At Monday night’s City Council meeting, Capt. Bill Moulder of the L.A. County Sheriff’s West Hollywood Station defended his department’s handling of the grueling, eight-hour standoff at the WeHo Gateway that ended when deputies realized the person who might have shot a woman through the walls was not barricaded inside.
Moulder faced pointed questions from Mayor Sepi Shyne and Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson, who bristled about the length of the operation which left the La Brea/Santa Monica intersection closed for most of the day and kept anxious residents of the Dylan Apartments locked in (and out) of their building for hours.
“I just wanted to say that obviously safety is the most important thing, but eight hours of closure at La Brea and Santa Monica? And you flew in a helicopter that was bigger than anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Erickson said. “We’re trying to (tell residents), ‘They’re doing the best that they can.’ But then when NBC4 posts an article that says, ‘Dude got away after eight hours,’ it kind of makes us and you look not too good.”
“We don’t just arrive there, kick in the door and run in and try to grab somebody because that’s quite unsafe for us for the community and everything,” Moulder said.
One of the most notable moments of the standoff came when deputies landed an enormous, military style helicopter on La Brea, described later by some media outlets as an unnecessary “show of force.”
The helicopter was “not meant to be dramatic,” Moulder explained. It was carrying members of the Special Enforcement Bureau, who happened to be undergoing training at the Pacific Design Center when the standoff began. They took the helicopter to the scene out of urgency, instead of driving through morning rush-hour traffic.
“There were several residents that came up to me, just disappointed, really, really disappointed that they were out there (that long),” Shyne said. “I think that some of the businesses were closed all day and it’s — and I can understand, you know, they felt that there was a failure on our part in that sense.”
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a failure,” Moulder said. “We try to obviously get everybody back into their homes and businesses as usual as quickly as possible. But we’re not gonna sacrifice that for safety. The most important thing is the safety of our community. And the deputies are responding to this incident with little or no information. And we go to critical situations where then we have to make a life and death decision in seconds. So it’s a very tough job.”
Erickson and Shyne complained about a perceived lack of communication between the department, residents and themselves. Moulder worked with the city and the Red Cross to set up an area in Plummer Park where people evacuated from the building could gather, but apparently many residents were not aware of it.
“I felt like I was pushing (people at the department) to put out a person of interest flyer,” Erickson said. “I shouldn’t have to do that.”
Councilmember John Heilman then came to Moulder’s defense.
“I think I have a different perspective than my colleagues and I appreciate that you were not rushing to put out a flyer about somebody until you had enough information. I also appreciate the fact that you were not allowing residents to go back into the building, as frustrated as they might be, and I completely understand that until you were sure that it was safe for them to go back in.
“I wouldn’t want you to be following direction from individual council members about putting out some kind of person of interest flyer because that’s not our job as the Council. And we don’t act as individuals. We act collectively as noticed meeting in public. So I appreciate the fact that you resisted that kind of direction because I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be giving that direction to you.”
The person of interest in the case, Joshua Findley, remains at large. No other weapons were recovered from the unit where he was staying.
Moulder told Shyne that the department would coordinate a meeting with residents of the Dylan.
To be fair, it is true that they don’t rush in guns blazing. They wait until the victim comes out and then they shoot him.
This was their opportunity to be critical of law enforcement, showing that they’re part of the club. The same thing these two privileged people always do, the code switching, appropriation, wearing costumes, etc. In other words, Nika Soon-Shiong drag.
Boy, those two need to go. How embarrassing. Police are trying to help us and all they do is complain. One day they’ll need police, and frankly, I hope they don’t help them.
A month after the city held an active shooter drill,The City of West Hollywood’s Emergency Management System failed spectacularly. Apparently, city hall does not have a policy and procedures manual for employees to follow during an actual emergency.
The Mayor should get right on it!
As I remember it, Cpt Moulder did not answer the very first question, which related to time.
I give props to Captain Moulder for showing the patience of a saint Monday night, while dealing with and responding to certain city council members’ ignorance!
also, I want to thank councilmember heilman for being the voice of reason!
Shyne & Erickson believe that the path to resolution is to demoralize others to show their strength.
Gov is supposed to hold LE accountable.
Absolutely, but when the Mayor is complaining that people don’t show her the respect she deems she is entitled to, perhaps she should consider how she treats others. It was the tone and antagonism of the queries that were the issue that we not put forward in a manner that was meant to be constructive.
I watched that council meeting and I was offended by the blatant and arrogant disrespect towards Captain Molder. If both Erickson and Shyne were interrogating the Captain on my behalf, (as they kept stating, they were asking questions posed to them by residents) then, I would appreciate it if they showed the Captain the respect that I, as a resident would have shown and the respect they both demand! The audacity of erickson to suggest that he had to, “push people to put out a person of interest flyer…” Really?! Might that push have come before the Sheriff’s dept. was… Read more »
I applaud Councilmembers Shyne and Erickson for exposing their own self-centered, self-aggrandizing leadership of our City as well as their lack of a basic understanding of their roles as Councilmembers. And I applaud Councilmember Heilman for quietly and thoroughly calling them out on it while giving them a quick 101 on the positions they hold as members of the collective to which they were elected.
I wish they would have asked the captain about the guy that punched in the face at the library the other day in front of a deputy and no arrest was made.
Among the multiple cringe-worthy questions posed by Erickson, one stands out for its complete lack of thinking. Erickson seemed to suggest that the person of interest escaped the building after law enforcement arrived. One cannot arrive at that conclusion based on any information available. It was a stupid line of questioning and it needs to be called out. Erickson repeatedly displays a lack of thinking, combined with a juvenile gotcha mentality in his snark. Moulder handles it well. Steve Martin reminded the council that only the city manager is in charge of day-to-day operations of the city and the council… Read more »
You’re right, he always has snark and he always seems to have that gotcha mentality. Spot on.
This immature John Erickson thinks he is in a 7th grade popularity contest in which he fails miserably. His antics are beyond embarrassing showing he learned absolutely NOTHING while working as a deputy in the City. Please just go away and tend to your Planned Parenthood agenda, something you will never know anything about.
I think Sepi and John were just expressing/forwarding the many questions and frustrations that were directed at them by residents who were affected by this ordeal. That is their job.
lol. no one believes that.
But their job is not to act as an individual and try to instruct the sheriffs on how to conduct their operation. Bravo to Heilman for schooling both Shyne and Erickson. It’s shocking to see that they don’t understand the role of a council member in this regard.
I partially agree. That was definitely part of their agenda. But they didn’t come across so well. John Erickson asked Captain Moulder “what time did they realize that the suspect was not on the property?” Unless I missed something, that question was never answered. Also, if they were in contact with the suspect, couldn’t they hone in on his cell phone location? I don’t work in law-enforcement. I’m just curious.
I do applaud the LASD for making safety a priority. Maybe they didn’t communicate very well. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
You are utterly correct re the unanswered question. I posted that above.
Thank you Captain Moulder! And thank you to councilmember Heilman for demonstrating once again you’re one of the only two who deserve the seat you’re sitting in. And thank you for slapping down Erickson and Shyne, they needed it and they deserved it.