Burbank officers cleared in "homeless dumping" case outside LA City Council President's office
The Burbank Police Department cleared the officers who dropped off a man outside of Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian's office in June.
"Our officers' engagement with the suspect was professional," Chief Michael Albanese said during a Burbank City Council meeting on Wednesday. "The video that was posted ... [doesn't] provide a complete story."
Krekorian scrutinized Albanese's agency after a security video from his office appeared to show two Burbank police officers dumping a homeless man on a sidewalk near the LA City Council President's field office in North Hollywood. The footage shows the officers uncuffing the man and releasing him before he collapsed to the ground.
"Without giving any aid to this person," Krekorian said in early June. "Without determining if there was anyone who could provide services to this person. They dumped him in North Hollywood."
However, Burbank's investigation into what Alabanse described as a "homeless dumping" incident determined that the officers did not violate department policy and that there was no indication of misconduct.
During the city council meeting, Albanese said his officers encountered the man after he walked away from the emergency room at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Staff members said he walked out of the hospital naked and laid on a nearby bus bench, according to investigators.
"They engaged a male who was very lucid, who knew what he wanted and what he didn't want," Albanese said. "He wanted to be taken to jail."
Albanese described the man as "provocative" and "difficult" when interacting with the officers. Eventually, the officers made a deal with the man to drive him to a Metro Red (B) Line station if he put on his clothes. Albanese claimed the man told the officers to place him in handcuffs so they could "feel safe" with him.
On the way to the station, he asked officers to drop him off at a nearby Starbucks so he could grab a coffee, according to the department. Since he was not detained or in police custody, the officers released him when he asked to be let out of the car. Albanese said the man thanked officers three times before they left.
The investigation also determined that the man was not homeless and had been renting a room in Sylmar for several years. Authorities also offered the man long-term, sustained care if and when needed.
In addition to Burbank's probe into the incident, the FBI's Civil Rights Division reviewed the investigation and declined to take further action. Burbank police said the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the California Department of Justice will also review it.
"We've only begun to review the Burbank Police Department's summary of its review," Krekorian said in a statement. "There are many obvious inconsistencies and unanswered questions remaining."
