Long Beach police react to Black Lives Matter protest at City Hall

As Black Lives Matter protesters gathered inside City Hall this week to call for social justice and law enforcement reform, roughly a half-dozen Long Beach police officers on duty listened and stood silent.

One by one, activists took the lecte and shared anger and frustration about a recent spate of officer-involved shootings across the country, including some in the city’s own backyard.

Although no Idea were made that evening by police, Police Chief Robert Luna on Wednesday talked about how disheartening it was to feel such hatred from the community.

“They were essentially calling us killers and racists and, in a sense, stereotyping all of us as bad because we wear a uniform,” he said. “That hits us at our core as police officers.”

The chief took the officers into the hallway and saw the sadness in their eyes.

“For someone who loves this profession as I do, as we do, it’s very difficult to hear some of the things that were being said,” said Luna, adding that the majority of the community has been supportive of police.

Calls for change

Among those speaking on Tuesday was 5th District resident Aa Wagner, who stood at the lecte with her infant daughter, River Grace, calling for anti-bias training and independent police oversight.

“Hearing the chief of police speak about compassion is really outrageous given the amount of police brutality that people of color have faced in this city,” she said, referring to remarks Luna made earlier in the night about Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal’s service.

PHOTOS: Black Lives Matter activists protest at Long Beach City Hall

The crowd grew raucous at times, shouting back at the City Council when Mayor Robert Garcia attempted to limit the number of speakers for public comment following a two-hour parade of praise for Lowenthal on her final night on the dais. In a rare move, the council agreed to allow all speakers to be heard before begiing to tackle items on the agenda.

Among them was Byron Baett, who said his god-brother was killed by police in a confrontation a few years ago.

“There are a lot of civil rights that are broke here on a daily basis,” he said. “It’s a serious issue.”

“I want to be able, for one time in my life, to see a police officer and feel relief,” he continued. “I’ve never felt that before.”

Victoria McKiey, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to several boys, said she goes to bed every night praying they come home alive.

“This is not just a Long Beach problem,” she said. “This is a national problem and every one of us is responsible for the fix. We have to work together to change things in this country.”

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Luna acknowledged the department does face its share of challenges.

“Remember, we police one of the most diverse communities in the nation,” he said, “but our intention is always to police constitutionally and to treat people with respect. And yes, we may make mistakes, but we ask people to bring that to our attention, and we deal with that the best way we can.”

Black Lives Matter LBC organizer Dawn Modkins said Wednesday that Long Beach’s policymakers are out of touch with what the black community wants from its govement: They want City Hall to devote its resources to such efforts as supportive housing as well as jobs and after-school programs instead of attempts to expand the city’s Police Department.

“It’s not more cops, or military equipment or security cameras,” she said. “There are other needs that the community has.”

The protests Tuesday came amid heightened tensions across the country as communities continue to protest police shootings of black men, including those of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Miesota. Portions of both shootings were videotaped and broadcast nationwide, leading to fresh outrage, protests and scores of arrests. The killings also put the country on edge and pushed the issue of the use of deadly force against black males by white police to the forefront.

The demonstration in Long Beach came hours after a memorial service for five police officers killed by a lone sniper at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas last week.

Several protests have been staged through the nation and region in the last week, including several at Los Angeles City Hall and Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.

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