Bodycam footage of Beverly Hills PD arrest/Photo courtesy of LAist.
Attorney Benjamin Crump will be representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Beverly Hills Police Department after a rash of race-based traffic stops and arrests, reported
NewsOne.A Black couple is suing the city of Beverly Hills and its police department after they alleged that their arrests were a part of a systematic campaign to harass Black people at disproportionate rates for minute infractions.
Last year, the Beverly Hills Police Department created an initiative called Operation Safe Streets and the Rodeo Drive Task Force. It aimed to increase safety on the famous luxury shopping street.
Police Chief Dominick Rivetti claimed his department created the task force in response to complaints by businesses and a rise in burglaries, shoplifting, street gambling, public intoxication, marijuana smoking and other crimes.
However, in the course of the operation overseen by Captain Scott Dowling, there were 106 arrests. Of those arrests, 105 suspects were Black. One was Latino. Those figures are from March 1, 2020, through July 1 of this year.
Crump’s partner, attorney Bradley Gage, said that the Beverly Hills Police Department created the task force after the George Floyd protests. Part of their priority was to weed out people who were luxury shopping using ill-gotten unemployment assistance. Their only standards were to determine that a person was “suspicious.” Those “suspicious” people happened to be overwhelmingly Black.
The lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday is seeking class-action status, as the number of possible plaintiffs extends far beyond the Philadelphia couple who was arrested on vacation for riding a scooter on the sidewalk and alleging providing false identification and later had the charges dropped. Rivetti has somewhat disputed the details of that claim.
Last year, the department received backlash for its handling of dozens of peaceful protestors when it charged them with misdemeanor curfew violations.
Amidst the task force’s behavior, several department leaders have resigned. Former Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli resigned in May after alleged racist and anti-semitic statements and sexual activity with subordinates who were then promoted. Captain Dowling resigned on Sept. 1. Assistant Police Chief Marc Coopwood also announced his resignation on Tuesday, and both are expected to leave on Oct. 1.