A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday again blocked the release of a city consultant’s report detailing the fatal 2012 police shooting of unarmed Pasadena teen Kendrec McDade, a document that has been sought by his family and activists.
The ruling marks the second time the city’s police union has successfully stopped the release of a redacted version of the report, which was compiled by an independent consultant hired by Pasadena.
In granting the union’s request for a temporary restraining order, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge said Tuesday he would consider at a future hearing which portions, if any, of the report from the Office of Independent Review could be made public.
McDade was shot while police responded to an emergency call in which the 911 caller falsely said he was robbed of his laptop by a man with a gun. McDade did not have a gun when he was shot by two officers who responded; he was carrying a cellphone in his pocket.
The officers were cleared of criminal wrongdoing in a report from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
McDade’s parents, who have been awarded about $1 million in separate settlements with the city, have sought release of the shooting report amid calls from civil rights groups for increased transparency on the part of the city.
“I still haven’t got complete closure. From day one, I always knew that the Pasadena police were hiding something,”McDade’s mother Anya Slaughter said outside the courthouse Tuesday.
Dale Gronemeier, an attorney for Slaughter, said the city had intended to release a redacted version of the report that left 80 percent of the content readable.
“They haven’t quite got the level of open government that we want, but they’re getting closer,” Gronemeier said.