The Los Angeles City Council demanded answers from Burbank officials June 25 after a video surfaced earlier in June showing a pair of Burbank police officers “dumping” a homeless man apparently having a mental-health crisis in North Hollywood.
Council members voted 13-0 in favor of a motion sponsored by Council President Paul Krekorian to ask the Los Angeles County district attorney and the state attorney general to investigate the video and take appropriate legal action. No further discussion was held.
Council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Kevin de León were absent during the vote.
In response to L.A.’s motion, Burbank officials issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they welcome any investigation and are in the process of conducting their own “rigorous internal investigation.”
“As images depicted on video don’t always relay the entire situation, the city of Burbank cautions against inflammatory rhetoric and a rush to judgment without the benefits of the investigation findings,” Burbank’s statement continued.
The council’s actions followed Krekorian’s news conference on June 7, one day after his office received the footage. In the news conference, Krekorian angrily denounced the Burbank Police Department officers’ actions as “inhumane and inexcusable.”
“It’s outrageous considering how much the city of LA is doing to combat homelessness … to have adjacent jurisdictions take a different approach and simply drop people off within our boundaries is unacceptable,” Krekorian, whose district includes North Hollywood, told the Leader at the time.
Krekorian described a scene in which the man was discharged from a Burbank police vehicle in handcuffs. Police then removed the handcuffs, and the man fell to the sidewalk. This is confirmed in closed-circuit video from Krekorian’s North Hollywood office.
Krekorian told the Leader the man was “clearly experiencing a mental-health crisis, as well as physical injuries, and the officers of the Burbank Police Department got back to their vehicle and drove back to Burbank without giving any aid to this person, without determining whether there was anyone who could provide services to this person.”
Krekorian’s office says the man was later located and given help in the city of Los Angeles.
On June 7, BPD responded to Krekorian’s criticism with a statement saying it was conducting an in-depth investigation, including a review of the officers’ actions, available body-worn and in-car camera footage, and interviews with witnesses.
“The Burbank Police Department remains committed to treating the unhoused community with compassion and respect, and thanks to the Los Angeles City Council President for bringing this matter to our attention,” the department said at the time.
The L.A. council motion calls on the city attorney, L.A. County district attorney and attorney general of California to investigate both the June 6 incident and the alleged ongoing practice of one jurisdiction dumping its homeless and indigent residents on the streets of another. L.A. city officials said those investigations are underway.
In addition, the motion asked the city of Burbank to respond to the incident and provide the city of Los Angeles with its policies on homelessness, relocation of unhoused individuals and policy changes that will be made because of the incident.
— Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this report.
