Fresno city manager to release report of alleged police misconduct withheld by auditor
Following pressure from Fresno residents and questions from the Fresno City Council, City Manager Wilma Quan announced Friday the report related to accusations of police violence against a teenager will be released next week.
The findings of the investigative report from independent police reviewer John Gliatta into alleged police brutality during the Jan. 23, 2019, arrest of London Wallace, 17, will be released by the end of next week, Quan said in her statement.
Gliatta said last week he planned to hold the investigation results of until the released of the overall quarterly report in October — a decision he said he made unilaterally.
Quan said in her Friday statement she discussed the matter with Gliatta and they agreed to release the Wallace investigation as a supplement to the quarterly report from July.
“We both felt this was the best course of action to provide clarity and to satisfy concerns from not only the public but from our elected officials,” Quan’s statement said.
The Wallace incident spawned a lawsuit against the city and police, accusing the department of excessive force after Officer Christopher Martinez was seen on video repeatedly punching Wallace.
That arrest is also commonly referenced by citizens seeking local police reform.
The auditor’s report could not be released immediately because it, like any report by the police auditor, must be reviewed first by legal counsel, Quan said.
“This due diligence is necessary to protect the city of Fresno from further liability and with this process in mind, the report will be released no later than the end of next week,” she said.
“This is a unique situation and future releases will conform to the normal quarterly OIR report schedule.”
The Fresno City Council asked Thursday for a workshop briefing its members on the process of the city’s independent police reviewer after Gliatta told a subcommittee of Fresno’s Commission on Police Reform on Sept. 16 he has been sitting on the report, which he finished in May.
He said he was concerned “emotions were running rampant” in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
The admission was followed by disbelief from members of the committee and some community members. Residents called into Thursday’s council meeting to demand the report be released. Some even called for Gliatta to lose his job.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
