Citizens Group to Hold Hearings on Alleged Misconduct by Officers

A citizens advisory committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold hearings in May on allegations of harassment by Anaheim police, officials at the federal agency said Monday.

The 18-member committee of citizen volunteers appointed by the commission plans to conduct the hearing in Orange County on May 8, but the location has yet to be chosen.

Some Anaheim activists allege that the city’s police regularly use excessive force when interviewing suspects and that they photograph and videotape minors and adults not suspected of crimes. The activists, led by a recently created group called United Neighborhoods, have called for sensitivity training for officers and the formation of a citizens police review panel.

The committee’s vote last month to hold the hearing came to light Monday, the same day a Santa Ana jury found that former Anaheim police officer Steve Nolan was fired from the force in 1993 in retaliation for alleging two incidents of police brutality.

Josie Montoya, co-founder of United Neighborhoods, said the decision to hold the hearing is “a step in the right direction.”

“We know we have a long struggle ahead of us,” Montoya said. “We know that we will have to come forward with documentation. We are not doubting the whole Police Department. We are saying, ‘Clean it up, get rid of the bad cops.’ ”

Officials at the commission said they have not determined the scope of the hearing nor issued invitations. They said the hearing is a follow-up to a smaller meeting held by committee members with Orange County rights activists in 1993.

The commission took no action following the earlier meeting, but members of the citizen board want to know if progress has been made in stemming alleged abuse.

“They gathered the initial data, and then it was determined they wanted to look at it further,” said Tom Pilla, a civil rights analyst with the commission’s Western Region office. “The advisory committees are our eyes and ears, and they wanted to come back to this case.”

The committee is charged by the commission with investigating allegations of abuse throughout the state. Its hearings are recorded and used by the commission to make recommendations.

A federal agency created in 1957 to investigate civil rights abuses nationwide, the commission has no powers to bring charges against civil rights offenders but it can recommend that federal prosecutors do so.