An unbiased probe commissioned by Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin has concluded that an elite crew of officers sharing cranium tattoos and implicated in an off-duty assault allegation is just not working as an unlawful police gang.
Nevertheless, the report by the Playa del Rey-based OIR Group additionally famous severe lapses within the dealing with by Santa Ana officers of a sexual assault allegation involving members of the division’s Main Enforcement Group in August 2020.
In all, the report appeared to clear the eight-member crew of violating state regulation in opposition to police gangs, which prohibits “rogue” teams that violate the regulation whereas on responsibility. OIR investigators confused that the group has not been concerned in any officer shootings since its formation in 2020 and used drive in solely 3% of its almost 2,000 arrests.
“Too typically, crime suppression groups have taken their mandate to handle harmful conduct as a license to have interaction in harassment and extreme drive towards focused teams — typically with out correct supervision and accountability,” the OIR report stated. “We should not have motive to consider that is true in Santa Ana.”
The report, nevertheless, warned the crew in opposition to taking an “us in opposition to them” perspective.
Whereas it was accomplished final month, the report was not launched till Wednesday, April 5.
Vallentin, in a video posted on the division’s web site, addressed the report, saying, “All of it is a testomony to the crew’s preparedness, restraint, self-discipline and techniques.”
Off-duty incident probed
Valentin ordered the investigation final Might amid allegations, some from Santa Ana officers, that the crew created by the chief was excessively violent however was protected by the police brass. Investigations of alleged misconduct by crew members have been whitewashed, critics stated.
They pointed to the alleged late-night assault at a Mexican restaurant in August 2020. Two teenage ladies alleged they have been assaulted and harassed by males at a desk stated to be occupied by off-duty members of the MET unit. One woman stated somebody briefly touched her buttocks as she walked by the desk.
Kin of the 2 ladies referred to as police, however responding officers labeled the victims as uncooperative, and concluded against the law had not been dedicated.
The incident was investigated by the division after receiving an nameless criticism seven months later. That inside investigation discovered that the bodily description given by the woman didn't match or resemble any of the officers.
Missteps discovered
The OIR report, nevertheless, discovered a number of missteps within the preliminary response by law enforcement officials.
For one factor, an off-duty supervisor for the unit was amongst these on the desk when the assault allegation was made, however did nearly nothing.
“A severe allegation of sexual battery had been made in opposition to officers beneath his command. But the supervisor didn't report the allegation to his company,” stated the report. “Ideally, the supervisor would have referred to as and requested for a police response instantly upon listening to the allegation. As a substitute, he determined to go away the scene together with his colleagues.”
The supervisor, who is just not recognized within the report, didn't report the allegation to his chain of command after returning to work, the report stated.
“Had that occurred, the retrieval of surveillance video from the restaurant and the pursuit of different investigative leads would clearly have been more practical,” the report stated. “SAPD ought to have thought-about the supervisor’s lack of well timed notification to have been a efficiency failure that merited its personal accountability.”
Moreover, the report criticized the officers on the scene for not retrieving footage from the restaurant’s safety cameras and for writing solely a cursory report.
The OIR doc advisable that the division demand that each one allegations of police misconduct be despatched up the chain of command and be totally investigated. Nevertheless, Valentin stated these insurance policies exist already.
Tattoos not unlawful
So far as allegations that the unit operated as an unlawful police gang, the OIR report concluded that state regulation solely covers “on-duty” actions. The report says that although the cranium tattoos are doubtlessly off-putting, they aren't unlawful. These tattoos featured an ace of spades on the brow, used within the navy to suggest a primary kill and contained in tattoos worn by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies accused of gang membership.
Santa Ana MET officers advised investigators the tattoos couldn't be seen beneath their uniforms and didn’t present an obsession with loss of life or killing. The skulls merely “look cool,” they advised OIR investigators.
Different pink flags?
The report additionally mentions problem cash handed amongst crew members, emblazoned with the Latin phrases for “allow them to hate, as long as they concern.” MET officers stated the phrase was geared toward hardened criminals antagonized and suppressed by the unit.
The report referred to as the thought behind the phrase on the cash “barely disquieting.”
OIR investigators stated the tattoos and cash may very well be pink flags that create “an aura inconsistent with the philosophy of neighborhood policing or constructive engagements with the general public.”
“The road between a passionate sense of engagement and overzealousness can blur rapidly, and it isn't at all times straightforward to shift gears between those that are ‘deserving’ of aggressive crime suppression and people who develop into improperly topic to its excesses,” the report stated.
Valentin responded by admonishing officers that tattoos that includes imagery of loss of life in reference to policing might have a unfavourable impression on neighborhood belief and will show harmful to the officer. He gave the identical warning in regards to the problem cash.
However the chief fell wanting prohibiting the tattoos and cash.