Los Angeles City Council calls for investigation into allegations of dumping of homeless people by Burbank police – Daily News

A video showing Burbank Police officers dropping off an injured and disoriented homeless man outside Krekorian's district office in North Hollywood, leaving him there. Los Angeles City Council Speaker Paul Krekorian held a press conference at City Hall to discuss the incident. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The Los Angeles City Council is calling for investigations and a response from Burbank city officials into an incident in which two Burbank police officers were filmed dropping off a homeless man outside the district office of Los Angeles City Council Speaker Paul Krekorian, then leave.

Krekorian later described the man, left outside his North Hollywood office, as being in distress.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 Tuesday, June 25, to ask City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the incident” and to take all appropriate legal action against the City of Los Angeles. Burbank and the Burbank Police Department.

When Krekorian presented the council's motion earlier this month, he declined to say whether he believed the Burbank officers committed a crime, but he said at the time that “as a being human, I was outraged” by the incident.

The June 6 incident was filmed by a surveillance camera.

The roughly one-minute video released the next day by Krekorian's office showed a Burbank police vehicle stopping in front of the building where Krekorian's district office is located. Two officers got out, one opened the back seat door to let a man out and the other removed what appeared to be hand restraints on the man.

As the Burbank officers left, the man — who Krekorian said appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis — got down on his knees and placed his head on the sidewalk. He lay there for several seconds, then the video ended.

The man eventually left the scene and was later found in the street by one of Krekorian's staff members. He was taken to hospital.

The council president criticized Burbank police officers, accusing them of “throwing” a distressed homeless man onto the street. He called the actions of the police officers “insensitive, cruel (and) inhumane.”

The city of Burbank released a statement after the Los Angeles City Council's vote Tuesday, saying it “welcomes any investigation and is in the process of conducting its own rigorous internal investigation.”

“As the images presented on video do not always reflect the entire situation, the City of Burbank cautions against inflammatory rhetoric and rushing to judgment without benefit of the results of the investigation,” the statement said.

Burbank Police Sgt. Stephen Turner on Tuesday referred the Los Angeles Daily News to a statement released by the department on June 7, a day after the incident.

That release said officers responded to a call June 6 regarding a naked man at a bus stop outside Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

The man, who dressed when police arrived, told officers he was homeless and had been taken to the hospital from the “Sunland/Tujunga area.”

According to Burbank police, the man said he suffered a leg injury years ago but refused medical treatment. The police department said he asked to be taken to the Sunland/Tujunga area, but then agreed to be taken to the Metro Red Line station in North Hollywood.

On the way, the man asked to get out of the police car to get coffee. Officers immediately let him out in the 5200 block of Lankershim Boulevard, police said. This is also where the office of Los Angeles Council President Krekorian is located.

The ministry said it would thoroughly investigate the incident.

Turner said Tuesday that the investigation was ongoing and it was unclear when it would be completed.

In addition to calling for investigations, the motion passed Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council calls on Burbank city officials, including the mayor and city council members, to respond to the incident. They requested information on Burbank's current policies regarding homeless relocation and any policy changes that may result from this incident.