After Long Beach police arrested her son, a mother and her community have come together to campaign for his release, as well as an overhaul of the City’s response to mental health emergencies.
Karina Guerrero usually visited her son, Kaizann Adriano Guerrero, in downtown Long Beach every three to four days. The 42-year-old father lived in a permanent supportive housing program run by the Los Angeles County Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR), where he received resources and treatment for his schizophrenia. But the Guerreros’ lives were upended when Kaizann was arrested by Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) officers outside his living community on Aug. 21, 2025 for allegedly attempting to start a fire.
Karina witnessed her son’s arrest and says the police were aggressive with Kaizann and did not take his medical condition into account, and insists that medical professionals should have been called to the scene.
“The police are not trained to respond to mental crises right now,” Karina Guerrero said. “They’re not trained at all. […] I was there when he was arrested. It was not right how they approach[ed] a [mentally ill] person. It was not right how they treated me as a senior […] I was intimidated. So intimidated that I really feel if I was not there, my son would have been seriously hurt or even killed by the police department, because right away, he was being labeled as a threat, not a person with a mental illness. And I keep repeating myself, ‘He’s mentally ill. He belongs in this building, and it’s an ODR (Office of Diversion and Reentry) program.’”
The Justice 4 Kaizann rally on Feb. 17, 2026 was led by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Filipino Students in Health at California State University, Long Beach and the Filipino Migrant Center.(Courtesy of NAFCON SoCal Instagram)
Karina said a staff member came out of the living facility during Kaizann’s arrest and asked the officers if they could give Kaizann his medication, which the officers would not allow.
The LBPD said it would not provide the Signal Tribune with the arrest report, and claimed a public records request is required. Karina said she has already submitted a public records request, and after waiting weeks for a response the City said it would not provide her with the arrest record because the case is being investigated by the City’s arson team.
The Signal Tribune also asked LBPD whether the MET was called; LBPD again said that a public records request was necessary.
Karina has criticized the City of Long Beach’s lack of investment in emergency mental health resources. She pointed out that the Community Crisis Response (CCR) team has only five workers to respond to mental health crises in a City of nearly half a million people.
She also questioned why the Mental Health Evaluation Team was not called during her son’s arrest; the program pairs two police officers with clinicians from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to assist with calls related to mental illness and homelessness.
Since Kaizann’s arrest, he and his family have been forced to navigate a kafkaesque court system.
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Advocates say Kaizann was transferred to LA County Men’s Central Jail on Aug. 24, 2025, and was then sent to Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, where he struggled with the overcrowded conditions. His case was eventually assigned to the Mental Health Court, after which he was supposed to be transferred to a facility run by the California Department of State Hospitals.
However, he was sent back to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility instead, without his family being informed. His mother attempted to visit him there, but her visit was cancelled the day-of because Kaizann was finally being sent to a hospital. Yet, no one could tell them which hospital he was being sent to. Kaizann was eventually able to make a collect call to his family to tell them he had been transferred to Metropolitan State Hospital on Dec. 16, 2025.
It’s important to note that Kaizann is not being held until he’s healthy enough to be released; he is being kept at the hospital until he is competent enough to stand trial.
“Our demand for the City is to really properly train the police officers to respond to this type of crisis, not arrest them and lock them up, because right now, that’s the answer of the City,” Karina said.
Roughly 60 community members stood outside the LA Superior Court in Hollywood in support of Kaizann Adriano Guerrero on Feb. 17, 2026. (Courtesy of NAFCON SoCal Instagram)
In response to the Guerreros’ legal ordeal, the local Filipino community has mobilized, with organizations like the Filipino Migrant Center, Anakbayan Long Beach, NAFCON SoCal and many more coming together to spearhead a campaign in support of Kaizann.
“Let’s try to pull together on this,” Karina said. “[…] Let’s rock the boat on this one, let’s make a change. I don’t want to see another person with a mental crisis go through what my son is going through, we need to put a stop to this. I’m not accepting this. I want to fight, and fight along with me, please. Fight with me, not just for my son, for whoever we could help out there. Let’s do this.”
Advocates came together to attend Kaizann’s most recent court hearing in Hollywood on Feb. 17 to show their support and bring awareness to his case.
“It’s really important, because it really shows the courts and the legal system how much the community cares, and that’s really how we put pressure on them to listen to us and to listen to our demands,” said Askal Venzon of grassroots organization Anakbayan Long Beach.
Despite the community support, activists and family members were disappointed when Kaizann’s hearing lasted around two minutes, during which the judge ordered him to return to the state hospital for another six months.
But his mother and his community are refusing to give up on him.
“We should fight for Kaizann,” said advocate Arlo Alegre. “Let’s show the community that we’re fighting for Kaizann so we can fight for more people.”
The Justice 4 Kaizann campaign is making the following demands:
That Kaizann be immediately released and allowed to return to ODR housing
A review of the implementation and effectiveness of the Mental Evaluation Teams program
The release of public records related to this case including police body cam footage and police reports
Ensuring Kaizaan has access to proper and more frequent medical care as well as the medication regimen he was prescribed prior to arrest
The campaign is also asking the public to sign a community letter in support of Kaizann, which advocates say has reached over 200 signatures as of Saturday, Feb. 14.
