Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna answers questions during a community “meet and greet” at Calvary Chapel of North Long Beach last Saturday, Jan. 10.
Staff Writer
Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna touched on several topics, including crime statistics, initiating a pilot program for body-worn cameras and current public perceptions of law enforcement, during a “meet and greet” at Calvary Chapel of North Long Beach last Saturday, Jan. 10.
Visiting his old stomping grounds, Luna, a former north division commander and a 29-year veteran of the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD), reminisced about how he once worked with faith leaders in the area to bring the community together when violent crime was on the rise.
While it was announced last week that Long Beach hit a 42-year-low in violent crime in 2014 and experienced only 23 murders, the lowest number since 1969, Luna said the positive news was somewhat overshadowed by the first murder and the first officer-involved-shooting of the year.
Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people, Luna held back tears as he described the shooting that nearly killed two police officers in the early-morning hours before the community meeting.
According to a statement from LBPD, the incident involved officers responding to a call at 2am and led to a pursuit that ended in San Pedro with the arrest of 22-year-old Joseph Gonzales, who fired shots at a patrol car.
Luna said he hugged both police officers that morning, adding that one officer was injured with face lacerations from gunshots breaking the police-car windshield.
“There was a 5-month-old baby sitting in the back of that car where this man was shooting from,” Luna said. “At the end of the day, nobody got hurt. The man was taken into custody. The child is safe. The officers, for the most part, are okay. One spent several hours in the hospital with several lacerations to his face! but that’s our job.”
After Luna later apologized for showing emotion during the meeting, one resident responded, “It shows you’re human.”
Luna also noted that an incident involving the “tragic” murder of six-month-old girl Eliza Delacruz forced him to postpone a press conference to release crime statistics on Jan. 5.
“I’m standing up here now because I think we need to celebrate the good things that happen to know that there’s hope and light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “But we can never forget about the individual victims ! and make sure we’re supporting and putting our arms around those individuals.”
Luna stated that police officers are held to the “highest standards” from when they are recruited and enter the police academy to when they retire.
He also said police have the authority to take away someone’s liberties and, sometimes, someone’s life, adding that the authority isn’t taken lightly.
“I believe in constitutional policing, which means it’s fair and unbiased, respectful [and] serving in a very compassionate way,” he said. “There’s no other way. We believe that everybody matters. I don’t care what color you are. I don’t care what social economic status you hold or whether you live in Naples and have a $10-million home or you live under the bridge at 7th Street and the 710 Freeway. We or I expect [that] everyone is going to get treated with dignity and respect.”
The north Long Beach meeting came just a few days after Luna spoke at Antioch Church of Long Beach to a crowd of about 500 people, addressing issues related to use of force and officer-involved shootings.
“Usually it takes something bad to happen to fill up a room, which I think is kind of sad,” Luna said describing the previous meeting. “It was standing room only, which was great to see to get a room full of people who are energetic, passionate and they really care about the city.”
However, Luna implored residents to not shy away from the “tough” questions, adding that police officers are “not beyond critique” and that the City has several checks and balances in place to reprimand, terminate or convict officers for misconduct.
Eighth District Councilmember Al Austin said he served on the Long Beach Citizen Police Complaint Commission before being elected to the Council. However, the councilmember said he would like the commission to be more transparent for more citizens to see how police officers are trained and how officer-involved shootings and cases of police use of force are handled.
As the conversation veered toward the public’s perception of law-enforcement, Luna said he grew up in a neighborhood in east Los Angeles where people “hated police.” He added that the public’s perception toward police is often like a “pendulum” that swings back and forth.
Some residents, however, expressed concerns of racial profiling and the wrongful use of power and authority by police.
Amy Valenzuela-Mier, an 8th District resident who lives in the Los Cerritos neighborhood, said there appears to be “more and more fear” that is being pushed by social media toward law-enforcement.
She said her 15-year-old-son, who is African American, has had the police called on him “just for walking the neighborhood and having a hood on and holding a cellphone.” Valenzuela-Mier added, “What I see with my son’s friends is that there is a lot of fear.”
Luna responded by saying that parents should talk with their children about how to interact with police if they are stopped.
“It starts in the home, and I think you’re already doing it,” he told the parent. “You’re having conversations with them! It starts with communication.”
Luna added that anyone who believes to have been mistreated by the police should contact the LBPD’s internal affairs department.
“If you run into a situation where you believe an officer has been rude or mistreated you, please contact our internal affairs,” he said. “Don’t ever have the attitude of ‘they’re not going to do anything about it’ because we go typically off of patterns, and that’s when we see something on video.”
He said the LBPD plans to roll out a pilot program for officers to start wearing body cameras in spring or early summer. Luna said the department has already formed a committee that has been testing the devices and is working on dealing with issues related to policy, equipment and legalities.
“Studies have showed that, for officers wearing cameras, citizen complaints go down, uses of force go down and officer injuries go down,” Luna said. “I’m going to tell you right now, everybody behaves better.”
Luna also addressed the potential impacts of Proposition 47, a statewide measure approved by voters in the November 2014 election that reduces penalties for certain drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors except for registered sex offenders and persons previously convicted of rape, murder or child molestation.
“I will never stand up here and say, ‘Hey, insurmountable challenge,’ but it’s something we all have to pay attention to,” he said. “And that means we all have to be on our game. When I talk to you about being involved and calling the police, we have to do that more now than ever.”
