Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A demonstration is scheduled to take place outside the Pomona Police Station Monday afternoon to demand an oversight commission for the department. The protest is being organized by a group dubbed Indivisible Pomona and is scheduled to take place outside the department, 490 W. Mission Blvd., from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Organizers seek an independent police oversight commission that has the power to investigate misconduct, mistreatment and abuse complaints, as well as hand down discipline to officers and employees who commit such offenses. The protest and desire to form an oversight committee stems from the trial of Pomona Police Sgt. Michael Neaderbaomer, who faces one charge of obstruction of justice, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of making a false statement. The crimes Neaderbaomer is accused of stem from his handling of an internal investigation into the arrest of a teenager at the Pomona Fairplex in 2015. An officer was recorded as he punched the then 16-year-old boy.
“The claims made about Pomona PD do not at all resemble reality,” said Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri in a social media post. Olivieri posted data for 2018 showcases the number of police contacts, the frequency of use of force and other details: Out of the 128,000 police interactions last year, officers made more than 4,000 arrests, recovered nearly 300 guns from the more than 1,500 gang members in Pomona. Use of force was used 33 times, constituting .03% of those 128,000 contacts. Deadly force was used five times in nine years, amounting to .0004% of all contacts, Olivieri said. “I am very proud of the restraint shown by Pomona officers under the most extreme circumstances; those statistics are amazing and speak volumes,” Olivieri said. |
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