Crump Calls On DOJ, Governor To Investigate Beverly Hills Police

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Civil rights attorney Ben Crump called on Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Department of Justice to investigate what he called racial profiling in the Beverly Hills Police Department.

"To the governor and the attorney general: I don't know if you are watching, but America is. You need to take action — there needs to be an investigation," Crump said at a news conference Wednesday.

The call to action comes amid Crump's class-action lawsuit against the city and the police department over the arrests of at least 86 people of color under a police program dubbed "Operation Safe Street" or "the Rodeo Drive Task Force."

The program ran from late August to September 2020 and was meant to address increased reports of crime in the Beverly Hills business district, according to city documents obtained by the attorneys. The lawsuit alleged the program targeted people of color.

A representative of Bonta's office told Patch they are aware of the allegations but have no updates as to whether they will open an investigation. Newsom's office said they have "nothing to add" when asked if they will consider opening an investigation.

Crump is known for his involvement in the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and City of Flint, Michigan cases. He held a news conference Wednesday with attorney Bradley Gage, who has a long history of calling out Beverly Hills police behavior that targets people of color, Jewish people and LGBTQ people.

The two attorneys discussed new statistics obtained from the department.

The lawsuit initially claimed "Operation Safe Street" resulted in 106 arrests, all of which were of people of color. Police records released to Gage and Crump showed there were actually 90 arrests under the program: 80 Black people, three white people, four Hispanic people, two Vietnamese people and one identified only as "other."

Additionally, the city released data reporting an increase of arrests involving alleged unemployment or identity fraud over the same period; of 107 people arrested, 99 were Black.

Beverly Hills' population was 81.9 percent white, 1.9 percent Black, 5.9 percent Hispanic or Latino and 9.1 percent Asian, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

In response, the city said that the police department's main priority is resident safety.

"The members of the Beverly Hills Police Department take an oath to protect human life. The department’s practice is to contact and question individuals when it is believed they may be involved in criminal activity or another violation of the law," said Keith Sterling, chief communications officer for Beverly Hills.

More People Come Forward

Crump and Gage discussed the details of a new governmental claim filed with the city of Beverly Hills Monday. The claim referenced Lakisha Swift and Joseph Nett, who are Black. The complaint said that Beverly Hills police pulled them over for stopping a few inches over the limit line at an intersection. The two shared their story at Wednesday's news conference.

Swift was handcuffed for 20 minutes while her car was searched, she said. Nett spent three days in jail.

The city justified Nett's detention by saying he was found to be in violation of a restraining order obtained by Swift.

"While the woman indicated she did not wish to press charges, for her safety and according to the law, Mr. Nett was taken into custody," Sterling said.

Even so, the key concern of Nett and the team was their being stopped in the first place. Beverly Hill police stop, detain, harass and arrest Black people on minor infractions that they ignore for white people, the claim alleged. It is unclear whether the police officers involved in Swift and Nett's situation were white.

"It is quite obvious that the City of Beverly Hills considered [Black] people to be suspicious of criminal activity," Crump and Gage said in the claim.

Crump and Gage have joined the other plaintiffs to the lawsuit, they said.

"We are going to make sure that there is accountability because Black lives matter and Black liberty matters,” Crump said.

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