by Kevin Cody

Twice last April, Hermosa Beach police deployed drones to find a lost child. A missing grandchild was found at the ocean’s edge. A special needs child was found on the Greenbelt. 

“If the community sees our drones flying overhead, it doesn’t necessarily mean a crime is in progress,” Chief Paul Lebaron said of the drone rescues in a report to the city council.

But more commonly the thermal imaging-equipped  “Drone for First Responders” serves as what the chief describes as “force multipliers.”

Other “force multipliers” the chief mentioned at Mayor Raymond Jackson’s State of the City address in September include ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers), and crime analysis software used in assigning where to deploy officers.

‘Hands off the wheel’

The department took a similary, high tech approach to its community engagement in 2023. 

The Hermosa Police Department’s Facebook and Instagram posts were so lame in their early days that Lieutenant Landon Phillips, who helped form the program’s social media team in 2018, had trouble enlisting fellow officers to work on it. After some thought, he traced the problem to himself and his superiors. 

“Every Facebook and Instagram post had to be passed through me, and up the chain of command for approval,” he recalled in an interview this week. “It was killing creativity.” 

“That’s when I decided to ‘take my hands off the wheel,’” Phillips said. 

“Officers finish their arrest reports, then edit their video, write the text, add music and upload the post from their cell phones.”

“We’re appealing to an audience that gets its information on social media. If we just threw up a spreadsheet, they wouldn’t look at it. Residents who want to dig deeper can find crime stats on our website,” Phillips said.

Not all the posts are crime related.

“We try to make it one-third arrests, one third public service, and one-third goofy stuff,” Phillips said.

Phillips’ “hands off the wheel” approach applies to public comments, as well.

“We don’t filter the comments. Some people will ask why we don’t enforce speed limits on The Strand. Others will ask if we don’t have better things to do. We let the public have their say,” Phillips said. 

Blue to green

New technology has also transformed the department’s vehicle fleet.

At the start of 2023, the Hermosa Beach Police Department was halfway to its goal of a zero-emission fleet. Of the police department’s 39 vehicles, 17 were hybrid or electric. The city’s 2013 Green Fleet Action Plan calls for the “progressive transition to alternative fuel and zero and low emissions vehicles for the city.”

In March, the Hermosa Beach council approved the replacement of five police vehicles. A 2022 Tesla Model Y replaced a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid; a 2022 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid replaced a 2014 Ford Police Interceptor Utility; a 2022 Honda Accord Hybrid and a 2022 Subaru outback Wagon replaced two 2014 Ford Explorers; and a 2022 Chevrolet Traverse replaced a 2014 Chevrolet Caprice.

New, old school policing 

The department’s newest program dates back to 16th Century Japan.

Shortly after Jon Sibbald joined the Hermosa Beach Police Department in 2002, the six-foot-tall, 200 pound officer found himself drawing on his martial arts training in situations where other officers used pepper spray, Tasers and batons.

Today, over half of the department’s 39 officers train in the Hermosa Beach Police Grappling Control Techniques (PGCT) program. Sibbald describes the program as “blending the punch blocks of Hapkido, and Krav Maga, and transitioning (on the ground) to grappling and jiu jitsu.” 

Sibbald earned State certification as a law enforcement use-of-force instructor in 2005. But for nearly 20 years, a succession of Hermosa police chiefs declined his offer to teach martial arts to fellow officers.

Finally, in 2020, his offer was accepted by newly appointed police chief Paul Lebaron, who joined the department one month before Minneapolis police officer Derek Chavin killed George Floyd with a knee to the neck.

New recruits are required to attend the classes throughout their 18-month probation. 

Officers aren’t taught the traditional police “pain compliance” holds, such as 

wrist and arm locks. Nor are they taught punches and kicks.Chokeholds aren’t taught either. California banned law enforcement’s use of chokeholds in 2020, following George Floyd’s death.

At the October 10 city council meeting, Sibbald reported the results of PGCT’s first year by comparing statistics to the two previous years.

In 2020, and 2021 combined, the police department reported 35 officer injuries during use-of-force incidents. The related workman’s compensation payments totaled over  $300,000.

In 2022, PGCT’s first full year, there were no officer injuries during use-of-force incidents, and no use-of-force related workers comp claims.

During that first year, 44 use-of-force arrests were made, involving 94 officer responses.

During those arrests, none of the officers used pepper spray, Tasers, batons, punches or kicks, Sibbald said. 

Sibbald is retiring at the end of this year after 21 years with Hermosa. But the program will continue under the instruction of officers he trained. ER