LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The Los Angeles City Council is expected to demand an explanation and clarification from Burbank authorities on Tuesday over a video that shows two Los Angeles police officers “dumping” a homeless man in the city.
City Council Speaker Paul Krekorian’s office released the video earlier this month. The incident happened outside Krekorian’s North Hollywood district office on Lankershim Boulevard.
The video shows two Burbank Police Department officers entering their patrol car and removing a barefoot homeless man from the vehicle.
They removed his handcuffs and left him on the sidewalk.
Los Angeles City Council Speaker Paul Krekorian said he was outraged after a video released by the City Council Office showed two Burbank Police Department officers “abandoning” a homeless man in North Hollywood.
Krekorian said the homeless man had clearly suffered physical injuries as well as a psychological crisis.
Krekorian said the man had been receiving treatment for a broken leg at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he became unruly, and the hospital called police, who took action that was thought to be a long-standing practice in nearby cities but is rarely captured on video.
“The Burbank Police Department’s decision to handcuff this man and take him to the city of Los Angeles where someone will deal with him is clearly callous, cruel, inhumane and fundamentally irresponsible,” Krekorian said.
According to the Burbank Police Department, officers were initially called to the hospital after a report of a nude man at a bus stop, who eventually got dressed, got into a patrol car and asked to be dropped off in the North Hollywood area.
Police say they are conducting a thorough investigation.
“The individual did not appear to have transportation and so officers offered to drive the individual to a location of his choice to assist the individual in getting dressed,” the police statement read. “The individual initially asked to be taken to Sunland/Tujunga and eventually agreed to be transported to the Metro Red Line in North Hollywood. He voluntarily got into the patrol vehicle and was driven to the Metro Red Line station. Along the way, the individual asked to be let out of the patrol vehicle to get some coffee. The officer quickly complied with his request, parked the vehicle and removed the individual from the patrol vehicle in the 5200 block of Lankershim Boulevard.”
The statement continued, “The Burbank Police Department remains committed to treating our homeless community with compassion and respect, and we thank Los Angeles City Council Speaker Paul Krekorian for bringing this issue to our attention.”
Police did not say why the man was handcuffed.
The City Council Speaker said he is outraged that Los Angeles is spending $1 billion a year to solve its homeless problem (which is not just a city problem) and that it is only getting worse.
The motion filed by Krekorian and set to be introduced in the council on Tuesday calls on the Los Angeles County district attorney, the Los Angeles city attorney and the state attorney general to investigate the case and the ongoing alleged practice of abandoning homeless people in other jurisdictions.
The motion also demands answers from the Burbank Police Department about its policies regarding homeless people.
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