PASADENA - The NAACP Monday submitted a request to the city attorney seeking "vital" information related to the officer involved shooting of unarmed black teen Kendrec McDade, officials said.
The request, submitted by Pasadena branch president Joe Brown was backed by the national organization.
Leaders of the NAACP will demonstrate alongside local civil rights advocates during a rally from 6 to 7 p.m. at Pasadena City Hall today. McDade family attorney will also participate in the event.
In a hand-delivered letter, Brown requested copies of several items that so far have been withheld by police and other city officials including: The Pasadena Police Department's policy on tactics for responding to a robbery; The policy for firing from a police cruiser; How much training officers receive in firing from inside police cars; The McDade autopsy report; The department policy on police car-mounted video cameras; All dispatch calls from the McDade shooting incident; A recording of the interview of the teen companion arrested in connection with the McDade incident; Ballistic test results; Statements of any witness to the incident; The specific reason the Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to file an involuntary manslaughter charge against Oscar Carrillo in connection with the McDade incident.
The newspaper has requested the same items from Pasadena police, the Los Angeles County D.A's office, and the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.
Additionally, the ACLU is seeking reports and recordings related to the March 24 slaying of McDade. This newspaper's request for those recordings was denied by the city attorney's office.
City officials including Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and City Attorney Michelle Beal-Bagneris declined to return phone calls seeking comment Monday.
In a statement sent to community members on Good Friday, Sanchez called on the community to remain peaceful. He also promised an open and transparent investigation.
"Peace is the cornerstone of our great and diverse community," he wrote. "Peace must be taught to our youth, shared with everyone, and supported by responsible behavior."
Brown said he filed the request to force the department and the city to talk openly about how it polices Pasadena.
"Something is going amok in our community, as it pertains to the relationship between the police department and our youth," Brown said. "Once we can flush these things out, we can create better policies for policing."
Brown also hopes to bring transparency to the McDade shooting probe, which he fears will be conducted without much public oversight.
"We want to have a national discussion about these shootings," Brown said, referring to not just the McDade incident, but incidents across the country where black men are shot and killed under questionable circumstances.
Despite Sanchez's written assurances that he is committed to transparency, investigators led by Lt. Tracey Ibarra and detective Kevin Gomez - named in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department in the wake of McDade's shooting - have placed a security hold on McDade's autopsy report.
Normally a security hold can remain in place for up to 90 days. However, once the 90-day threshold is reached, the Pasadena Police Department can place an indefinite hold on the information, Coroner Chief Ed Winter said Monday.
Brown's push for transparency comes as Pasadena police Chief Phillip Sanchez held another secret meeting with community members on Saturday. This follows a March 27 private meeting with clergy and a Thursday meeting with Latino leaders.
Saturday's meeting was called by Pasadena-branch NAACP Vice President James Smith.
"I invited a few people that have watched over some time and have some integrity in getting information out to the community," Smith said.
The meeting came two weeks to the day after Pasadena police officers Jeffrey Newlen and Mathew Griffin gunned down McDade along a poorly lit stretch of Sunset Avenue in Pasadena.
Responding to a false allegation made by Carrillo that McDade and another teen had robbed him at gunpoint, the cops pursued McDade along Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena.
McDade and the other teen were never armed, according to the police department's revised account of the incident. However, the police insists Carrillo's false allegation contributed to the shooting by setting it in the mind of the cops that McDade was armed.
In the seconds before the shooting, the cops claim McDade was grabbing at his waistband. This lead the officers to believe the former Azusa High School football standout and Citrus College student was reaching for a weapon.
McDade was later cuffed and left to bleed on the asphalt for "a protracted period of time," according to a federal suit filed by the McDade family last week.
Harper and Brown now dispute the claim made that McDade was shot as he grabbed his waistband.
"There was no way he was running while he grabbed his waistband," Harper said.
She described McDade as wearing tight jeans and clothing that would not have fallen during a foot pursuit.
Brown questions how the police could have seen McDade grab at his clothing given how dark the street was during McDade's encounter with the police just before midnight on March 24.
"We will never subscribe to that, if light wasn't (shone) on Mr. McDade," he said.
Cops never turned on their lights or sirens during the pursuit, per the department policy for responding to a report of armed robbery, Sanchez told this newspaper last week.
According to the federal lawsuit, the police never identified themselves or told McDade to halt before firing the volley of gunshots.
Meanwhile, McDade's teen companion still faces charges of two felony counts of commercial burglary, one felony count of grand theft property and one misdemeanor count of failing to register as a gang member.
But he will now head to court without the help of Harper, who was ordered off the case by a juvenile court judge Monday, according to Harper.
Court appointed attorney Tony Gova was assigned to the case, according to a report in the Pasadena Sun.
Harper pointed much of the blame for her being removed from the case to the Pasadena Police Department following Monday's court ruling.
"The police want me to shut up, they don't want transparency," she said.
Contact Brianvia email , by phone at 626-578-6300, ext. 4494, or on Twitter@JBrianCharles .
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