COMMUNITY LOST FAITH IN LA MESA POLICE AFTER RIOT, POLL FINDS

residents community day their but because A lost said majority Police confidence of they the who meeting of way used Department, the attended they La in to Tues- them Mesa trust han- a dled olent and May a downtown protest 31. that on turned May vi- 30

initial Those findings were of some a confiden- of the tial and informal poll taken by more than three dozen residents who participated in the meeting, held via

Zoom by a national firm hired by La Mesa to look into the events of that May weekend.

Hillard Heintze LLC has been tasked with investigating the Police Department’s response to the protest about social justice and racial equality that turned into a violent confrontation culminating in a night of looting and burning of several businesses.

The company is being paid $145,254, with a contingency of $30,000 for any additional needs and is also looking into the city’s overall response, specific events that led up to that weekend, and some related events that have occurred in La Mesa since then.

Hillard Heintze is expected to provide a full report to the council in December that will provide recommendations to the City

Council for handling protest activities in the city in the future.

Boehmer already Spokesman done said extensive the group Robert inde- has pendent interviews research with city officials, through officers, law residents ers to enforcement get and different business perspec- owntives they also and have for context. been given He said access ment’s to planning the police documents depart

“to get a better picture of what happened” and are using photographs and video footage through body cameras and more.

Among other requests made to Hillard Heintze, the city asked the company to reach out to the community via focus groups and personal interviews and surveys, which led to Tuesday’s first public meeting.

When asked in an anonymous Zoom poll early in the meeting how satisfied they were with the overall performance of the police department before May 30, about two-thirds of the pollsters answered “a lot” or

“somewhat.”

More than half the respondents said they were not satisfied at all with the department’s response to the May 30 protest. And when they are asked currently how satisfied with the police department, less than a quarter of respondents said “a lot” or “to a great extent.”

Also at the meeting, residents were asked to share their thoughts on what they wanted to see in a new police chief.

Chief Walt Vasquez announced his retirement on

Aug. 13.

La Mesa police say more than 50 crimes — including arson, vandalism and theft

— were documented in the melee that followed the demonstrations.

Organizers of the May 30 demonstration, which began in front of the La Mesa

Police Department, said it was held to honor the memory of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a White Minnesota police officer on Memorial Day.

But many at the event said they were also there to protest the May 27 treatment of Amaurie Johnson by former La Mesa police officer Matt Dages. Johnson was filmed while he was being cited by Dages at a San

Diego Trolley stop near

Grossmont Center, and the video was widely circulated on social media. Dages is no longer with the department.