(Photo – Screengrab from Pasadena Police Department video)
Pasadena Chief of Police Eugene Harris released the following statement over an incident that has received some local attention.
By News Desk
Today (June 12, 2023), I am releasing police body-worn camera (BWC) footage to provide transparency over an incident that has received some local attention.
This is an abridged contextual video, and all the raw Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage related to the incident will be concurrently released, with privacy-related redactions.
As background, on February 20, 2023, just before 3 a.m., a uniformed Pasadena Police Department officer in a marked patrol car pulled out of the police department driveway onto Walnut Street. He immediately noticed a commotion in the street at Marengo and Walnut with two people engaged in a heated argument, while a third person stood nearby and appeared to be associated with the incident. The officer stopped his car to investigate. By the time he exited the police car, the third person had joined the argument and the situation was becoming more agitated. The officer called for additional units while he approached the parties as their relationship and the nature of the dispute was not known. His interaction is captured on the BWC as are the interactions of all officers involved.
After talking to all parties involved it was determined the incident was the result of a family dispute. One party complained of a wrist injury, which he claimed came from a pre-existing fracture and he declined treatment or examination by paramedics. No other injuries were reported. No one was arrested or cited. All parties went freely on their way. In this case, no categorical force was used or reported.
To date no citizen complaints have been received by the PPD regarding this incident. Although a legal claim may be pending.
View the video and all of the raw redacted Body Worn Camera Videos and In-Vehicle Camera videos at this link.
Pasadena PD did not have to do all that. It wasn’t even that big of a deal and the one officer who arrested the 1st brother who had anger issues was using excessive force on the young man’s wrist. But those are the dilemmas we face as African Americans police are so threatened by us had that been a Caucasian individual that cop would have never handled him like that. If this video was posted to show the cops did everything appropriately and didn’t use excessive force or do too much it was a epic FAIL. I think legal action should be taken against the department and that’s just my opinion.