The planned press conference at the site of Saturday’s shooting in Monrovia didn’t pan out. Organizers were unable to get any support. And when TV crews didnt’ show, organizers told our reporter and photographer that there would be no press conference until the “real media” arrived.

Almost as soon as the SGV Tribune PSN photographer took off, city spokesman Dick Singer arrived on the scene and apparently engaged in an argument with one of the “press conference” organizers. No details on the nature of the argument or what else happened out there.

*The argument was over whether or not the shooting victim was a gang member or not. A cop apparently stepped in and Dick Singer got into his car and drove off, reporter Nate McIntire said.

Organizers of a group called Enough is Enough plan a press conference in Monrovia this afternoon to decry a recent drive-by shooting there and possibly ask the city to remove Roger Johnson as Chief of Police.

Victim Brandon Black, 23,  has been branded by city officials as a member of the Du Roc Crips — one of three warring gangs in the Monrovia-Duarte area. His family  said Black is not a gang member and was targeted by members of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio gang because of his race. Black is Black.

The planned press conference will take place in the 500 block of Royal Oak. It begins at 3 p.m.

Spokesman Henry Clark said the group will demand police term the recent shooting a “hate crime.”

“They are going to have to realize there’s a ghetto in Monrovia and they are going to have to deal with the problems of the ghetto,” Clark said. “Call these crimes what they are.”

Clark also referred to Nathan McIntire’s recent article on the strife in Monrovia and questioned how effective the police department can be against area gangs when allegations surrounding Police Sgt. Dan Verna have not been thoroughly investigated.

“If the city is not going to pay these officers and if they are going to be sitting in a park doing homosexual stuff with gang members the city needs to turn over patrols to the Sheriff’s Department. And turn it over as soon as possible.

“As soon as the CHP and Sheriff’s went away, this stuff started cropping up again. people are afraid its going to escalate like before.”

BTW a Crime Scene poll on Johnson’s performance has yeilded a huge vote of no confidence in the chief. Fully 76 percent of respondents voted in favor of removing Johnson. About 60 percent of those same respondents favor replacing the PD with the Sheriff’s Department.

First Nathan McIntire’s blockbuster detailed turmoil within the Monrovia Police Department. Then we learned of a drive-by shooting that severely injured a 23-year-old man.

As a result, Crime Scene has opted for two polls about Monrovia.

The first asks for a vote on Police Chief Roger Johnson.

The second asks whether the Sheriff’s Department should take over policing duties in Monrovia:  

Reporter Nathan McIntire did tons of research to put the Monrovia crisis into perspective. His opus will appear in Sunday’s paper. It lays out the players, the stakes and the turmoil roiling the All America City. Here’s some excerpts:

While city leaders have been staunch in their support of the Police Department and its leadership, the lawsuits have cost Monrovia taxpayers nearly $680,000 in settlements and legal fees since 2006.
Two lawsuits have been settled by the city, and two are still pending. All include allegations that the department is rife with racial and sexual discrimination.
Johnson was a defendant in two of the lawsuits, but is named in all four. The actions of Police Sgt. Daniel Verna, currently on leave from the department, also figure prominently in the intertwined events described in the lawsuits.
“I think the management of the Police Department is corrupt. If the City Council wants to start doing anything about it, they should start terminating those in charge,” Leo Terrell, the attorney for two of the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
<snip>
Nevertheless, Monrovia’s legal battles are noteworthy when compared to those of other public agencies.
The Los Angeles Fire Department, for example, has faced a similar barrage of employment-related harassment and discrimination lawsuits over the last few years.
From July 2005 to April 2008, 15 civil rights lawsuits against LAFD, which currently comprises 3,586 sworn members, have cost the city nearly $7 million in settlements and legal fees.
While LAFD is much larger than Monrovia’s Police Department, the fire department’s legal expenses work out to about $2,000 per sworn officer.
The four lawsuits against the Monrovia Police Department, which has only 55 sworn officers (plus six open positions), has so far cost the city about $680,000, or about $12,000 per officer.
<snip>
Cobb’s attorney, Terrell, who also represents Thompson, said he plans to subpoena an officer currently on leave to testify in Thompson’s lawsuit.
“I believe that officer has given untruthful answers in the Cobb case,” said Terrell. “I think he was compromised, and I believe he was compromised by the management of the Police Department.”
That officer is, presumably, Verna.
In deposition records, Terrell noted that Verna was promoted to sergeant in mid-July 2006, a few weeks after he refused to provide a statement on behalf of Cobb.

You can read the whole story in tomorrow’s newspaper.