The Burbank Police Department (BPD) faced criticism for a video on Friday, which shows two of its officers allegedly “dumping” a distressed and injured homeless man in front of the office of a city leader of neighboring Los Angeles.
City Council President Paul Krekorian, who released the video to local media on Friday, said he was “extremely livid” after he watched the footage. He called the officers’ behavior “inhumane and inexcusable.”
The video shows a Burbank Police Department (BPD) vehicle pull up and park in front of his district office in North Hollywood on Thursday. In the video, two officers got out of their vehicle and opened the back door to remove a man who appeared to be handcuffed. One officer removed the handcuffs from the man. Both officers then got back into their vehicle and drove away, leaving the man on the sidewalk. He looked confused and appeared to shout and look around. He placed his hands on his head and eventually dropped to his knees.
“The person fell to the sidewalk, clearly experiencing a mental health crisis as well as physical injuries,” Mr. Krekorian said during a press conference on Friday.
“And the officers of the Burbank Police Department got back in their vehicle and drove back to Burbank—without giving any aid to this person, without determining whether there was anyone who could provide services to this person.”
He said that his office became aware of the video and eventually drove around, found the man, and got him medical care through the Los Angeles Fire Department.
BPD explained the situation in a statement and said it received a call Thursday morning regarding a naked individual sitting at a bus stop outside a hospital. The man appeared to be “lucid and communicative,” and told officers that he left the hospital voluntarily. He described a leg injury that he suffered years ago and declined officers’ help in getting medical assistance.
“To gain cooperation for the individual to put on clothing, the officers offered to drive the individual to a place of his choosing,” Burbank police said in a statement.
After the man asked to be let out, “the officers complied immediately with his request,” the department said.
Burbank is a separate city from Los Angeles with its own police and fire departments. Mr. Krekorian said the officers “dumped” the man in neighboring North Hollywood.
But BPD claimed the man requested officers take him to the North Hollywood metro station. On the way there, he asked the officers to drop him off somewhere to get a cup of coffee.
The council president, however, claimed officials have “known for years” that neighboring cities bring and leave homeless people in the L.A. city limits. He said that the video is “proof” of that.
“We in Los Angeles have worked long and hard to bring our unhoused neighbors off the streets by building interim shelters, tiny homes, navigation centers, and supportive housing. Meanwhile, neighboring jurisdictions have simply removed unhoused people from their streets and dumped them on ours,” the council president said.
BPD said it is conducting an investigation into the incident and the conduct of the officers involved. It also said it remains “committed to treating the unhousing community with compassion and respect,” and thanked the L.A. City Council president for bringing the incident to its attention.