![\"Report](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Yusef.jpg\")
<\/a>Following outcry from the community after the Jan. 19, 2018 incident, the City Council voted to hire an independent investigator to look into whether the officer acted outside of department policies regarding use of force. At the Jan. 8 meeting, attorney Scott Tiedemann delivered the report compiled by investigator Barry Aninag.<\/p>\n
The release of the report was limited because investigations of a police officer\u2019s personnel record must be kept confidential by law, Tiedemann said. The only exception to the law is for incidents that result in death or severe injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully, in this case, we do not have a death nor great bodily injury,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, Mr. Aninag interviewed 20-plus witnesses. However, the student involved in the subject incident was not interviewed,\u201d he said. \u201cHer mother and attorney had not responded to requests by Mr. Aninag to interview her. Therefore, the student did not provide her first-hand account of the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even without the student\u2019s comments, the investigation was deemed finished.<\/p>\n
The investigation looked into four separate allegations:<\/p>\n
Was the initial use of force \u2014 the first body slam \u2014 a violation of La Mesa Police Department (LMPD)\u2019s use of force policy?<\/p>\n
Was the subsequent use of force \u2014 a second body slam \u2014 a violation of department policy?<\/p>\n
Was the conduct racially motivated?<\/p>\n
Did the officer lose his temper during the incident?<\/p>\n
For the first two allegations of whether the officer\u2019s action violated LMPD policy, the findings were \u201cnot sustained,\u201d reported Tiedemann. The report also said that LMPD policies were \u201cconsistent\u201d with other use of force policies throughout the state.<\/p>\n
The third and fourth allegations of racial motivation or a loss of temper by the officer were deemed \u201cunfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n
In council discussion and in comments from the community, the report raised more questions than offer answers about the Helix incident. Mayor Mark Arapostathis questioned why a report would be released without the student involved being interviewed and wanted to know how thorough the investigator was in trying to interview her. Tiedeman said that letters and phone calls to the student\u2019s parents and attorney went unanswered.<\/p>\n
Arapostathis asked if the investigator inquired about why the school called the police in the first place and also wanted to know whether Helix High School administrators were interviewed for the report. Tiedemann said that he was \u201cnot in a position to\u201d answer why the school called the police and did not know whether the school was conducting its own investigation. He added that any interviews with the school involving the incident were confidential because the report is part of the officer\u2019s personnel file.<\/p>\n
\u201cConfidential to who? To whom will this be released?\u201d asked Arapostathis.<\/p>\n
Tiedemann said the report was released to Police Chief Walt Vasquez, who has accepted the findings.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Dr. Akilah Weber asked what was in the department\u2019s use of force policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a stepwise approach that is recommended when you have a situation that needs to be deescalated, or is it just at the discretion of the officer at the time?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiedemann said he did not know what the policy is, but that, in general, policies are that force should be limited to \u201ca reasonable response that a reasonable officer would use.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it is subjective, what an officer thinks is reasonable at the time in that situation?\u201d asked Weber.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exactly the opposite,\u201d replied Tiedemann. \u201cIt is measured by an objectively reasonable standard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber then asked Tiedemann what led to the officer thinking the body slam was reasonable. Tiedemann said he couldn\u2019t disclose those findings.<\/p>\n
Public comments on the report echoed the frustrations of the council.<\/p>\n
Yusef Miller, a member of the East County Justice Coalition, expressed his disappointment in a \u201cweak report on a sensitive subject\u201d of police violence in schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wait all this time to hear nothing in this report. No questions can be answered,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not justice for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Mesa resident Jack Shu called the report \u201ca failure of process\u201d and said the incident should be investigated further. He suggested the city form a citizen oversight or advisory committee to deal with complaints against police officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how we mend things in cities. That\u2019s how we become transparent and helpful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Aeiramique Blake said that she and other community activists who organized in the wake of the Helix incident developed a good working relationship with Chief Vasquez, but was disappointed in report, which she said was shielded by the \u201cPolice Bill of Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a young lady is slammed to the ground twice while she is in handcuffs or any type of restraint \u2026 there is never an excuse for that. Obviously, we need to do something different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tasha Williamson called on public officials to change policies and criticized the report as waste of time and money.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday what I heard is it was acceptable to brutalize a black girl. That\u2019s all I heard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Janet Costanos also voiced support for a citizens advisory council or oversight committee, citing benefits to the city like saving money, reducing litigation, exonerating innocent cops in the court of public opinion and building bridge with community.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these potential benefits support the goals of community policing, which seeks to utilize problem solving techniques \u2026 to proactively address concerns so we don\u2019t go through something like this again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After the public hearing, the council discussed possible actions that the city could take. Mayor Arapostathis said classrooms need to have de-escalation policies and again voiced frustration with not being informed about the school\u2019s part in deciding to involve the police.<\/p>\n
Vice Mayor Colin Parent echoed the frustration about the \u201csparseness of information\u201d in the report and suggested using the Public Records Act to get information about the incident from Helix High School.<\/p>\n
Parent and Councilmember Kristine Alessio both suggested looking at the police department\u2019s use of force policy, but City Attorney Glenn Sabine reminded them that a city council can review and comment on police policy, but by law cannot direct police chiefs on how to operate their department.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut an educational process as to what\u2019s out there \u2026 may be good,\u201d Sabine said. \u201cI think it could open the eyes of the police department, if that\u2019s warranted, by looking at what some other jurisdictions are doing. But if nothing else, it\u2019s an awareness kind of approach and it may be justified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber suggested to specifically look at La Mesa\u2019s use of force policy and see how it differs for how officers deal with adolescents, the elderly and mental health patients and said that the council should \u201cstrongly consider\u201d a citizen advisory or oversight. She acknowledged that La Mesa has a low amount of complaints against police officers, but said a citizen group would add transparency, involvement, engagement and improve community relations.<\/p>\n
Parent suggested looking at other smaller cities that have citizen advisory councils to see how they operate \u201cso it\u2019s not a group that meets every four years and doesn\u2019t have established practices.\u201d He also suggested folding the police oversight into another committee if possible.<\/p>\n
Mayor Arapostathis directed city staff to start looking into citizen advisory groups and report back.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Bill Baber reminded the council that an oversight committee still cannot force a police chief to change policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to artificially raise expectations,\u201d he said. \u201cBut is it good for the citizens to be involved in a working relationship with the police chief and have a discussion of polices \u2014 what they mean, how they can be handled better \u2014 certainly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Bill Baber also added that frustration with the report was in part to \u201cunreasonable expectations\u201d of its scope. The report, he said, was to determine if the officer as a city employee did or did not follow the standards of his job description.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was never intended to be an investigation of the whole thing,\u201d Baber said, adding that a separate lawsuit will likely bring more information to light about the Helix incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re one branch of the government, and in this function we\u2019re functioning as the executive branch,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the judicial branch is working, too. There\u2019s a court case. Some of the things that couldn\u2019t be brought out here can be brought out in court.\u201d<\/p>\n