By CSLEA Senior Counsel Dave De La Riva

NORWALK – CSLEA Legal Counsel David De La Riva and Metropolitan State Hospital (“Metro”) Police Officer (“HPO”) Jose Leal met with Metro Police Chief Eduardo Palomares and Department of State Hospitals (“DSH”) Labor Relations Officer Jordan Neves on May 6, 2024, to discuss a new policy in relation to HPO responses to calls for service at non-patient residences which are located on Metro grounds in the city of Norwalk.

The Homes for Life (“HFL”) residences are located near the entrance to the Metro facility. The buildings housing the residents are leased from the State of California. Occupants include formerly homeless individuals who suffer from mental illness, some of whom are former Metro patients. These individuals are provided with skills and services by HFL staff which are designed to assist them to transition into long-term housing. The HFL residents and their guests are generally free to come and go as they please without having to identify themselves to the officers who occupy the kiosk at the entrance to the Metro facility.

Over a stretch of time spanning beyond a decade, CSLEA has continued to attempt to restrict HPO involvement when calls for service originate from any of the HFL residences primarily because the HPOs at Metro, like all DSH HPOs are not armed with firearms, at the direction of DSH Director Stephanie Clendenin. The collectively bargained-for equipment assigned to the HPOs includes body armor (protective vest), a baton and pepper spray. Examples of the types of calls the HPOs have been required to respond to at HFL over the years have included criminal threats, restraining orders, domestic violence and possession of narcotics. Unlike when an HPO responds to a call within the Metro secure treatment area (a fenced-in and confined area within the Metro facility) where the patients who are committed to Metro reside, the HPOs know nothing about the HFL residents and their guests, including their criminal histories.

Under the leadership of Chief Palomares, Metro has prepared a proposed policy which diverts all calls for service, excluding missing persons calls, to the Los Angeles County Sheriff or California Highway Patrol. CSLEA believes this will drastically decrease the exposure to threats to officer health and safety and will free up HPOs to serve the staff and patients of the Metro facility.

As HPOs throughout the State continue to patrol their facilities and transport patients to court in an unarmed capacity, CSLEA looks forward to maintaining its dialogue with DSH with the goal of arming HPOs when they perform these assignments.

CSLEA will continue to monitor the situation and will always advocate for the safety and security of its HPOs so they can successfully complete the duties and responsibilities which are expected of them.