Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. fought back tears as he discussed the tragic fatal shooting of Ivan Solis Mora, 34, during the Sept. 26 city council meeting.
The first half of the meeting was full of technical difficulties that lasted for nearly 30 minutes and then the issues disappeared after the live feed was cut and restarted for the last 20 minutes.
The viewing public was unable to hear Mora’s mother, who spoke in her native tongue about the fatal shooting that occurred on Sept. 21.
Supporters of Mora began to demand the officers be outfitted with bodyworn cameras, after the City spent close to $2 million acquiring military-grade weapons.
The public can only rely on the Inglewood Police Department’s account of events that remain foggy.
According to Lt. Scott Collins, the officers were called to the family’s home shortly before 1:00 p.m. in response to calls about a man allegedly brandishing a weapon. It is unknown how long the officers attempted to engage Mora but what Collins released was that a fight between Mora and one of the officers on scene got into a fight which sent the unnamed officer to Centinela Hospital with injuries. The injuries weren’t defined as being the result of being stabbed.
Colins says less lethal projectiles were used that were unsuccessful. He then says an officer-involved shooting occurred that left Mora dead in the driveway of his home.
According to videographers on the scene, Mora was shot 8 times. IPD hasn’t confirmed that report. IPD has also not released a photo of the weapon Mora was alleged to have.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, viewers couldn’t fully hear comments but towards the end of the meeting, during council comments, viewers learned that one of the speakers alluded to Inglewood police officers needing bodyworn cameras so the family and public would have a clear sense of what transpired.
Councilwoman Gloria Gray said “the council should take up the issue” as she wasn’t on the council when other officer-involved shootings happened in the City.
Mayor Butts rebuked that saying that “LAPD has bodyworn cameras and bad shootings still occur”.
“Body-worn cameras only assist a jury,” said Butts. He says he prefers to continue to train his officers on the preservation of life which runs counter to his own comments.
Butts explained the department has had four officer-involved shootings during his tenure as mayor which began in 2011.
The first was in 2016 when five Inglewood officers shot Kisha Michael and Marquintin Sandlin while they slept in their car on Manchester Blvd. and Inglewood Ave.
Seven officers in total were disciplined, with six being fired and the other being demoted. All six officers sued to return to the department with only one being successful.
The mayor pledged officers would be better trained and then three more officer-involved shootings occurred with the most recent being last week. According to Butts, all of the shootings involved people with alleged mental illness.
“I have people in my own family suffering from mental illness nobody wants to see a loved one no matter their mental condition killed,” said Butts. “One thing we don’t do, and I’m sure Councilwoman Gloria Gray will think it over, we don’t sign on to what attorneys say.”
The Inglewood Citizens Police Oversight Commission hasn’t met since 2016. Councilwoman Gray has appointed several community members to commissions that don’t meet.
It’s time Gray appoints someone to the Police Oversight Commission and demands the meetings be restarted. If she supports bodyworn cameras, as she said during the meeting, this will show residents she is an independent voice and encourage transparency by allowing the commission to hear the residents’ safety concerns.
We have a lot to talk about.
