Two LBPD Officers Arrested, Criminally Charged

Stephen Downing

According to a Dec. 3 email obtained by the Beachcomber, Chief of Police Robert Luna informed the LBPD rank and file that criminal charges alleging the filing of a false police report have been brought against Officers Dedier Reyes and David Salcedo.

Luna said, “In February 2018, LBPD detectives discovered discrepancies in the (officer’s) police reports and the surveillance video regarding a firearms arrest.”

Luna’s statement said that the detectives “Learned that the officer’s actions were inconsistent with their written reports” and that “the arrested subject was immediately released, and charges were not filed against him.”

The chief added that “as a result LBPD began an investigation into the officer’s actions” and in January 2019, at the conclusion of the criminal investigation, detectives submitted the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filling consideration.”

In his email Luna informed his department that the district attorney filed criminal charges against the two officers on Dec. 3 and that arrest warrants were issued.

According to the email, Officer Dedier Reyes and David Salcedo “voluntarily surrendered into custody” and that “both officers have been suspended pending the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.”

Reyes was booked for one count of perjury, one count of filing a false police report and one count of filing a false government document. His bail was set at $2.

Salcedo was booked for one count of filing a false police report and one count of filing a false government document. His bail was set a $1.

Reyes is a 16-year veteran and Salcedo has been a police officer five years. Both are currently assigned to South Division.

The email did not report why the internal affairs investigation did not begin in January 2019 when the criminal misconduct was discovered, but in the email and a department press release made to the public at a later hour the LBPD reported that “The department is reviewing previous reports and arrests for each officer and will work closely with the district attorney’s office to share any information and finding pertinent to the investigation.”

A Beachcomber source reported that the “wrong person” the officer’s arrested and the department later released was falsely connected to the recovery of a gun that was used in a homicide and that the internal misconduct investigation was withheld from authorities pending prosecution of the real homicide suspect.

The Beachcomber has been unable to confirm that information and has submitted the following request to LBPD media relations:

“The Beachcomber would like to confirm and obtain details related to reports we have received that the “wrong person” the officer’s arrested and the department later released was falsely connected to the recovery of a gun used in a homicide and that the internal misconduct investigation was withheld from authorities pending prosecution of the real homicide suspect.

We would also like to know if the matters surrounding this incident were produced in the discovery documents provided by court order in the Christopher Williams civil rights case scheduled for trial on Jan. 11.

Also please provide comment as to why the IAD investigation was not implemented at the time the misconduct was discovered.”

The LBPD did not respond prior to this story being published.

Reyes the Subject of News Articles

Officer Dedier Reyes has been the subject of multiple Beachcomber articles over the past several years, the most recent being published on Dec. 2, entitled “City Attorney Contracts Hired Guns to Defend Internal Corruption.”

That story – along with links to previous articles involving Reyes and the so-called separate and independent internal complaint investigation process reported as “amounting to nothing more than a deceitful public relations ruse perpetrated upon the community” can be read here:

https://beachcomber.news/content/city-attorney-contracts-hired-guns-defend-internal-corruption-0

Related to that story is a lawsuit filed by the Beachcomber to demand the legally required production of records surrounding Reye’s misconduct. The city eventually settled the lawsuit and produced the records – costing the taxpayer $30,000 in attorney fees.

Those records provided the basis for exposing the corruption of the internal investigative process and the “checks and balances” within and outside the LBPD, which is currently the subject of a “reconciliation study” which – ironically – was presented in final draft form to the City Council’s public safety committee on Friday, prior to the city-promised public hearings on the issue currently scheduled for Dec. 14.

Christopher Williams, a 35-year old African American city bus driver who allegedly suffered a broken arm at the hands of Reyes – and the source of the referenced Beachcomber articles – filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging excessive force, unlawful detention/false arrest and conspiracy to cover-up against Reyes and other members of the LBPD.

The civil rights case is scheduled for trial on Jan. 11.

Chief Luna concluded his email to the rank and file by stating: “I have high standards and expectations of every employee. When the actions of individual employees erode the values of our organization, and the public trust all of us have worked so hard to cultivate, we all must all be held accountable.

Still pending “accountability” is the allegations of misconduct against the chief himself filed with the Citizen Police Complaint Commission (CPCC) by two neighborhood organizations for ordering and participating in a super spreader event inside the Convention Center at the height of the COVID -19 pandemic.

On Nov. 19 the Beachcomber followed up with City Manager Tom Modica to inquire as to the pending disposition of that misconduct.

The email to Modica read as follows:

The Beachcomber has received information that your plan relative to the adjudication of allegations against the chief of police surrounding his participation in the Nov. 5, 2020 super-spreader event at the Convention Center is to delay your review and findings until such time as Chief Luna retires and then to advise the complainants of record that a final adjudication or administration of disciplinary measures will serve no purpose or carry no force of authority – as the chief has retired.

The Beachcomber would like to know if that is in fact your plan – or do you intend to issue a finding and adjudicate the matter while the chief is still employed by the City of Long Beach?

It would also be appreciated if you would provide the Beachcomber with an explanation or comment as to why your decision in this matter has taken so long.

The complaint was filed on Dec. 14, 2020, the CPCC adjudicated the matter and sent you their findings four months later (April 8, 2021) and more than seven months has passed since with no action by your office in spite of the fact that the city advertises that adjudication of citizen complaints average between three and six months and Chief Luna has publicly admitted the allegations, saying: “It’s on me."

Thank you in advance for your timely response to this question.

The city manager did not respond to the Nov. 19 request for information.

On Dec. 2 Chief Luna announced his campaign to run for Los Angeles County Sheriff. As part of his announcement the chief announced that he would fire any employee who did not accommodate the vaccine mandate.

The City of Long Beach has yet to implement the vaccine mandate announced weeks ago by Mayor Robert Garcia. According to the city manager’s office the city is still “negotiating with the employee unions.”

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

stephen.beachcomber@gmail.com

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Comments

Like I said many times before the LBPD – with the assistance of the city attorney office – is a criminal organization and needs to be investigated. The actions of these officers was concealed by Luna and the city attorney for several years. They were also kept on the streets of the LBC to continue to falsify reports and putting the public in danger. Now that sh.. has hit the fan they pretend to act like they are honest players and announce an arrest, SMH. When are we putting a stop to these corrupt, incompetent, dishonest pigs?

Let me see if I have these facts straight. Officers Dedier Reyes and David Salcedo committed multiple crimes in February 2018. LBPD knew immediately about the crimes but took almost a year to investigate and submit the case to the district Attorney in January 2019. It then took the District Attorney nearly three years to file criminal charges against the two officers on December 3, 2021. Sum total, it took nearly 4 years to investigate and file criminal charges against two Long Beach Police Officers each known to have a long history of violent misconduct.

It’s absolutely outrageous that it takes 4 years for criminal Long Beach Police officers to be charged for their crimes. The fact that it takes that long for LBPD to weed out its own violent criminals is criminal in itself.

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