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Pomona Mayor Norma Torres v. Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero…Again?
By Publius | February 21, 2008
For those interested in impoundgate, the Los Angeles Times has an editorial today entitled “No Excuse, Pomona.”
If Pomona police were indeed following protocol when they failed to check a van that held the body of its missing owner, they need a new protocol.
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Police Chief Joe Romero stood up for his department, saying that “there was no way officers could have known” a body lay inside the vehicle. They had followed protocol, the chief said. Given the possibility of harm to a young woman and the easy access to the interior of the van, this defense is difficult to swallow.
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Pomona police should be questioning their protocols instead of using them as an excuse.
Of all the things for the Los Angeles Times to start talking about regarding Pomona… (What about the fact that the city and surrounding areas aren’t being represented in the Assembly and no one knows or cares?)
Plenty of statements from Torres and Romero below.
Ari B. Bloomekatz and Andrew Blankstein’s LAT article says:
Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero defended his department, saying officers had followed proper protocol. When the van was located, Romero said officers were sent to inspect the vehicle. After running a check of the license plate, they learned it was part of a missing person’s report filed in Covina.
He said the officers called Covina police and were told to release the van to the family or it would be impounded, Romero said.
“There is no way the officers could have known” there was a dead body inside, Romero said. “There’s no mistake on our part. We have no right to go inside the vehicle.”
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Pomona Mayor Norma Torres said she wants to know more about the department’s protocols in dealing with such cases.“It’s certainly upsetting to hear, and my heart goes out to the family, who had to discover the body,” Torres said. “I have a lot of questions that require follow-up.”
The KNBC report says:
Pomona police Chief Joe Romero also said the department has begun an internal investigation into the department’s handling of the van’s discovery and subsequent realization by relatives that the woman’s body was inside.
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“As the leader of this Police Department, I can tell you that it is our interest to give our very best service to solve crimes and to help the public,” Romero said. “Many times you can do good things that turn out with sadness or tragedy. I can tell you that sadness and tragedy is still sadness and tragedy, no matter the intent. Some is created by malice. Some is just by accident. And I can tell you that in this case, certainly our officer had no malice to bring to the family. The person who truly has hurt this family is the killer, and we are doing our job to bring him to justice.”
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Romero said the officer involved has 12 years of experience in law enforcement.“By protocol, under the circumstances the officer worked under a set of information that made him decide that doing a cursory look from outside the van was sufficient,” Romero said. “As we know now, it wasn’t.
“As a chief I wish I had the ability to have a time machine and make things different.”
Neil Nisperos and Dan Abendschein’s article in the Daily Bulletin does mention the recent feud between the Mayor and the Chief:
At Tuesday’s news conference, Romero vowed his department would do everything to find Ponce-Orta’s killer.
“No words can express the loss,” said Romero, aiming his words at Ponce-Orta’s family. “On behalf of the Pomona Police Department, we’re sorry and we feel your pain.”
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“There’s no law that requires a police officer to inspect a vehicle and based on the circumstances of the woman having a nonviolent history, and there was no indication to the officer of any foul play, he thought a cursory search was appropriate,” Romero said. Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, who has been critical of Romero in the past, expressed satisfaction with the decision to review the incident.“I think that’s great,” Torres said. “That’s what we can do right now. I don’t know what our procedure is on the vehicle check if the vehicle is connected to a missing person.
“I have asked (for) clarification on what the department’s procedures are on that, and we will probably get that at the next City Council meeting.”
This should be interesting.
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