Councilmember Kennedy Calls for Communitywide Effort After Learning Police Seized 211 Guns This Year

During an examination of the Pasadena Police Department’s budget, Councilman John Kennedy said something has to be done about the increasing number of guns on the street. 

Police have confiscated 211 guns this year, averaging nearly one gun recovery a day in the first 240 days of 2020.

“It cannot go on,” Kennedy said after Police Chief John Perez released the statistics. “It just cannot go on for the community to be safe. We have to figure out a way to bring everybody together.”

According to Perez, most of the guns have been taken from waistbands and removed from people’s cars.

“This is my concern,” Perez said. “We have had double the amount of shootings of last year. We had 12 last year we are at 25 already this year. I worry about the future with the violence. It’s been frustrating.”

Kennedy called for a communitywide involvement in the situation.

“All of our antennas have to go up and say we have got to do something to address this issue, and it’s not just police, police, police. It can’t be. That’s just one factor.”

The department also wants to create a use-of-force sergeant in order to help reduce such incidents with specific types of applications, increase the use of de-escalation techniques, employ better oversight, and create a civilian executive staff position. The department has already established a “Policing-101” forum, a chief’s advisory board, and social media platforms.

Since July 1 there have been 300 instances in which officers have de-escalated situations.

Kennedy called for a deep dive discussion on the matter at the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, which he chairs.

Earlier this month, a Pasadena police officer shot and killed Anthony McClain during a traffic stop. According to police, McClain removed a weapon from his waistband.

“The Pasadena Police Department has had a record seizure of firearms — over 200 and still counting — off the streets of Pasadena,” Kennedy told Pasadena Now. “Many of the guns have been recovered from our young.  One must at least ask the question, what is the person with the gun seeking to protect or destroy?

“However, more importantly, we, we the community, must create other pathways to safety so that, primarily, young men do not feel the need or requirement to carry a firearm in their respective vehicles.

“Teaching intentional civility must happen in elementary school forward so that dispute resolution is void of violence and the desire to destroy human life.  For our adult males, training, diversion, real job opportunities, and life-counseling can create better options and outcomes as we build a healthier city and nation for all of us.”

On Monday, the City Council voted to establish a Police Oversight Commission and hire an Independent Police Auditor, with details of the ordinance still being worked out.

The Finance Committee has been revisiting the Police Department’s budget since July, after the council began looking at spending by category instead of by department, starting with the Police Department.

Critics have called on the city to reduce the size of the Police Department by 20 percent and cut the department’s budget by 20 percent

The Police Department has a more than $85 million budget, 234 sworn officers, and 120 civilian employees, including part-time workers. There are also 140 active volunteers.

According to a report to the Finance Committee, $78.4 million of the department’s budget is dedicated to personnel costs.

The overall budget is based on a two-year effort to reorganize resources and restructure responsibilities around ways public safety services are delivered.

Beginning in 2018, staff determined there was an urgency to prepare for the future of policing.

“Through internal retreats and external engagements, challenges for 2020 were identified and became the basis for the reorganization,” the report states. “The timeliness of the 2020 reorganization prepared staff for the world pandemic and today’s global social movement for change.”

Throughout the restructuring process, the focus has been on providing better equipment, remodeling the police building, replacing vehicles, and reducing litigation through improved delivery of training methods to include officer safety, wellness, community engagement, and communication.

Going forward, the Police Department is expected to struggle with recruitment and retention challenges due to increased vacancies.

The department will seek to improve outreach for recruitment to find applicants interested in policing and enhancing engagement with the community.

The department also wants to reinvest in technology, primarily a new database that will allow for an information collection system to comply with the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA). Under RIPA, police officers will be required to record the date, time, location, and duration of traffic stops. Police will also be collecting information on the gender, race, and ethnicity of a person stopped and providing the reason for the stop, among other information.

Kennedy is hosting a community meeting from 4 to 5:30 p.m. tonight with Perez, his command staff, and City Manager Steve Mermell.

Those interested can register in advance for the online discussion at us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_btiUuUz5S867aP522egh7g. 

Once registered, confirmation emails will be sent with additional instructions on joining the meeting.

Questions can be submitted in advance to sporras@cityofpasadena.net.