Bishop Protests Handcuffing of Black Priest

The Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles on Tuesday called for a meeting with the police chief after an African American priest in full vestments was confronted by officers with drawn weapons and handcuffed in front of parishioners and schoolchildren at his Canoga Park church.

Church officials expressed outrage at the incident, which apparently took place as police were searching for robbers fleeing from a nearby fast-food restaurant.

The Rt. Rev. Frederick H. Borsch, bishop for the Los Angeles diocese and the region’s highest-ranking Episcopal official, demanded a meeting with Police Chief Bernard C. Parks to discuss how to improve relations among police, the clergy and the community.

“It is stunning to me that the police were evidently not able to recognize the full priestly vestments in which this priest was dressed,” Borsch said in a statement. “Under the circumstances, I must also wonder whether I, as an Anglo clergyperson, would have experienced treatment such as” the Rev. Ronald D. Culmer did.

Culmer, pastor of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church for the past two years, said Tuesday that he was humiliated by his temporary detention.

“I am outraged and saddened by this event, outraged that this kind of event happens to people of color on a daily basis,” he said. “. . . Have we learned nothing from what happened to Rodney King?”

Police officials said they had been informed of the incident and were investigating. But they offered no response to the allegations made by clergy.

“This is obviously an extremely sensitive situation, and everyone involved can rest assured that this will be thoroughly reviewed at the highest level,” said Cmdr. Dave Kalish, spokesman for Parks.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, head of the Public Safety Committee, recently spoke with Culmer and police officials to discuss what happened. She said mistaken identity was a possibility.

“In doing police work, especially in apprehending suspects, mistakes in identity can occur,” she said. “When they do, the department needs to move very quickly and proactively to make amends.”

The Jan. 7 incident began about 11 a.m., shortly after Culmer finished celebrating a Thursday Eucharist with a few parishioners.

Soon after he stepped outside the church, Culmer said, he saw two African American men jump a wrought iron fence onto the church grounds, which also contain a preschool and elementary school. One man ran to a nearby church building, and the other continued to flee, Culmer said.

The priest said he immediately told a preschool teacher to lock her classroom door, then confronted the man near the school building.

The two had just begun to exchange words when four police officers--three whites and one Asian--arrived with shotgun and handguns drawn, Culmer said.

Two officers approached the priest from behind, he said. At the time, he was wearing a white alb, a priestly robe; a green stole, a scarf-like garment; and a green chasuble, which covers the alb.

The two officers ordered Culmer to put his hands up, he said. Culmer, who said he is shorter and heavier than both suspects, thought the officers were speaking to the other man and did not immediately comply, he said.

The officers repeated their order then told Culmer to drop to his knees, he said. After he did, he was handcuffed, despite protests from parishioners and the church secretary, Culmer said.

He estimated that he was detained no longer than two minutes before being released. Rather than apologize, the officers told Culmer that the handcuffing was “standard procedure,” he said.

Officers then led the suspect to a police car, Culmer said. The status of that man and the other suspect seen running from the church could not be learned Tuesday.

Culmer said a police sergeant then came on the scene and told the children that everything was “all right, it’s under control.”

“That’s all he had to say,” said Culmer, who spent the next several hours meeting with schoolchildren upset by what they witnessed. The enrollment at the church school was 188 last year.

Culmer, who said he has been previously harassed by police officers, said he was shocked that Los Angeles police didn’t recognize his vestments or his standing as a leader in the community.

“The police officers who handcuffed me did more than just insult my person; [they] insulted a community of people who are still waiting for a formal written apology,” he said.

Since the incident, Culmer and top church officials, including the church’s vestry, or board of directors, have met with police to express their concerns.

Capt. Lee Carter, head of the West Valley Division, told church members that an investigation was underway, Culmer said. Carter declined comment Tuesday.

Culmer and Borsch, who met late Tuesday, both called for a dialogue between police officers and church leaders in the wake of the incident.

Borsch, who spoke before the Christopher Commission, which suggested police reform after the riots related to the King beating, said police need to know local clergy.

“It is my hope that we can learn from this incident and build more positive relations from it,” he said in his statement.

Times staff writer Scott Glover contributed to this story.