{"id":134032,"date":"2026-01-15T01:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/134032\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T01:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:53:13","slug":"see-hear-speak-no-evil-long-beach-mayor-city-council-wont-talk-about-60-jump-in-complaints-against-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/134032\/","title":{"rendered":"See\/hear\/speak no evil? Long Beach Mayor, City Council won\u2019t talk about 60% jump in complaints against police –"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screenshot<\/a> <\/p>\n

In October the Long Beach Police Department released a report<\/a> noting that violent crime within city limits has dropped 19% over the last 20 years \u2014 and Mayor Rex Richardson was eager to talk about it. \u201cWe\u2019re having some real momentum on public safety right now,\u201d he bragged to the Long Beach Press-Telegram within a month of the report\u2019s release. \u201c[\u2026] Long Beach is, in fact, a city on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a different story when the data casts the police in a questionable light. Six months earlier the LBPD had released a report showing that complaints against officers have risen more than 60% since 2021, including four straight years of double-digit increases \u2014 and Richardson won\u2019t talk about that, nor will any of the nine city councilmembers.<\/p>\n

Moreover, they don\u2019t seem to have any interest in the phenomenon. According to public records, not one of these ten Long Beach leaders has ever made a single inquiry of the police concerning the trend, despite the fact that all of them have been asked about it several times during the nine months since the report has been released.<\/p>\n

Literally the only comment on record concerning the LBPD\u2019s 2024 Annual Year in Review and Accountability Report<\/a>, which documents the rise in complaints, was a three-word reply by 3rd District Councilmember Kristina Duggan upon receipt: \u201cThis looks interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duggan\u2019s office is also the only one who made any reply to Random Lengths News repeated questions about why there have been no inquiries about the rising complaints, or whether there could be any increase \u2014 600%, 6,000% \u2014 that would be concerning enough to ask the LBPD about: \u201cCouncilmember Duggan won\u2019t have a comment on this,\u201d said Nick Kaspar, her chief of staff.<\/p>\n

To ensure that the mayor and councilmembers could not claim they were not personally made aware of these inquiries (because their staff did not pass them along, etc.), at the September 2 city council meeting, with the mayor and full council present, during open public comment I noted the increase, and before my time expired I directly asked Mayor Richardson and Councilmember Mary Zendejas (in whose district I reside) for comment: both remained silent.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Video: Greggory Moore addresses the mayor and city council regarding rising police complaints.<\/p>\n

One person who did have something to say in response to my appearance was LBPD Chief Hebeish, who sent a September 4 e-mail to the mayor and councilmembers, et al., with the subject line \u201cCHIEF\u2019S ALERT \u2013 City Council Meeting Public Comment,\u201d wherein he reviewed comments provided to me by the LBPD back in May when I queried about the rise in complaints, as well as the 29% jump in use-of-force incidents between 2023 and 2024. Nothing in either Hebeish\u2019s e-mail or the LBPD\u2019s response to me (part of which I quote verbatim in a July 2025 article<\/a>) addresses the rise in complaints.<\/p>\n

Unlike the decrease in violent crime about which Richardson was happy to comment, the increase in complaints against LBPD officers is not part of a national or regional trend. For example, during the same four-year time period in which complaints against LBPD rose by over 60%, complaints against Los Angeles Police Department officers dropped by approximately 7.5%<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why is Long Beach different? \u201cWe face the very same challenges every major city faces,\u201d Richardson told the Press-Telegram, \u201cbut we address them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering their silence on the trend of rising complaints about police behavior, the irony is tough to miss.<\/p>\n

(*Note: In the concluding moments of the video I misspeak by saying that the > 60% increase was in use-of-force complaints, though throughout the rest of the video I make clear that I was talking only about complaints in general.)<\/p>\n

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