Pasadena Police Department responds to report on Leroy Barnes, Jr. officer-invovled shooting

PASADENA -- The Pasadena Police Department Friday said it has accepted 13 of 14 recommendations made in an independent report on the fatal officer-involved shooting of Leroy Barnes, Jr., and had begun implementing significant changes in police policy.
The Office of Independent Review filed a report in October on the shooting of the 38-year-old Pasadena man, parolee and gang member who was shot to death by two Pasadena officers during a traffic stop on Feb. 19, 2009. Also in October, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office concluded that no charges would be filed against the officers.
Pasadena Interim Chief of Police Christopher Vicino said the response was not required, and was issued voluntarily by the department.
It was done, "to show to the community that we followed through on what we said we were going to do, and implemented it, and now it's time to move forward," Vicino said. "It's just letting the public know what we did about this."
The only one of 14 recommendations the department declined to implement was one suggesting that police training officers be sent immediately to the scene of officer-involved shootings.
"We don't think doing (that) is possible," Vicino said, adding that the department has expert trainers in many various fields, and they would have to be kept on-call 24-hours a day to comply with the recommendation.
After surveying other Southern California police agencies such as Los Angeles, Burbank, Long Beach, Anaheim and Glendale, Vicino said, Pasadena officials found that other departments also do not have a policy of sending training officers to the scenes of officer-involved shootings.
Barnes' brother Nicholas Whitaker could not be reached for comment on this story.
Michael Gennaco, the chief attorney for the county Office of Independent Review who prepared the report, said he was impressed with Pasadena's "diligence" in adopting nearly all of his office's recommendations.
"Well 13 out of 14 is pretty good," Gennaco said. "It's clear that the department took it seriously and did its homework."
Gennaco said other departments have blindly accepted OIS recommendations in the past without showing how they plan to implement them. Pasadena, on the other hand, provided a detailed appendix showing detailed changes in department policy, Gennaco said.
The one recommendation Pasadena Police decided not to follow is based on a policy in place in Los Angeles County, Gennaco said.
"It's done here in LA County and it's done in a lot of other departments that are larger but maybe the size of the department makes it prohibitive at this point," Gennaco said.
Recommendations that were accepted by Pasadena police include training officers about problems with using leading questions, training officers on advising witnesses of their rights and making a written policy to ensure that officer-involved shooting investigation files are kept by the department at least as long as the involved officer's career.
To prevent inaccurate information from being released in the hours following officer-involved shootings, Vicino said, the department will only confirm that police have been involved in a shooting and the level of injuries involved during the first four hours of the investigation.
Twice during the hours following Barnes' shooting, inaccurate information was released by police to media outlets.
"Giving us that four hours to figure out what's going on in a very chaotic scene is the right way to do it," the chief said. "This case proved that to us. We're going to take our time."
Vicino defended the department's decision to not release the video tape capturing the Barnes shooting, though police officials initially said they would, saying he had no need or desire to do so.
"I don't think there's any value to showing someone die (in a video) that ends up on Youtube," he said.
"For the officers and the suspect in this, and the suspect's family, I just don't see any good in that," he added.
The chief added that the video cannot be released now because it is evidence in potential civil litigation against the city. Barnes' family has filed a wrongful death complaint against the city regarding the shooting.
The police response to the report said the the Pasadena Police Department has decided to make several other significant changes to improve service to the community.
All police officers will be required to spend 10 hours every other month in tactical training, and another 10 hours working in community outreach.
Officer scheduling has been reconfigured so that the additional duties will not cost the city extra money, and will actually save about $100,000.
The department is also in the process of buying a $75,000 shooting simulator trainer, Vicino said.
Vicino is currently the interim Chief of Police in Pasadena while the city searches for a permanent replacement for former chief Bernard Melekian, who left the department in November to take a job with the federal government. Sixty-six candidates have applied for the position, including Vicino.
Mayor Bill Bogaard wouldn't comment specifically on the department's decision not to adopt one of the 14 recommendations, but praised the department for making the vast majority of the changes the county suggested.
"I look at the report in the overall. OIR made comments and suggestions and 13 of the 14 were adopted not because what was done at the time was wrong, but this was an opportunity to strengthen our department."
In response to the police department decision to withhold information for up to four hours Bogaard said the department is seeking a balanced approach.
"I think it's important both to respond to the public request for information and be right," he said. "The police department's effort to be prompt after the event, led to misinformation."
Joe Brown, president of the NAACP Pasadena Chapter, also praised the department's report. Following the Barnes incident, Brown was critical of the department and called for greater transparency into investigations of officer involved shootings.
"I'm very glad that law enforcement is beginning to implement a lot of those changes," Brown said of the OIS's recommendations. "I'm glad that we're beginning to move into accepting outside evaluators to tell us when we're somewhat off the mark."
Vicino said he hoped the department's response to the shooting would help improve the relationship between law enforcement and the public.
"We want to do what it takes to heal these wounds and move forward," he said.