City of Beverly Hills issued the following announcement on Sept. 1.
The women and men of BHPD take an oath to protect human life and enforce the law – regardless of race. Any violation of this pledge is contrary to the values of this department. We take all concerns regarding the conduct of our officers very seriously.
In response to information shared at a press conference today, it is important to note that Mr. White and Ms. Williams were warned earlier that day that riding a scooter on the sidewalk in Beverly Hills was prohibited. At that time, no enforcement action was taken. When committing the same violation later the same day and also providing false information to a police officer, Mr. White and Ms. Williams were taken into custody.
Our department’s practice is to contact and question individuals when we believe they may be involved in criminal activity or another violation of the law.
Last summer, our department responded to a significant increase in calls for service in our business community. These calls included burglaries, shoplifting, pedestrian and vehicle code violations, street gambling, public intoxication, marijuana smoking and more. This rise in crime during the pandemic and following months of civil unrest was not unique to Beverly Hills.
We received daily complaints from Rodeo Drive businesses and, in response to community concerns, our department created the Rodeo Drive Team to ensure proper staffing and appropriate response times. As a result of the newly created team, in a span of just five weeks, we recovered thirteen loaded firearms from individuals on Rodeo Drive.
This is unprecedented in the history of Beverly Hills.
As we responded to these issues, our officers also discovered widespread fraudulent use of California unemployment benefits.
We recovered over a quarter-million dollars in cash and fraudulent EDD cards with a potential value of $3 million dollars. The majority of those arrested were not residents of California, despite possessing and using California unemployment benefit cards. I am proud that our department was one of the first to uncover the gross abuse of our state’s unemployment system. Through our efforts, many cities found similar fraud, and the state began to repair a very broken system.
I want to reassure the Beverly Hills community and the world that this department remains committed to keeping our community safe while enforcing the law with respect and dignity for all.
Original source can be found here.
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