by Laura Garber
A regularly scheduled community forum hosted by Councilmember Dean Francois on Monday Dec. 1 turned out to be anything but regular, as several residents pointedly asked for answers regarding the Hermosa Beach Police Department’s handling of an attack on a 56-year-old man by a group of juvenile e-bike and motorbike riders believed to be part of the MB Goonz gang.
Interim City Manager Steve Napolitano and Hermosa Beach Police Chief Landon Phillips joined the forum table.
Roughly a dozen residents attended the forum, prompted by a controversial Nov. 25 press release from the HBPD. The press release shared details on the Nov. 21 assault on 11th Court in downtown Hermosa Beach. Some residents interpreted the community update as victim blaming.
“I’ve been a reporter and journalist most of my career,” said lifelong Hermosa Beach resident, Elka Worner. “I’ve seen a lot of press releases from the LAPD to Sheriffs to FBI. I’ve never seen a press release like the second one.”
“It was a culmination of the police department and the city team,” Chief Phillips said in response. “The goal was to put enough information out there to address some of the assumptions that were going out on social media.” Both Napolitano and Phillips were out of the City office for vacation time when the press release was issued.
Phillips also mentioned that the additional e-bike information discussed at the Nov. 13 public safety forum, hosted by Mayor Rob Saemann, was included. However, he noted that this information did not focus on the investigation.
“It seemed like it was victim blaming a little bit,” Worner said.
The intention of the second press release, Phillips said, was to get ahead of the misinformation about the suspects being posted online before it could impede on their investigation and potential prosecution of the suspects.
“We recognize some of the challenges in that,” Phillips said. “We were never once trying to shame the victim in any way. That’s not what we do in the City and at the Hermosa Beach Police Department.
Napolitano added that the messaging “fell short.”
“It could have been better and we’ll do better in the future,” he said.
Napolitano said there would be follow ups on the investigation with the district attorney.
Phillips confirmed that the department made two arrests and identified all of the involved parties from the Friday night attack. He says the investigation is still ongoing to determine the criminal culpability for the others involved.
“I think we’ve come a long way,” Franois said during the forum. “If people rely on the press releases and the public information police put out, that really is the best source of information.”
Residents also asked questions to City Staff about making a citizen’s arrest and incorporating license plates for e-bikes and motorbikes.
Francois addressed other resident concerns with parking permits and adding additional school crossing guards. ER
Time for HB Police Chief to go. Only 40 e-bike tickets in a year is disgusting, as per Carl’s letter this week. Out of that total I doubt that any were for riding e-bikes on the Strand.