Colin Atagi, and Brett Kelman

TDS

PALM SPRINGS – Despite a 6-1 ruling by the California Supreme Court that the names of officers involved in shootings should in many cases be public, a Riverside County Superior Court judge has blocked The Desert Sun's request for the names of Palm Springs officers who have fired a weapon on duty.

In a brief hearing Thursday, Judge John Evans upheld a Palm Springs Police Officers Association request for a temporary restraining order while the police union builds a case to prevent The Desert Sun from ever obtaining the names. The judge scheduled a new hearing for Aug. 15, and suggested Malibu attorney Wendell Phillips, who represents the police union, add The Desert Sun to the complaint, which initially named the city of Palm Springs.

"The city doesn't really have a dog in this fight," Evans said.

Palm Springs City Attorney Doug Holland concurred even though the city maintains the records.

The police union has argued the officers' names should stay secret because any officer who fires his gun is a victim of a crime, and therefore his identity should be protected by the California Victims' Bill of Rights. The union also argues the Supreme Court decision is not retroactive, and that the value of police anonymity outweighs the public's need to know.

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An attorney for the Los Angeles Times, which defended the disclosure of officer names in Supreme Court, said the arguments from the local police union were meritless.

The Desert Sun issued public records requests in June to all Coachella Valley law enforcement agencies asking for the names of officers involved in on-duty shootings since Jan. 1, 2009. The request followed the California Supreme Court's ruling the previous month. Cathedral City and the California Highway Patrol have complied with The Desert Sun's request and other agencies have said the information is pending.

"Killing someone is the ultimate act of any government," Desert Sun Executive Editor Greg Burton said. "We value the important, and sometimes dangerous, work of law enforcement, but we are obligated to examine cases that involve lethal force."

In the Supreme Court case, the Los Angeles Times sought to obtain the names of two Long Beach police officers involved in a 2010 fatal shooting of a man holding a garden hose and the identities of all Long Beach officers involved in on-duty shootings in the previous five years. The Long Beach Police Department originally agreed to release the names, but the local police union intervened to keep the names secret.

In a 6-1 ruling, Justice Joyce Kennard said releasing names helps hold officers accountable for their actions and "the public's interest in the conduct of its peace officers is particularly great because such shootings often lead to severe injury or death."

"The Los Angeles Police Department has long provided every name except when the person is undercover. But other departments persist in doing everything possible to deny the names of shooting officers to the public," said Richard Winton, the Los Angeles Times reporter who filed the records request in the Long Beach shooting. "But this ruling clearly affirms they cannot do that unless they can show a specific officer is facing a genuine threat of harm."

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There have been at least 22 officer-involved shootings across the Coachella Valley since 2009 — 12 fatal — including four involving Palm Springs police officers.

On April 17, 2011, Palm Springs police fatally shot Francisco Durazo in the 300 block of Stevens Road following a pursuit. During the scuffle, an officer was shot and a police dog, Ike, was killed.

Six months later, on Oct. 26, 2011, a Palm Springs SWAT officer shot and killed Pascual Manuel Mata, 59, during a 24-hour standoff in Coachella. The shooting occurred far from the department's normal coverage area, but the SWAT team had been called in as backup.

Later, on Nov. 10, 2012, two officers fatally shot Marine Cpl. Allan DeVillena during a confrontation inside the downtown parking garage. The officers said DeVillena did not obey their orders to stop, got into his car and hit one of them.

Then, on Jan. 9, 2013, officers opened fire on Juan Lopez Villanueva. Police said he struck three officers with a car in the 600 block of South Camino Real before surrendering following a standoff in Cathedral City.

Contrary to the Palm Springs police union's arguments in court Thursday, Palm Springs previously has identified officers involved in one of those shootings.

On June 10, in response to a Desert Sun public records request that cited the Supreme Court ruling, the Palm Springs Police Department identified the officers involved in the Jan. 9, 2013, shooting: Chad Nordman, along with officers Troy Castillo and Nick Barth. The release was the reversal of a longstanding policy against disclosing names.

The department also identified the shooter from the SWAT standoff in Coachella. Two months after the standoff, when Sgt. Gus Araiza was awarded the Medal of Valor, the department reluctantly confirmed he had been the shooter.

Through independent reporting, The Desert Sun was able to identify the officers from the Nov. 10, 2012, shooting as Nordman and Mike Heron.

Since the California Supreme Court ruling, several police agencies have released officers' names in accordance with the decision. In late June, the San Francisco Police Department released the names of 375 police officers who fired weapons over the past 24 years, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Just like The Desert Sun, the Examiner cited the Supreme Court ruling in a public records request.

Despite the ruling, some police departments are not complying. In Salinas, a city of about 160,000 in Monterey County, police have repeatedly denied records requests asking for the names of officers involved in shootings this year. The Salinas Californian cited the Supreme Court ruling in a request for the officers' names, but was denied. The Salinas Californian and The Desert Sun are owned by Gannett.

In Riverside County, the Palm Springs police union argues The Desert Sun's request should be denied because:

• Disclosure isn't necessary if the need for anonymity outweighs public interest.

• Revealing names, case files and disciplinary action endangers the health, safety and welfare of officers and their families.

• Disclosing officer names violates an officer's right to confidentiality as a victim of a crime.

• The Supreme Court ruling wasn't retroactive and only applied to active shooting investigations.

Kelli Sager, an attorney who argued the Los Angeles Times case in front of the Supreme Court, said the police union's arguments about retroactivity and victim confidentiality will not stand in court.

The Supreme Court had decided the officers' names were public record, no matter when they pulled the trigger, Sager said. And officers aren't victims, they are "public employees performing a public function," she said.

"It would really turn the whole Victim's Bill of Rights on its head if police officers could claim that they are always victims and that the people they shoot … are criminals, whether or not those people have done anything wrong," Sager said.

Sager said the only legitimate exception to the Supreme Court ruling was in a case where specific threats had been made against an officer. If, for example, a police officer shoots a gang member, and the gang announces plans to retaliate against the officer, then a department may be able to withhold that officer's name.

Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached by phone at (760) 778-4642, by email at brett.kelman@desertsun.com.