Police Say Stevens Interfered in Park Sweep : Crime: Councilman is accused of trying to countermand police order to close park. Stevens says police shouldn’t have used dogs to quell disturbance.

San Diego’s police labor union has accused Councilman George Stevens of interfering with officers’ attempts to break up an unruly crowd last month at a city park, actions it said “bordered on incitement” and endangered the safety of police and bystanders.

The attorney for the Police Officers Assn. filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the city attorney, asserting that Stevens violated the City Charter by allegedly ordering the officers away from a park at Willie Henderson Sports Complex at 45th Street and Keeler Avenue in the Mountain View area of Stevens’ district.

During a disturbance at the park on Aug. 30, officers ordered it closed, but Stevens crossed police lines and demanded that it be reopened, police attorney Chris Ashcraft said in a letter sent to City Atty. John Witt on Tuesday.

Under the City Charter, council members may not give orders to city employees, who ultimately report to the city manager. Such a violation is a misdemeanor. If Stevens is charged and found guilty, he could be removed from office.

Witt could not be reached for comment.

Contacted late Friday, Stevens said officers were wrong to bring police dogs into the park after U.S. Navy Shore Patrol officers had made their way through the crowd, checking to see if Navy personnel were present. The park has long been off limits to the Navy.

Ashcraft said police were present at the request of neighborhood residents to help clear the park of those selling drugs and drinking excessively, and that the Navy was removing its own personnel from the park.

About 150 people were gathered in the park, listening to music, as they had for several Sundays, Stevens said. After the Navy checks, 22 military personnel were arrested by the Shore Patrol, he said.

San Diego police were also checking individual IDs, which Stevens said they had no right to do.

“I don’t want dogs brought into any park,” he said. “How in the hell does the Navy checking IDs warrant dogs in the park? I don’t want police checking IDs and I don’t want police in the park, period.”

Police reported that, after they arrested the first of two civilians, “an element of the crowd at the park became unruly and began to throw bottles, rocks and debris at the officers,” said Ashcraft, who added that the crowd released several Navy men from the Shore Patrol van.

As the crowd became more unruly, police donned riot gear, he said, and closed the park “for their own protection and the protection of innocent bystanders who were using the park for legitimate recreation purposes.”

Two civilians--a 33-year-old man and 15-year-old boy--were arrested that day.

“It is ironic that (Stevens) claimed to be acting for the community when, in fact, the clean-up . . . had the full support of the community,” police attorney Ashcraft said. “When local residents tried to explain that to Mr. Stevens, he was too involved in trying to order the police around to listen.”

Stevens accused the police of inciting the crowd, making them “all mad and messed up.” The dogs were there to “provoke,” he said, “scaring the hell out of the crowd.” Stevens said he went to the park to calm the crowd and did nothing improper.

City Manager Jack McGrory said he heard of the incident several weeks ago. He, Stevens and Police Chief Bob Burgreen have reviewed “the appropriate use of police dogs in similar situations in the future.” He would not discuss the details of how tactics might be changed.

Burgreen could not be reached for comment Friday but was said to have had concerns over how quickly officers brought their dogs into the park. Under department regulations, canines are not to be used for crowd control.

Harry O. Eastus, president of the police union, said Stevens has told him repeatedly since the incident that “as long as he’s a city councilman, there will be no police dogs in his district.”

Granting such a request would create problems for officers who need the dogs for drug searches, life-threatening situations and other areas of law enforcement, Eastus said.

As for Stevens’ alleged demand that officers leave the park, Eastus said: “Never in my 19 years as an officer has a City Council member given us orders.”

Since he was elected last year to represent the mostly minority District 4, Stevens, who is black, has enjoyed great support from Burgreen and his department. Stevens has been forceful in trying to drive drug dealers out of his district’s neighborhoods, even challenging them on city streets the day he took office.

As far as McGrory is concerned, “the issue is dead.”

Stevens said he is satisfied with the response of McGrory and Burgreen. Eastus said the police union wants to work with Stevens but does not wish be ordered around.

“Our issue is how he was dealing with our officers,” Eastus said. “According to our information, he cleared our officers out and let the bad people come back in.”