Commissioners, Investigator Declare CPCC ‘A Farce’

Long Beach Citizen Police Complaint Commission (CPCC) board member Porter Gilberg said it out loud, on a bullhorn, in public at Harvey Milk Park in front of hundreds of protesters on June 5 – “I am on the Citizen’s Police Complaint Commission … and the commission is a farce.”

Gilbert isn’t the only member of the commission who has made that assessment; he’s just the first one to announce it in public – and he delivered his list of reasons for calling the CPCC a farce:

• There is no accountability.
• I am on a body that looks at police complaints, that makes recommendations but has no decision-making power.
• I look at cases of police violence and police brutality and I do not get to say one word about it.
• Commissioners are never made aware of the outcomes of individual investigations.
• There are no written investigative policies or procedures for investigators, meaning there are no formal rules for how commission staff is to conduct investigations.
• Commissioners do not have access to all the evidence in an investigation.
• Evidence is, in fact, withheld from us that would allow us to make a more informed decision.
• Because we do not have access to all the evidence, we don’t even know what we’re not seeing.”
• The evidence we do not have access to is often cited by the city manager as reasons for overturning our recommendations to uphold the allegations of misconduct.
• This is all based on what the city attorney says and is not fact. Although the city takes this as fact.
• The city attorney’s interpretation of law has made the subpoena power of the commission useless.

(NOTE: In its 30-year history – although empowered to subpoena witnesses and documents, swear witnesses and conduct hearings, the CPCC has never done so for any case – including the LBPD cover-up of Councilperson Peace’s criminal assault and DUI case.)

Two former CPCC commissioners known to the Beachcomber also saw though the City Hall PR machine and wanted to go public in years past but did not because City Attorney Charles Parkin advised: “If you reveal anything about CPCC business you can be prosecuted under the Brown Act.“

Those commissioners took the threat to heart, fearing bankruptcy from city retaliation – until Porter Gilberg went public.

When informed of Gilberg’s “CPCC farce” declaration in an interview with the Beachcomber, former CPCC Commissioner Richard Lindemann said, “I agree with Gilberg, it is a farce.”

In an interview the same day with David Clement, the former CPCC commission chair said, “I don’t think the CPCC has ever met its original intent to be an independent investigative body. City staff selectively picked over everything we were allowed to see and our investigators were never permitted to interview the accused officers. What kind of investigation is that?”

Former CPCC Chief Investigator Thomas Gonzales terminated in 2006 for complaining about the city’s corrupted investigative practices and his attempts to expose LBPD excessive use of force cover-ups (he sued and won a judgment of $775,000) said of Gilberg’s statement, “I agree 100 percent. It’s always been a farce. They’re doing the same thing today as they did back in 2006 when they went after me for knowing too much and trying to expose it.”

The Beachcomber has published multiple articles and opinion pieces detailing stories that support Gilbert’s public announcement – as well as those made by the two former CPCC commissioners and the chief investigator whose story the Beachcomber has tracked through two trials over the past eight years. (See https://beachcomber.news/content/jury-decision-validates-city-hall-corru...) And (https://beachcomber.news/content/city-attorney-squanders-another-200000).

The mayor, city manager, city attorney and every member of the City Council responded to each of the multiple Beachcomber articles either with dead silence or by resurrecting the status quo drumbeat of praise for the value of the CPCC’s oversight functions and its “independence.”

Both Lindemann and Gonzales were also aware of the calendar item hurriedly placed on the City Council agenda for Tuesday, June 9 by Councilmembers Al Austin, Suzie Price, Dee Andrews and Rex Richardson to have the city manager “Take a fresh look at the role of the CPCC and identify options for increasing accountability and transparency in the relationship between our Police Department and the community.”

Lindemann said he saw the agenda item as “another farce and delaying tactic that will allow the politicians to buy time until the controversy fades from memory and City Hall goes back to business as usual.”

Gonzales said, Tuesday’s agenda item is “just another cover-up; they’re going to turn the pancake over and put it back on the same grill. All they want to do is make the people happy and get them off their backs.”

Lindemann added, “A better idea would be to have the council appoint an independent blue-ribbon commission made up of people of color affected by police violence, educators, activists, civil rights attorneys and other affected parties, as well as former CPCC commissioners like me and Mr. Gilberg. We can tell it like it is.”

Another recommendation that addressed the subject of “independence” and the fired CPCC investigator came from Bill Pearl on June 13 when the LB Report publisher wrote about the six month-long vacancy on the CPCC commission.

Pearl wrote: “Mr. Gonzales’ credentials are unmatched and unmatchable. He was an investigator for CPCC. He did his work so well that he uncovered matters in the handling of the public’s complaints against police officers that some people inside City Hall didn’t want uncovered. The city fired Mr. Gonzales but he didn’t shrink. He sued...and ultimately the city (with council voted approval) paid him (more than) $700,000 to settle the case.”

In order to insure that his LB Report readers understood the implications and push-back that would come from the council and mayor appointing a CPCC commissioner with Gonzales’ impeccable credentials for integrity that Pearl defined as “unmatched and unmatchable,”  Pearl wrote, ”To our knowledge, LB’s police union hasn’t said anything publicly about the CPCC vacancy, but we presume Mr. Gonzales is the last person it wants on the CPCC. He has shown his willingness to go where the truth leads no matter whose toes it steps on.”

Lindemann took it a step further and voiced support for a change to the City Charter that would morph the CPCC into a board of police commissioners with hire and fire authority over the chief of police and policy authority over all LBPD operations, with its support staff to include an inspector general empowered to inspect all police operations from recruitment to academy training to internal affairs investigations.

When the June 9 council meeting arrived it became clear that Lindemann and Gonzales’ crystal ball was perfectly in sync with their “farce” and “flip-the-pancake” predictions made days before. There would be no “independent look” at CPCC protocols or the absence thereof.

In a 8 to 1 vote, with Councilman Daryl Supernaw dissenting, the council passed the recommendation to have the city manager, rather than an independent commission, take that “fresh look.’

There was no discussion for an independent review in spite of the fact that oversight and control over what the CPCC commissioners are allowed to see, review and recommend has been wholly controlled by the city manager – with “advice” support from the city attorney - for the past 30 years.

Councilman Al Austin, in posturing for support of the motion told those gathered for the telephonic council meeting that he once served as a CPCC commissioner in 2003 and was familiar with “some of the limits to its authority.”

Austin said, “for example, the commission cannot compel a police officer to provide a statement about any given incident. “

What the Councilman didn’t say is that no one, including Internal Affairs or the chief of police can “compel a statement” from an officer in either a criminal or administrative investigation.

If the investigation is criminal, the officer is afforded his or her right to refuse self-incrimination, like any suspect subject to a criminal investigation.

If the investigation is bifurcated for administrative purposes, the officer can still refuse to answer questions, however the protocol is for a supervisor to order the officer to cooperate – and if the officer continues to refuse he or she can be terminated for refusing to obey the order.

Councilman Austin summed up his support for the city manager-rather than an independent commission- to review CPCC operations stating, “The CPCC, I believe, is an important tool for accountability and transparency when it comes to our community’s conflicts with our police department and it holds officers accountable. I look forward to reviewing the reforms we can make to make the CPCC more effective.”

Thomas Gonzales, the CPCC investigator said, “Back then (2006) they not only stopped me from interviewing the officers, they even tried to stop me from interviewing the citizen complainants, but I did it anyway. Many times I found that the IAD investigators attributed statements to the complainants that they never said. And it was always in support whatever new cover-up the LBPD was cooking up.”

Stephen Downing is a resident of Long Beach and a retired LAPD deputy chief of police.
tephen.beachcomber@gmail.com

Editors Note: This article has been updated from the on-line version published June 7 (below)

Long Beach Citizen Police Complaint Commission (CPCC) board member Porter Gilberg said it out loud, in public at Harvey Milk Park in front of hundreds of protesters on June 5 – “I am on the Citizen’s Police Complaint Commission … and the commission is a farce.”

Gilbert isn’t the only member of the commission who has made that assessment; he’s just the first one to announce it in public – and he delivered his list of reasons for calling the CPCC a farce that included the following statements:

• “There is no accountability.”
• “I am on a body that looks at police complaints, that makes recommendations but has no decision-making power.”
• “I look at cases of police violence and police brutality and I do not get to say one word about it.”
• “Commissioners are never made aware of the outcomes of individual investigations.”
• “There are no written investigative policies or procedures for investigators, meaning there are no formal rules for how commission staff is to conduct investigations.”
• “Commissioners do not have access to all the evidence in an investigation.
• “Evidence is, in fact, withheld from us that would allow us to make a more informed decision.”
• “Because we do not have access to all the evidence, we don't even know what we're not seeing.”
• “The evidence we do not have access to is often cited by the city manager as reasons for overturning our recommendations to uphold the allegations of misconduct.”
• “This is all based on what the city attorney says and is not fact. Although the city takes this as fact.”
• “The city attorney's interpretation of law has made the subpoena power of the commission useless.”

(NOTE: In its 30-year history – although empowered to subpoena witnesses and documents, swear witnesses and conduct hearings, the CPCC has never done so for any case – including the LBPD cover-up of Councilperson Peace’s criminal assault and DUI case.)

Two former CPCC commissioners known to the Beachcomber also saw though the City Hall PR machine and wanted to go public in years past but did not because City Attorney Charles Parkin advised: “If you reveal anything about CPCC business you can be prosecuted under the Brown Act.“

Those commissioners took the threat to heart, fearing bankruptcy from city retaliation – until today.

When informed of Gilberg’s “CPCC farce” declaration in an interview with the Beachcomber on June 6, former CPCC Commissioner Richard Lindemann said, “I agree with Gilberg, it is a farce.”

In an interview the same day with David Clement, the former CPCC commission chair, he said, “I don’t think the CPCC has ever met its original intent to be an independent investigative body. City staff selectively picked over everything we were allowed to see, and our investigators were never permitted to interview the accused officers. What kind of investigation is that?”

Former CPCC Chief Investigator Thomas Gonzales terminated in 2006 for complaining about the city’s corrupted investigative practices and his attempts to expose LBPD excessive use of force cover-ups (he sued and won a judgment of $775,000) said of Gilberg’s statement, “I agree 100 percent. It’s always been a farce. They’re doing the same thing today as they did back in 2006 when they went after me for knowing too much and trying to expose it.”

The Beachcomber has published multiple articles and opinion pieces detailing stories that support Gilbert’s public announcement – as well as those made on June 6 by the two former CPCC commissioners and the chief investigator whose story the Beachcomber has tracked through two trials over the past eight years. (See https://beachcomber.news/content/jury-decision-validates-city-hall-corru...) and (https://beachcomber.news/content/city-attorney-squanders-another-200000).

The mayor, city manager, city attorney and every member of the City Council responded to the each of the multiple Beachcomber articles either with dead silence or by resurrecting the status quo drumbeat of praise for the value of the CPCC’s oversight functions as well as its “independence.”

Both Lindeman and Gonzales were also aware of the new calendar item hurriedly placed on the City Council agenda for Tuesday, June 9 by Councilmembers Al Austin, Suzie Price, Dee Andrews and Rex Richardson to have the city manager “Take a fresh look at the role of the CPCC and identify options for increasing accountability and transparency in the relationship between our Police Department and the community.”

Lindemann said he saw the agenda item as “another farce and delaying tactic that will allow the politicians to buy time until the controversy fades from memory and City Hall goes back to business as usual.”

Gonzales said, Tuesday’s agenda item is “just another cover-up; they’re going to turn the pancake over and put it back on the same grill. All they want to do is make the people happy and get them off their backs.”

Lindemann added, “A better idea would be to have the council appoint a blue-ribbon commission made up of people of color affected by police violence, educators, activists and others affected parties, as well as former CPCC commissioners like me and Mr. Gilberg. We can tell it like it is.”

Lindemann also voiced support for a change to the City Charter that would morph the CPCC into a board of police commissioners with hire and fire authority over the chief of police and policy authority over all LBPD operations, with its support staff to include an inspector general empowered to inspect all police operations from recruitment to academy training to internal affairs investigations.

Interested parties can make eComment on the agenda item scheduled as agenda item #26 at: https://longbeach.granicusideas.com/meetings/3165-city-council/agenda_items

Other written comments may also be submitted by email to: cityclerk@longbeach.gov.

Stephen Downing is a resident of Long Beach and a retired LAPD deputy chief of police.