Sometimes I wonder if it's worth making complaints to police departments about their police officers.
They will excuse the behavior of their police, without regard for the fact that members of the audience think that they can get away with certain things.
I attended the April 3, 2018 Fountain Valley City Council meeting to urge the city council to file an amicus brief with the Department of Justice lawsuit against the state of California.
It did not look good at the outset. The city council had informed the audience that they were prepared to sit back and do nothing, let other cities and counties take the lead on their own.
I arrived with other fellow Trump supporters in the city and from the region throughout Southern California showed up. Most of them spoke out and then went to West Covina right away.
I had to stay longer in order to give my public comment.
Before I got to speak, a man in the audience stood in front of me and prevented me from seeing the podium, the city council, and the speaker at the city council:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AWi6HOIdpY&feature=youtu.be&t=43m
At the 43 minute mark, as you can see above, one member of the audience stood up and blocked me and others from seeing the speaker and the city council.
I asked him to sit down. He refused. I went up to the police officers, and I asked Sergeant Spangler badge #200 to do something about the guy.
He refused, after looking at Captain Sheppard #220 , who apparently wasn't interested in actually doing anything at all.
After I spoke at Public Comment, I spoke with Sergeant Spangler to ask why he didn't do anything about the guy who stood in front of me and others in the city council chambers blocking our view.
He blew me off, then walked away. One of the deputies with him blocked me briefly before I could speak with Captain Sheppard
Then I spoke with Captain Sheppard.
Sheppard was a smart-ass, refused to answer my questions.
Finally, I contacted Captain Mike Simko for the Fountain Valley police department and filed a formal complaint.
Here is the text of it:
Today’s Date: April 7, 2018
Your Name: Arthur Schaper
Your Home Address" 20415 Anza Ave #21, Torrance, CA 90503
Your Home Telephone Number: (310) 793-8647
Alternative Telephone Number: None
Date of Occurrence: April 3, 2018
Location of Occurrence:
City Hall
10200 Slater Avenue
Fountain Valley, CA 92507
Captain Mike Simko:
I am disgusted and very disappointed with the inconsistent and disrespectful behavior of two of your department's officers, who were serving as sergeant at arms and/or public safety detail in the Fountain Valley City Council chambers at the April 3, 2018 City Council meeting
Captain Sheppard Badge #220
Sergeant Spangler Badge #200
On April 3, 2018, I was attending the Fountain Valley City Council meeting.
About 43 minutes into the video below, which I was recording at the city council meeting, one man stood up in front of me, blocking my views and the view of other people at the city council meeting by standing up in the front row.
You can see the incident in the video below:
The black man next to me stood up in the middle of one person's public comment, so that I could not see the speaker. I asked him to sit down, and he refused.
I then approached Sergeant Spangler and asked him to have the black man sit down. He looked to Captain Sheppard, and they did nothing.
I sat down briefly and asked the black man to sit down again. He did not.
Someone in the next row behind me asked him to sit down as well, and nothing happened.
Afterwards, I asked the city council if I would be allowed to stand, too.
Then Sergeant Spangler approached me and told me to stop being disruptive. I was shocked and disappointed. He did nothing when one man was disrupting the meeting, preventing me from seeing the speaker (to record on my YouTube channel).
But then he tells me that I am disruptive. This is selective enforcement, and it is not acceptable.
After I spoke at public comment, I asked to speak With Sergeant Spangler.
He told me that I was being disruptive, but then I reminded him twice that the black man who stood in front of me and others was preventing us from seeing the speaker and the city council. He then suggested that the man standing in front of me, preventing me and others from seeing the person spdeaking at the podium as not disruptive. That is not true. During city proceedings, it is out of order for members of the audience to stand while members of the public are addressing the city council during public comment, and certainly they are not permitted to block others from seeking the city council and speakers.
Spangler just walked away from me and said "This conversation is done."
I then asked to speak with Captain Sheppard. He was rude and arrogant, refused to explain the conduct of his men or himself in failing to keep decorum in the city council chambers.
The conduct of these officers was unbecoming and unprofessional. Captain Sheppard was particularly disrespectful, not taking my concerns seriously and refusing to answer me. These officers had a responsibility to ensure that everyone in the city council chambers abide by the rules of decorum, which includes not standing and blocking others in the chambers from seeing the events and comments of people on the dais or at the podium.
I have never seen such petty conduct from police officers before, and they should be duly reprimanded or not assigned to the city council chambers in the future.
Here is the video of my interaction with the two police officers cited above.
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www.youtube.com
Bad Cops in Fountain Valley
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I do not have the name of the third officer, the one who accompanied Sergeant Spangler when I questioned him, but he deliberately blocked me from approaching Captain Sheppard, too.
Again, this disrespectful conduct is unacceptable and has no place in a city council meeting or in any place within a municipality.
I want them summarily reprimanded and no longer assigned to the Fountain Valley City Council chambers.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter:
Sincerely
Arthur Schaper
SIGNATURE PAGE:
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE A COMPLAINT AGAINST A POLICE OFFICER FOR ANY IMPROPER POLICE CONDUCT. CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRES THIS AGENCY TO HAVE A PROCEDURE TO INVESTIGATE CIVILIANS’ COMPLAINTS. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO A WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THIS PROCEDURE. THIS AGENCY MAY FIND AFTER INVESTIGATION THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO WARRANT ACTION ON YOUR COMPLAINT; EVEN IF THAT IS THE CASE, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THE COMPLAINT AND HAVE IT INVESTIGATED IF YOU BELIEVE AN OFFICER BEHAVED IMPROPERLY. CIVILIAN COMPLAINTS AND ANY REPORTS OR FINDING RELATING TO COMPLAINTS MUST BE RETAINED BY THIS AGENCY FOR AT LEAST FIVE YEARS. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT THAT YOU KNOW TO BE FALSE. IF YOU MAKE A COMPLAINT AGAINST AN OFFICER KNOWING THAT IT IS FALSE, YOU CAN BE PROSECUTED ON A MISDEMEANOR CHARGE. I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE ABOVE STATEMENT.
Complainant: Arthur Schaper
Date: April 7, 2018
Finally, Captain Simko contacted me.
He asked me if I had been a victim of discrimination. I simply responded that I thought the police would not say anything to him because he was black.
He asked me if I wanted to add anything to my complaint beyond what I had written what was in the video.
I reminded him that Sergeant Spangler told me that I could have moved my seat. Not acceptable, because there were no seats for me to move to.
The point remained–that man standing and blocking me and others needed to sit down.
For the next ten minutes, the Captain led me through the video that I had recorded
He wanted to focus on the fact that I had shouted at the city council for doing nothing about the guy standing in front of me. He wanted to focus on the fact that I had made comments quietly into the camera disparaging the remarks of the person at the podium.
I was incredulous!
This is how the Fountain Valley police department behaves.
It's time to hold this disrespectful police officers accountable.
Contact the Fountain Valley police department, and tell them to do their job, and have the two–now three police officers reprimanded:
Fountain Valley Police Department:
(714) 593-4400
lawrence.doan@fountainvalley.org
Captain Mike Simko:
(714) 593-4528
Email: mike.simko@fountainvalley.org
Here are the emails for the Fountain Valley City Council:
This selective enforcement from police officers has to stop, and we need to let cities and police departments know that their disregard is unacceptable.
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