=socialflow[12/27/2018 9:38:41 AM] Deputy union muddying the waters on police transparency – Press Enterprise

In order to prevent the transparency about officer-involved shootings a new state law effective Jan. 1 will require, police agencies and unions from around California are working hard to muddy the waters and prevent that clarity from happening.

In Inglewood, where the mayor is the retired former police chief of Santa Monica, the city is unapologetically shredding all its past documents that have to do with police shootings. Just a coincidence, the City Council and Police Department claim — suddenly, after all these years, they are running out of storage room. Right now. Days before the new law, Senate Bill 1421, is set to go into effect.

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Then, since the law — authored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D- SPONSORED CONTENT Berkeley, and intended to moderate the strictures of another law passed 40 years ago that gives California officers perhaps the greatest privacy protections in the nation — does not specifically refer to whether it How to pay off your house AS so simple)  applies retroactively, the San Bernardino County sheriff’s union is taking no chances. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit By LendingTree Association has asked the California Supreme Court for an immediate order banning enforcement of the new law for incidents that occurred before Jan. 1, 2019. So no shootings or other forms of misconduct from MOST POPULAR the past could be considered for release if the order is granted. Photos: Tyisha Miller shooting, The statute will allow the 1 years later RELATED ARTICLES https://www.pe.com/...arency/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_campaign=socialflow[12/27/2018 9:38:41 AM] Deputy union muddying the waters on police transparency – Press Enterprise

public to obtain police 2 20 years after Tyisha Miller wa personnel records for officers killed by Riverside police, what A record of safety, innovation and her legacy? modernization involved in the use of deadly force, sustained allegations of These are the 2018 Inland Em 3 photos of the year Ron Hart looks back at 2018 sexual assault and sustained Amtrak workers offered relocat misconduct. Of course it was 4 And peace online package or $10,000 to exit intended to include past Passenger killed in collision in A ban on airbrushing? incidents as well as future 5 Riverside is identified

ones; otherwise it would 2 suspects in custody after dep No, California not on the verge of 6 specifically have said it has no involved shooting in Jurupa Va apocalypse: Letters retroactive force. But Los Person hit, killed by vehicle wit 7 horse trailer at rodeo event nea Angeles police Chief Michel Perris Moore, too, complains about complying: “the workload on the men and 2 shot at Corona apartment co women of the LAPD could prove to be well beyond any reasonable 8 expectation given the sheer volume of complaints and incidents 9 These are the colors, patterns maintained by that agency.” home design trends you’ll be s in 2019 That volume of complaints is precisely why the law exists. The public for four decades in this state has been prevented from knowing the truth about the bad actors who are sprinkled among the mostly hardworking and heroic peace officers in our employ. We deserve to know the truth, and the court should reject this muddying of the waters.

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https://www.pe.com/...arency/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_campaign=socialflow[12/27/2018 9:38:41 AM] San Bernardino police union sues over release of misconduct records

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San Bernardino County sheriff's union sues to block new state transparency law requiring release of misconduct records

Christopher Damien, Palm Springs Desert Sun Published 1:50 p.m. PT Dec. 19, 2018

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A law enforcement union that represents offcers from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has asked the California Supreme Court

3 free articles left. Only $9.99 per month.to stop the county from complying with a new state (Photo: Desert Sun fle photo) law that requires the disclosure of offcer misconduct records, until the court determines whether the law is retroactive. Only $9.99 per month. In one of two motions, The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Employees’ Beneft AssociationSubscribe asked Now the court to determine whether the recently-passed Senate Bill 1421, which requires police departments to make public internal investigation records regarding offcers’ use of force, sexual assault and lying on reports, should be applied by the departments retroactively. And until the court issues a decision, the union’s second motion asks the court to stop the law from going into effect.

The union’s president, Grant Ward, said in a statement that the union is fghting the requirement to release records pertaining to investigations of incidents that happened before Jan 1, 2019 and petitions the court to clarify whether or not the new law will apply to investigations that occurred before it takes effect.

ADVERTISEMENT https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/12/19/san-bernardino-police-union-sues-over-release-misconduct-records/2367677002/[12/27/2018 10:00:20 AM] San Bernardino police union sues over release of misconduct records

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Two trials and six months in jail for beer run Dec. 27, 2018, 9:27 a.m.

“SEBA is very concerned about any plans to retroactively apply Senate Bill 1421,” Ward said in the statement. “We believe retroactive application violates our members’ Car catches fre in La rights and we hope the California Supreme Court will consider the serious issues Quinta; police say DUI raised by our legal challenge.” Dec. 26, 2018, 10:30 p.m.

More: Police misconduct records have been kept secret for years. California just approved a new law bringing them to light

More: California lawmakers move to make police misconduct records more public Galilee Center gifts 600 bikes to east valley kids State Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who drafted the legislation, SB 1421, said Dec. 25, 2018, 4:49 p.m. California’s previous restrictions against releasing information about investigations into police offcer misconduct did not serve the best interest of the public.

“When incidents such as a police shooting occurs, the public has a right to know that How will California laws there was a thorough investigation,” Senator Skinner said in a statement released change in 2019? while the bill was making its way through the legislature in 2018. “Without access to Dec. 25, 2018, 8 p.m. such records, communities can’t hold our public safety agencies accountable.”

Scheduled to take effect in 2019, SB 1421 will allow the public to use the California Public Records Act to unseal internal investigation records related to when offcers use Couple that lost home in Camp Fire get pardons weapons on people, commit sexual assault or lie in police reports. The records may Dec. 25, 2018, 4:19 p.m. include evidence, recordings of interviews, autopsy reports, reports to the district attorney to determine whether to fle charges and copies of disciplinary records.

While the bill will keep unfounded complaints from reaching the public, records that are Mojave land gift aims to disclosable will be unsealed 18 months after the incident. save teddy bear cacti

The union’s case was fled as law enforcement agencies across California prepare for Dec. 25, 2018, 4 p.m. a wave of requests to release offcer misconduct investigations.

More: 2006 California law prevented police misconduct records from reaching the public. State lawmakers might reverse course in next few days

More: California Legislature can boost confdence in police by opening probe records

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore wrote in a letter included in the fling, that his department has established an SB 1421 Task Force to prepare for the https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/12/19/san-bernardino-police-union-sues-over-release-misconduct-records/2367677002/[12/27/2018 10:00:20 AM] San Bernardino police union sues over release of misconduct records

“massive infux in historical records requests it anticipates.”

Moore writes in the letter that the infux of requests could be “beyond any reasonable expectation given the sheer volume of personnel complaints and uses of force (UOF) maintained in antiquated or archaic formats”.

Zachery Lopes, an attorney with the law frm representing the union, said that as the law is written, every police department in California will have to determine how to comply with SB 1421.

But Michelle Blakemore, an attorney who works for San Bernardino County, wrote in a letter included as an exhibit in the lawsuit that the county has reviewed SB 1421 and plans to enforce it retroactively.

“In anticipation of SB 1421 taking effect, the Sheriffs Department has been diligently reviewing the changes to the law and carefully considering how to implement these changes,” Blakemore wrote. “Based on this review, and on the advice of counsel, the Department intends to apply these changes retroactively.”The union argues in the fling that the county’s plan is based on an incorrect interpretation of the law because SB 1421 does not explicitly order agencies to retroactively enforce the law.

“Respondent incorrectly contends that, notwithstanding the absence of any express retroactivity provision, SB 1421 must be applied and enforced as to personnel records and information refecting specifed peace offcer conduct occurring prior to January 1, 2019,” the union wrote in the court fling.

Lopes, the attorney working for the union, said the state Supreme Court could issue the requested stay, or it could do nothing, meaning every police department would have to determine how to handle the issue of retroactivity, or it could send the case to a lower court.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/12/19/san-bernardino-police-union-sues-over-release-misconduct-records/2367677002/[12/27/2018 10:00:20 AM] San Bernardino County leaders want to look at alternatives to Gold Line extension – Press Enterprise

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LOCAL NEWS San Bernardino County leaders want to look at alternatives to Gold Line extension Letter points out that long-planned project might hurt other communities

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Evento del 10º aniversario de Metro Gold Line, que se celebró el viernes 26 de julio de 2013 en Follow Us la estación de Metro Gold Line Del Mar en Pasadena. (Foto por Walt Mancini / SGVN)    

By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] | Inland Valley Daily  Bulletin

https://www.pe.com/...ension/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise[12/27/2018 3:39:48 PM] San Bernardino County leaders want to look at alternatives to Gold Line extension – Press Enterprise

PUBLISHED: December 27, 2018 at 3:29 pm | UPDATED: December 27, 2018 at 3:30 pm MOST POPULAR

Photos: Tyisha Miller shooting, A group of elected officials from throughout San Bernardino County 1 years later want the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority to 2 Claim Jumper in Corona shut d consider possible alternatives to a long-planned 12.3-mile extension of the day after Christmas the commuter train from Glendora to Montclair, saying the extension 3 Lake Elsinore’s dead fish are could hurt public transit in other areas. washing up on shore by the hundreds

A letter sent Dec. 21 to Gold Line officials cites a 25 percent decline in Amtrak workers offered relocat 4 package or $10,000 to exit Metrolink ridership at the Covina station since the March 2016 opening of the Gold Line station, four miles north in Azusa. Because Gold Line gets Timeline: Tyisha Miller was sho 5 Riverside cops 20 years ago more money from taxpayers, it can offer cheaper fares than the prices 20 years after Tyisha Miller wa charged by Metrolink. 6 killed by Riverside police, what her legacy? ADVERTISING Person hit, killed by vehicle wit 7 horse trailer at rodeo event nea Perris

Passenger killed in collision in 8 Riverside is identified

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2 suspects in custody after dep 10 involved shooting in Jurupa Va

“If a similar reduction in ridership on the Metrolink San Bernardino Line occurs because of new Gold Line service, this would inevitably constitute a reduction in overall service for communities east of Montclair that do not have access to the new Gold Line option,” according to the letter.

“This would constitute a failure of public transit to serve our communities,” the letter continues. “To truly achieve our goals of mode shift and widespread adoption of public transit, such systems must complement each other — not compete.”

The extension project recently was split into phases because of rising costs. And the letter, signed by local, county, state and federal officials, also raises concerns over the phased approach now being taken by the authority, suggesting the strategy could lead to service disruptions, delays and significant cost increases without any long-term guarantee of service.

In November, the Authority voted to build the line in two phases, after anticipated costs rose 38 percent, from $1.5 billion to $2.1 billion.

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Officials attribute the rise in cost to tariffs imposed on imported steel by the Trump administration, a hot economy that’s driving up wages, and a market flooded with proposed rail and transit projects in which bidders can set their own price.

The decision pushed the opening of new stations in Pomona, Claremont and Montclair from 2026 to 2028.

The line will now end 4 miles short of the Montclair Transcenter, where the Gold Line was meant to tie together pedestrian-friendly residential and commercial development.

The change in strategy also triggered a need for a supplemental environmental impact report, which gives the public an opportunity to weigh in.

The letter, sent as part of this process, was signed by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands; Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-Grand Terrace; County Supervisors Janice Rutherford and Josie Gonzales; Upland Mayor Debbie Stone; Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Dennis Michael; Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren; Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson and Redlands Mayor Paul Foster.

The authority will review all comments and respond after the public comment period ends Jan. 4, said Lisa Levy Bush, authority spokeswoman.

“We haven’t had a chance to review them and to talk about them internally yet, so we will be doing that as part of the process,” Levy Bush said.

Although voters approved funding for the extension through the Measure I half cent sales tax in 2004, county officials are now asking whether a Gold Line extension is the best way to achieve that connectivity, considering the rising costs and potential impact to taxpayers east of Montclair.

“Given the significant cost increases for the additional Gold Line phases, we are compelled to ask if it is now time to examine different options and objectives that will achieve the same goal,” according to the letter.

Though the letter does not https://www.pe.com/...ension/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise[12/27/2018 3:39:48 PM] San Bernardino County leaders want to look at alternatives to Gold Line extension – Press Enterprise

RELATED LINKS specify another option, the San Bernardino County Here’s how Montclair plans to bring cash- Transportation Authority has strapped Gold Line to San Bernardino been promoting its Arrow County passenger rail service as a Gold Line extension may be cut short, possible alternative to existing leaving cities to ask, ‘Now what?’ commuter rail services in the region. Gold Line extension to arrive early in La Verne, but delays expected in Pomona, The service, which is Claremont and Montclair expected to start in 2021, will Metro wants CEO to find $200 million to run smaller, cheaper and stretch first phase of Gold Line extension more fuel efficient trains called to Pomona Diesel Multiple Units, on the same tracks as larger Gold Line extension delayed because of steel tariffs, runaway construction costs, Metrolink trains, from authority says downtown San Bernardino to the University of Redlands.

Running diesel trains would not require the construction of new track, which is required with the light rail system. Also, trains would arrive every 30 minutes, said Otis Greer, director of legislative and public affairs for SBCTA.

But, Greer said, they are not asking the Gold Line to study the potential use of DMUs. Instead, they are asking the agency to consider the impact to Metrolink and possible remedies.

“Everybody supports connectivity,” Greer said. “Given what we’ve seen from the bids and cost, is this the right way to do it? And if there’s another way to do it, shouldn’t we consider it?”

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""6!73335 4 %3!5"3! 8 8 8 !"8 "8#8! %8" 8%"%86% % "9@#%@@A8%B8C8B8ADCC@%5 " A Children’s Fund receives toy donations from West Valley Water District – San Bernardino Sun

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LOCAL NEWS Children’s Fund receives toy donations from West Valley Water District

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SUBSCRIBE West Valley Water District donates more than 300 holiday gifts to Children’s Fund. (Courtesy Photo) Follow Us By STAFF REPORT | |  PUBLISHED: December 27, 2018 at 3:34 pm | UPDATED: December 27, 2018 at 3:34    pm

https://www.sbsun.com/...ater-district/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_campaign=socialflow[12/27/2018 3:39:02 PM] Children’s Fund receives toy donations from West Valley Water District – San Bernardino Sun SPONSORED CONTENT The Board of Directors of the West Valley Water District recently made a holiday toy donation to Children’s Fund.

The board presented more than 300 gifts, collected in the district’s holiday toy drive, to Children’s Fund on Dec. 20 at the district’s office in Rialto.

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Cid Pinedo, chief executive officer of Children’s Fund, attended the presentation.

“On behalf of Children’s Fund, I would like to thank West Valley Water District and its Board of Directors for going above and beyond to making this a memorable holiday season for the children we serve throughout the region,” Pinedo said in a press release.

Children’s Fund was founded in 1986 as a nonprofit component to Children’s Network of San Bernardino County. The organization serves children in foster care and other vulnerable children in San Bernardino County.

West Valley Water District board members attending included Michael Taylor, board president, and Kyle Crowther, vice president.

West Valley Water District is a special district that provides water service to approximately 80,000 people in San Bernardino and Riverside https://www.sbsun.com/...ater-district/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_campaign=socialflow[12/27/2018 3:39:02 PM] Children’s Fund receives toy donations from West Valley Water District – San Bernardino Sun

counties. In a 31-square-mile area, the district serves portions of the communities of Bloomington, Colton, Fontana, Rialto, San Bernardino and Jurupa Valley.

Information: wvwd.org; www.childrensfund.org

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('&# ' )) ) ))! )"#"# 0 1 )2) 1) 3)45!46!6'# 22 Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

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TRAVEL Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets …

By CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

DEC 26, 2018 | 7:00 PM   

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

Joshua Tree National Park, a popular area for rock climbers, remains open, but the federal government's partial shutdown since Dec. 22 has cut back its services. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

The federal government’s partial shutdown has granted outdoorsy travelers free access to national parks that usually charge up to $30 per carload. And with that freedom, some locals say, has come a surge in scofflaw activity and a ticklish toilet situation, especially at Joshua Tree National Park.

At Joshua Tree, Death Valley and Channel Islands national parks — all within 220 miles of Los Angeles — conditions vary as widely as the geography.

inRead invented by Teads

All three parks are open, and their lodgings and campgrounds are open, as are other services generally run by park concessionaire companies. But all visitor centers and many restrooms are closed and many other services have been disrupted, including bathroom maintenance and trash collection.

Those conditions pose a particular peril in Joshua Tree, locals say, because these are some of the busiest days of the year.

PAID CONTENT What Is This?

Your Essential Pre-Moving to Do List

While there are few things more exciting than a big relocation, moving can be a giant hassle, whether it’s cross-town or cross-country. You’ll need lots of mental... https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

By Edward Jones

Rangers at Joshua Tree counted 284,398 visitors in December 2017, most in the second half of the month. Since the federal government’s partial shutdown began on Dec. 22, new arrivals are free to ignore the usual entrance fee of $30 per car.

The park’s visitor centers, water filling stations and dump stations are also closed as part of the shutdown. But its trails, campgrounds and waterless toilets, also known as vault toilets, remain open, even though there are no federal employees to maintain them.

That situation — and the multiplying trash — has spurred volunteerism, but it also has many locals nervous.

“I’ve gone through 500 rolls of toilet paper,” said Rand Abbott, a Joshua Tree rock- climber and volunteer who started restocking park toilets on Saturday, the first full day of the shutdown.

“And I’ve been emptying all the trash cans that are there and putting bags in. And then I’ve been giving out trash bags to people. I’ve probably put 60 hours in.”

Abbott, a 54-year-old Marine Corps veteran and paraplegic who is well known in the climbing community, said he has also been trying to talk visitors out of illegal fires, illegal parking, littering and other forbidden activities.

Some comply right away, but “70% of the people I’m running into are extremely rude,” Abbott said. “Yesterday, I had my life threatened two times. It’s crazy in there right now.”

Joe De Luca, a sales associate at Nomad Ventures in downtown Joshua Tree, agreed.

“It’s a free-for-all in there. Absolutely ridiculous,” De Luca said.

Besides the toilets and trash, he cited breakdowns in the campground reservation system, illegal camping practices and visitors stringing Christmas lights from

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

delicate Joshua trees that they are supposed to leave untouched.

In the shop, De Luca said, he and colleagues are emphasizing leave-no-trace practices and recommending WAG bags — “a bag that you go to the bathroom in [and carry out] for sensitive areas where there are no bathrooms.”

De Luca thinks “the park needs to shut their gates.”

“We’re seeing so much damage. New Year’s is coming up and that’s going to be crazy.”

For Sabra Purdy, co-owner of Joshua Tree-based Cliffhanger Guides, “it’s a really inopportune time not to have anybody minding the hen house.”

But she’s no fan of closing the park. Purdy, who spent most of Wednesday guiding 14 clients on four tours, recalled the financial hardships the community suffered in the government shutdown of 2013, when the park closed for more than two weeks. This time, she said, she’s “grateful that at least the doors are open.”

But she’s also concerned. Instead of holding on to their $30, she suggests park visitors donate to an accredited charity such as Friends of Joshua Tree, which might be able to take over responsibilities that the National Park Service currently can’t.

Meanwhile, Purdy said, she and her husband, Seth Zaharias, spent most of Christmas Eve in park restrooms, “scrubbing the toilets, bleaching them, sweeping them, taking out the trash and restocking them with toilet paper.” Then her husband went out and did more bathrooms on Wednesday, she said.

But without more help from the feds, the state or county, Purdy said, she’s not sure how long she, her husband and allies such as Abbott can keep things up.

“We’re on the honor system now,” Abbott said. “It’s an opportunity for us to show how well we can take care of public lands. Unfortunately, it’s not going as well as I would like to see it go.”

At Channel Islands National Park, which is accessible only by water and air and charges no admission fee, the story is much different.

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

The park typically draws far fewer recreational visitors than the desert parks — just 16,746 visitors in December 2017. Still, the visitors have kept coming and camping during the shutdown, and Island Packers, the park’s transportation concessionaire, keeps bringing them.

The Ventura-based company, which runs two boats daily to Santa Cruz Island, is operating by its usual schedule, carrying day visitors and overnight campers (who have long been required to pack out their own trash), said Cherryl Connally, co- owner of Island Packers.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the company’s Santa Cruz trips were sold out through Saturday. Whale-watching and Anacapa itineraries were also doing well, Connally said.

Connally said Island Packers and Santa Barbara Adventure Co. (a kayak tour company) had taken over the job of shipping and replenishing toilet paper on Santa Cruz Island.

“We have a good paperwork relationship there,” she said.

In Death Valley National Park, which attracted 94,320 visitors in December 2017 and usually charges $30 per car per week, lodgings at Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells and Panamint Springs remain open, as do neighboring concession campgrounds and their restrooms.

The popular Furnace Creek, Sunset, Texas Springs, Mesquite Springs and Emigrant campgrounds are open too — but all of their restrooms are closed. The Park Service is urging visitors to “pack out all human waste.” Also, no reservation systems are in place.

Sheila Burkhart, accounting coordinator for Death Valley Lodging Co. at Stovepipe Wells, said that 190-space campground there was about 75% full on Christmas Day, with park concessionaires cleaning bathrooms and emptying trash. A few guests even braved the outdoor swimming pool, Burkhart said.

“We might be a little slower” than last year, Burkhart said, but visitors “are pretty happy. A lot of our foreign guests don’t understand a government shutdown, but they’re happy they’re able to see some parts of the park, that it isn’t completely

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets … - Los Angeles Times

closed.”

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Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has written about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times since 1990. Since 2009, he has climbed Mayan pyramids, roamed Red Square in a snowstorm, been shushed at the New York Public Library and jumped from the tallest building in Soweto (rope attached). He takes no freebies or press discounts.

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https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html[12/27/2018 3:38:01 PM] Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California – Daily Bulletin

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NEWS Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California Over the decade from 2008 to 2017, as the opioid epidemic took hold, the number of drug-exposed infants born per year nearly tripled in California

  

Dr. Lily Martorell-Bendezu checks an opiate-addicted baby’s heart and muscle tone in the neonatal intensive care unit at Riverside University Health System Medical Center. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By TERI SFORZA | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: December 27, 2018 at 3:45 pm | UPDATED: December 27, 2018 at 4:13 pm

https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_medium=social[12/27/2018 4:34:26 PM] Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California – Daily Bulletin

First in a four-part series

It was time for the newborn’s morphine.

Neonatal intensive care nurse Jeri Gibbons placed a dropper between his tiny lips and squeezed the clear liquid — often used to relieve cancer pain — directly into his mouth. His thin arms shot out, grasping at empty air — searching, perhaps, for the mother who was not there, who would likely never be there.

“You’re doing fine,” Gibbons whispered to the infant, swaddling him tightly in a blanket, as is recommended for babies experiencing drug withdrawal.

His mother, a young heroin addict, received no prenatal care. She gave birth in September and left the hospital a day later. There was a comfy chair near the newborn’s bassinet in the Riverside University Health System Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit — a chair where moms are encouraged to stay 24/7, to curl up, breastfeed and give their fragile babies the skin-to- skin contact that eases pain and boosts mother- baby bonding. 6 But the chair was empty. Mom never came. She never even gave him a name.

“We can try to be a replacement,” said Dr. Lily Martorell-Bendezu, the neonatologist at the medical center who specializes in treating drug- 9 exposed babies. “But the voice, the smell. … We want them to be here for the baby, even if they won’t be able to keep the baby. It’s just better for the babies to be with their parents.” https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_medium=social[12/27/2018 4:34:26 PM] Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California – Daily Bulletin

A mom’s presence can cut a drug-exposed baby’s hospital stay in half, research has found.

That simple goal, to keep moms and babies together, informs the state of California’s entire Dr. Lily Martorell-Bendezu, a approach to a problem neonatologist at Riverside University Health System that extends far Medical Center, works with drug- addicted babies. (Photo by beyond the hospital Mindy Schauer, Orange County doors — to the fast- Register/SCNG) growing population of babies born exposed to opiates and other drugs.

Over the course of the generation-spanning “crack babies” to “heroin babies,” California and the nation have made legal and philosophical shifts, removing fewer drug-exposed children from their parents’ care and working harder to make fractured families whole again before terminating parental rights and putting children up for adoption.

But the process is complex, time-consuming and frequently frustrating, involving many moving parts

and a shifting cast of characters — governmental and otherwise — whose judgments may be in direct conflict.

And the window of time parents get to put their lives back together — typically six months to a year — is far shorter than the time it takes to overcome addiction, parents and experts say.

“The health, well-being and safety of these infants may be jeopardized if they are sent home with parents with substance use disorders who do not have a system of support and are not in treatment or recovery,” the Government Accountability Office said.

Such concerns may be well-founded, data suggests.

While the number of kids in California’s child protection system plunged almost 50 percent between 2000 and 2018, the number of infants — younger than one year — shot up more than 9 percent.

More than 2,200 children have suffered fatal and near-fatal incidents in California since 2009. The overwhelming majority of these tragedies — more than 90 percent, according to a Southern California News Group analysis of data from California Department of Social Services — occurred while the children were in the care of their own parents and legal guardians.

When children died, the overwhelming majority — 77 percent — were from families who previously were involved with the child protection system, according to the state’s most recent figures.

When children were seriously injured, more than 60 percent were from families that had been on child protection system’s radar.

About two out of every three children harmed were age 2 or younger. More than half were babies, 12 months or younger. The data does not, however, specify what role substance use played in the tragedies — if any.

Public dilemma

The baby with no name is far from alone.

Nearly 50,000 drug-exposed infants have been born in California since 2000, a parade of human suffering that has touched families, communities and taxpayers. While healthy newborns typically stay in a hospital for a day or two after birth, drug- exposed newborns often need weeks of medical care. The initial extra cost to save these newborns ranges from $159,000 to $238,000 per child, according to research from Stanford University.

Nationwide, neonatal abstinence syndrome — the technical term for babies born in withdrawal — costs U.S. hospitals about $1.5 billion a year, researchers found. The overwhelming majority of these costs — about 80 percent — are borne by public insurance programs like Medi-Cal, and paid for with tax dollars.

Over the decade from 2008 to 2017, as the opioid epidemic took hold, the number of drug-exposed infants born per year nearly tripled in California, according to figures from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

But the epidemic hasn’t hit every community equally.

In some counties, including Merced and Stanislaus, drug- exposed births more than quadrupled. In Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, they’ve more than tripled. And in Orange, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties, they’ve more than doubled.

But in Alameda — a county with what some experts say is the most effective family drug court in the state — drug-exposed births increased less than 2 percent.

Experts caution that the numbers — 5,050 drug- exposed infants born in California in 2017, or about 14 new babies every day — offer only a partial snapshot of the problem. Because there’s no mandatory drug screening for mothers and infants in California, many drug-exposed births are likely happening under the radar. That’s especially true among wealthier women with private insurance, experts say.

Also missing in this data are the mothers who quit cold turkey when they discover they’re pregnant, only to return to the needle, or pipe, or pills, as soon as the baby is born.

“The harm done is understated tremendously,” said Sidney L. Gardner, president of Children and Family Futures, a national nonprofit based in Lake Forest that studies the intersection where child

welfare, addiction treatment and court systems meet.

Gardner describes a “pyramid of harm.” At the top are the comparably small number of child fatalities, resting atop a vast base of kids impacted by drug exposure who may eventually suffer injuries and learning difficulties related to the drugs their mothers ingested.

“There’s a disability side that is, I think, horrifyingly understated, undercounted, misunderstood or deliberately set aside,” Gardner said.

Sid Gardner, is president of Children and Family Futures. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) requires states to draft “plans of safe care” for substance-affected infants — which means probing family circumstances and connecting them to services that ensure the child’s safety.

That law was amended in 2016 by the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). It now requires that “plans of safe care” created for drug-exposed infants specifically also address the substance abuse treatment needs of https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_medium=social[12/27/2018 4:34:26 PM] Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California – Daily Bulletin

their parents.

But the federal government hasn’t been specific about precisely what that means, and states are interpreting it in different ways. California maintains that the safety plans it has always drawn up for children satisfy the new federal requirements, but Gardner disagrees: California fails to follow these children far enough into the future as they grow, and so can’t address learning and behavioral problems that might not manifest until elementary or secondary school.

“We’re going to see those kids over and over again,” Gardner said. “We’re going to spend a lot of money on them. These babies cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of these are million- dollar babies.”

Over the past decade alone, Medi-Cal has spent about $111 million on care for drug-exposed infants, according to data from Department of Health Care Services. Gardner said that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Lucky one

At the Riverside University Health System Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit, baby Andrew — the nurses often call unnamed baby boys Andrew — was doing well, all things considered.

His eyes were open and watchful, even as a tube snaked up his nose and wires bristled from his skin. He wasn’t trembling. He wasn’t irritable. He wasn’t refusing food or crying the inconsolable, kitten-like cry that’s common to babies in opioid withdrawal. https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_medium=social[12/27/2018 4:34:26 PM] Born on drugs: Babies from addicted moms are increasing at an alarming rate in California – Daily Bulletin

On a 30-point scale — with 30 being the worst — Andrew was at about 7, which meant his morphine dose could be dropped by 10 percent every two days until he was weaned off the drug.

To the staff, his future looked promising.

“People line up to adopt infants like him,” said nurse Tammy Johnson.

Indeed, he was luckier than many drug-exposed infants in California who did have names:

Reginald Jules was born — and died — on July 7 from maternal methamphetamine use, according to records kept by the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Baby Girl Ford was born — and died — on June 26, with “maternal cocaine intoxication” as one of the causes. Everett Deshazer was born — and died — on April 2, from “placental abruption and toxic effects of methamphetamine from intrauterine exposure.”

While the number of drug-exposed babies has commanded wide attention, the number of young children who die or are injured due to drug exposure has not.

More than 100 children younger than 5 have died from drug exposure since 2006 in California, according to data kept by the California Department of Public Health and other agencies. Another 52,519 young children were rushed to hospital emergency rooms after drug exposure, and 6,102 were hospitalized, according to the data.

Government grinds into gear

Martorell-Bendezu, the neonatologist, has two children of her own. She has authored papers about how to best care for drug-exposed infants. Her empathy for them — and for their addicted parents — runs deep.

“What they have is a disease,” she said, noting changes in the brains of addicts. “They crave this. They need this (drug) to be OK. It’s not as though they’re doing it on purpose; they can’t help themselves.

“It’s easier to understand when you look at it that way.”

While some states classify — and prosecute — prenatal substance abuse as criminal child abuse, California does not. Instead, communities are trying to do what Riverside County is doing — building a safety net for these women and their babies, a protected space where there are no handcuffs and no judgment, only help.

Riverside’s program is held up as a model by the California Health Care Foundation. Myriad agencies are working together to reach drug- addicted, pregnant women before they deliver. They offer a broad range of support, from medication-assisted treatment to prenatal care to services that can stabilize their often chaotic lives.

“We want them to see that they don’t need to be

afraid,” Martorell-Bendezu said of addict moms. “We want them to understand we’re here to help them, and to help them stay together” with their children.

In the infant ICU, the help is, literally, hands on.

Every three hours, at least, someone picked up the baby with no name. The more often, the better; the importance of human touch to a baby’s well-being cannot be overestimated. The hospital has a volunteer cuddlers program, but more cuddlers are always in demand.

But with the mother absent, the baby with no name became a ward of the state of California. And as is required when tests show an infant is “pos-tox” — drugs were found in his system — Child Protective Services was notified.

And, with that, the complex machinery of the state’s child welfare system rumbled to life.

In California, parental drug use is not by itself grounds for taking a child away. The state is to provide the services and support necessary to keep parents and children together — even parents with onerous problems like addiction.

Sometimes, it works.

Melanie Quijano, Tonika Reed, Catie Kovelman

and Jordan Lemke contributed to this report.

This series was produced with the support of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Impact Fund.

Tags: Drug-exposed babies, Top Stories Breeze, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories LBPT, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE, Top Stories PSN, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories SGVT, Top Stories Sun, Top Stories WDN

Teri Sforza Teri Sforza is one of the lead reporters on the OCR/SCNG probe of fraud, abuse and death in the Southern California addiction treatment industry. Our "Rehab Riviera" coverage won first place for investigative reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, first place for projects reporting from Best of the West and is a finalist for the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation's print award, competing with the New York Times, the Washington Post and ProPublica. Sforza birthed the Watchdog column for The Orange County Register in 2008, aiming to keep a critical (but good-humored) eye on governments and nonprofits, large and small. It won first place for public service reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 2010. She also contributed to the OCR's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of fertility fraud at UC Irvine, covered what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in America‘s history, and is the author of "The Strangest Song," the first book to tell the story of a genetic condition called Williams syndrome and the extraordinary musicality of many of the people who have it. She earned her M.F.A. from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, and enjoys making documentaries, including the OCR's first: "The Boy Monk," a story that was also told as a series in print. Watchdogs need help: Point us to documents that can help tell stories that need to be told, and we'll do the rest. Send tips to [email protected].

 Follow Teri Sforza @terisforza

https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_medium=social[12/27/2018 4:34:26 PM] For years, L.A. prosecutors failed to disclose misconduct by police witnesses. Now the D.A.'s office is trying to change that - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. NOW LOCAL For years, L.A. prosecutors failed to disclose misconduct by police witnesses. Now the D.A.'s office is trying to change that

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-prosecutors-police-witnesses-20180228-htmlstory.html[12/28/2018 7:29:03 AM] For years, L.A. prosecutors failed to disclose misconduct by police witnesses. Now the D.A.'s office is trying to change that - Los Angeles Times

Defense attorneys in nine felony cases said prosecutors failed to inform them that a deputy who testified had previously admitted writing inaccurate reports and giving inaccurate testimony. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey is working to improve such disclosures. (Mel Melcon / Los

Angeles Times)

he Los Angeles County district attorney’s office had plenty of evidence that Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Novelich had credibility issues. T He admitted during job interviews with two other law enforcement agencies that he had written 20 to 100 inaccurate arrest reports and given inaccurate testimony in court, according to a district attorney’s memo.

Nevertheless, Novelich continued testifying in criminal cases, and prosecutors didn’t share the information. When the deputy took the stand, defense attorneys and judges had no idea about his previous admissions.

California’s secrecy laws protecting the confidentiality of police discipline — the strictest in the nation — have helped keep misconduct out of view in courts where officers testify against defendants. But a Times review of law enforcement and court records found that prosecutors also have failed to notify defendants about alleged wrongdoing by police witnesses.

There are signs that prosecutors have recently taken steps to improve such disclosures.

The L.A. County district attorney’s office has dramatically expanded its requirements for when prosecutors should disclose allegations of wrongdoing against law enforcement officers who could testify in court, sending out hundreds of letters this year notifying criminal defendants about claims of police misconduct.

Under new rules introduced in March, prosecutors are now required to tell defendants of credibility concerns about law enforcement officers who are potential witnesses in a criminal case. Previously, such disclosures had to be made only if an officer was expected to actually testify.

The new policy also calls for the office to review memos like the one documenting Novelich’s admissions to determine if they should be provided to defendants and their attorneys in criminal cases where officers are testifying.

The change came several months after a Times investigation identified two dozen deputies on a secret Sheriff’s Department list of officers who had been disciplined for dishonesty and other misconduct that could undermine their credibility if they took

the witness stand.

Inside a secret list of hundreds of L.A. deputies with histories of misconduct »

California’s police privacy laws are so strict that not even prosecutors had access to the list, even though the deputies were considered potential witnesses in more than 4,400 felony criminal cases since 2000, according to a Times analysis of district attorney records.

Some of the recent D.A. letters were sent to defense attorneys who had cases in which those same sheriff’s deputies on the list were potential witnesses or actually testified, said Deputy Public Defender Lloyd Handler, who heads his office’s Public Integrity Assurance Section. The notifications involve both ongoing and completed criminal cases, and they refer to alleged misconduct by officers dating as far back as a decade ago, he said.

“It would appear to be a positive change,” Handler said. “You would hope that if some of this misconduct would come to light today we would be apprised of it today and not have to wait 10 years for it.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors must alert defendants to favorable evidence, including information that could undermine the credibility of government witnesses. But the state’s police privacy laws have often prevented prosecutors from learning about disciplinary actions taken against law enforcement officers for serious misconduct.

Here's how California became the most secretive state on police misconduct »

California is among 22 states that keep officer discipline from the public but is the only one that blocks prosecutors from seeing entire police personnel files. A new state law that takes effect Jan. 1 will open up some internal police records to prosecutors and the public, including instances where internal affairs investigations found that officers were dishonest.

But Novelich’s case shows how prosecutors have also failed to share evidence about alleged misconduct even when their office possessed documents detailing the accusations.

In a 2004 memo detailing Novelich’s https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-prosecutors-police-witnesses-20180228-htmlstory.html[12/28/2018 7:29:03 AM] For years, L.A. prosecutors failed to disclose misconduct by police witnesses. Now the D.A.'s office is trying to change that - Los Angeles Times

statements, a prosecutor in the D.A.’s Justice System Integrity Division concluded that charges could not be filed because there was no evidence that the deputy gave false information in a specific case.

The Sheriff’s Department suspended Novelich for 15 days and removed him from patrol duties for three years, according to a report by the county’s Office of Independent Review, which detailed Novelich’s conduct without naming him. Former L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Gary Novelich (L.A. The civilian watchdog had recommended County Sheriff's Department) that Novelich be fired and said his admitted conduct “showed a cavalier attitude toward the facts that reinforces some of the public’s worst conceptions about officer integrity and trustworthiness.”

Over the next 12 years, Novelich was listed as a potential witness in more than 200 felony and misdemeanor cases, according to a Times analysis of D.A. records.

The deputy testified at preliminary hearings in nine felony cases; seven resulted in defendants entering guilty or no contest pleas to charges that included robbery, identity theft, drug possession and drunk driving. Defense attorneys in all nine told The Times that prosecutors never notified them about Novelich’s previous admissions.

“It sure as hell would have made a difference had I known that,” said attorney John McDonald, who handled a 2008 case in which Novelich testified against a man who later pleaded no contest to drug possession and was sent to prison. “I would have demanded to put [Novelich] on the witness stand and ask him about what he said. I think the case would have gone away.”

It’s unclear whether the prosecutors who handled that case and the others knew about the memo, which was written by a different prosecutor assigned to a special unit that handles criminal cases against police officers.

It sure as hell would have“ made a difference had I known that.

— Attorney John McDonald, on information regarding a police witness

Novelich, who left the Sheriff’s Department in 2016, did not respond to requests for comment.

District attorney’s spokesman Greg Risling declined to discuss Novelich’s cases. He said state law at the time required prosecutors to provide such information to defense attorneys at least 30 days prior to trial if the prosecution intended to call the officer as a witness. Only one of the nine felony cases went to trial, and Novelich did not testify, court records show.

The district attorney’s office has written hundreds of similar memos documenting allegations against other police officers who were the subject of criminal investigation but never prosecuted.

Defense lawyers said prosecutors seldom notified them in the past about information from the memos.

“It’s unusual for [prosecutors] to just out of the blue say, ‘Oh here we have this … evidence on an officer that we’ve come across,’ ” said Jordan Yerian, a division chief at the county’s alternate public defender’s office.

To comply with the D.A.’s new disclosure policy, prosecutors are reviewing the memos to determine if they should be entered into an internal database of police officers and other repeat witnesses.

Line-level prosecutors handling a criminal case must check whether their potential witnesses are in the database and whether there is information that should be turned over to the defense. Risling declined to say whether the memo about Novelich had been or would be included in the database.

The new policy warns prosecutors that damaging information about government witnesses must be disclosed before a defendant pleads guilty and that violating their responsibilities to turn over favorable material could trigger a report to the State Bar.

Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey has expanded her disclosure rules several times since she

took office in 2012. In a statement, she said the new directive goes beyond the requirements of California law.

“My philosophy has always been that, when possible, prosecutors ought to disclose information that can assist the defense,” she said. She declined to be interviewed.

Although the volume of notifications has increased, some defense attorneys complained that they typically included only a short description of an officer’s alleged wrongdoing and lacked any supporting documents, such as police reports or court filings. The onus is then on defense lawyers to file a motion asking a judge to determine if there are relevant records in an officer’s confidential personnel file.

Michael Schwartz, chief assistant district attorney at the Ventura County district attorney’s office, said his agency turns over reports and other documents when prosecutors learn of past misconduct by a police witness but generally won’t disclose such evidence unless the officer will be called as a witness. He praised Lacey’s approach as a thoughtful one.

“Prosecutors hold themselves to a high ethical standard,” Schwartz said. “The number of cases where exculpatory information has been withheld is rare. It’s the exception rather than the rule. It’s more of an inadvertence rather than attempt to hide something.”

Times staff writer Maya Lau contributed to this report.

[email protected]

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Ben Poston

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Ben Poston is a data journalist at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Springfield, Ohio, he worked on “Behind the Badge,” a series that detailed the flawed hiring practices by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He also published an investigation that found the Los Angeles Police Department routinely

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-prosecutors-police-witnesses-20180228-htmlstory.html[12/28/2018 7:29:03 AM] Inglewood mayor defends destruction of police records as routine; activists continue to voice concerns - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. NOW LOCAL Inglewood mayor defends destruction of police records as routine; activists continue to voice concerns

By HOWARD BLUME

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-inglewood-protest-20181223-story.html[12/27/2018 9:58:44 AM] Inglewood mayor defends destruction of police records as routine; activists continue to voice concerns - Los Angeles Times

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. at a City Council in September. He defend a city decision to destroy old police records. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. on Sunday defended his city’s decision this month to allow the destruction of years of investigative records involving police shootings.

Many of those records would have become public for the first time under a new state law set to take effect Jan. 1, providing a window into a police department that for years was beset by allegations of excessive force, poor officer training and lack of transparency.

Butts, a former Santa Monica police chief, told The Times on Sunday that there is no connection between the new law and Inglewood’s action. The Times broke the story a day earlier on the council’s decision.

“This premise that there was an intent to beat the clock is ridiculous,” he said.

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City officials, he added, would have nothing to fear from these records in terms of liability or embarrassment. A staff report indicates that the records go back as far as 1991.

“How would they be embarrassing to me?” said Butts, who became part of city government when he was elected mayor in 2011. “I wasn’t even here for those records. The records are what they are.”

The city’s decision attracted more than routine notice because of its timing and because it represented a change in city policy. Until this month, Inglewood required the Police Department to retain records on shootings involving officers for 25 years after the close of an investigation. Records of other internal investigations were to be kept six years.

Although these records were retained, they were not necessarily available to the public. That changes next week, because of Senate Bill 1421. The new law opens to the public internal investigations of shootings by officers and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault by officers and lying while on duty.

Still, Butts maintained the city did nothing wrong.

“It’s actually quite routine for us to do records destruction,” he told ABC 7’s Eyewitness News. “The Finance Department, the Police Department and other entities — whenever they want to destroy records that exceed a time limit — they submit a staff report to the City Council and the City Council approves or disapproves the records destruction.”

But longtime community activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson and a group of local civil rights leaders are skeptical. In light of the new state law, he said, Inglewood’s action “continues a pattern of lack of accountability.”

Longtime community activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson points to a list of people killed in encounters with Inglewood police while talking to reporters outside Inglewood City Hall on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

For years, Hutchinson worked with the families of those killed in encounters with Inglewood police. He said a full disclosure under the new law could reveal new avenues of legal redress and also could provide families with important details about what happened to their loved ones. The documents also would allow the public to review how well the department handled internal investigations and how seriously the department has embraced reforms.

“This action sends a terrible message that lack of transparency is still the policy in Inglewood,” he said. Hutchinson called on city leaders to delay the destruction of documents.

The city staff report and the City Council’s resolution from its Dec. 11 meeting make no mention of the new police transparency law. The resolution says that the affected records are “obsolete, occupy valuable space, and are of no further use to the Police Department.”

Butts told The Times Sunday said that the city’s old retention policy dated from 2010 and, before then, there was no policy regarding records of closed cases.

A series of Inglewood police shootings around 2008 attracted heightened scrutiny from activists, media and federal investigators. The city’s policy on retaining records was adopted as city officials and the Police Department were trying to improve their practices and rebuild public confidence.

However, the 2010 policy eventually became an administrative burden, Butts said, because it applied to any discharge of a weapon, including cases when a dog charged an officer or when officers fired a weapon and no one was hit. The more serious cases no longer had any active threads, he said, because the related civil lawsuits had been settled and criminal investigations concluded.

But Marcus Benigno, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called Inglewood’s actions an attempt to thwart “the will of Californians.”

In the past, California police have shredded records to avoid scrutiny. In the 1970s, the Los Angeles Police Department famously destroyed more than 4 tons of personnel records after defense attorneys began requesting them. The move resulted in the dismissal of more than a hundred criminal complaints.

In response, the Legislature demanded that records be preserved but then took other measures, supported by police unions, to ensure the public had little access to them. The new legislation begins to unwind those restrictions.

Butts called the current incarnation of his city’s police department a model agency, despite a 2016 incident in which Inglewood police opened fire on a couple found sleeping in a car, killing both. Butts noted that five officers involved in that shooting no longer work for the department and that a review of the officers’ actions, which could lead to prosecution, is ongoing.

State law requires holding onto police records for at least five years and Butts said it makes sense for Inglewood to align with that standard.

Butts said he does not know whether documents already have been destroyed. The Police Department could have acted anytime after the City Council’s decision earlier this month, he said.

He is not inclined to reconsider.

“Then how long do you keep these records?” he said. “Do you keep these records forever? You’re not going to do that.”

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