Imperial, El Centro hear accusations of police brutality
Calexico City Council member calls out departments involved
IMPERIAL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Raul Urena made comments publicly at Calexico’s most recent City Council meeting, saying that El Centro and Imperial have the most incidents of police brutality. His remarks were called “Ignorant” but Urena stands by what he said.
“Police brutality happens everyday and it goes unreported, because the independent mechanisms for citizens to feel comfortable reporting police brutality is not there," he says.
Urena refers to cases of alleged police brutality in the region, that took place within the last 5 years.
“That’s what my comment means, it’s a comparative statement, first of all it happens here and I am pointing out where it happens most here," he clarifies.
Imperial City Mayor Karin Eugenio put Urena on blast in a letter, saying that his comments were inaccurate and ignorant; she reaffirms to KYMA, that his comments are false.
“In the last 5 years, there are no reportable incidents, that I know of, or notorious, to the extent he's referring to, and so we would like a clarification on his timeline,” Eugenio points out.
And Urena says that clarification is on its way.
"I will be attending the June 1st city council meeting that I was invited to by mayor Sheryl Walker of El Centro. I will be there to talk about the police brutality in detail in El Centro, Imperial and possibly other agencies," Urena says.
And as for Imperial, the Mayor is also holding firm ground, as she fully supports her police department.
“We prefer if he make any comments in the future, that they are valid and not blind accusations," she asserts.
The City of Imperial invited Urena to a meeting as well. However, according to the Mayor, Urena wanted to be accompanied by a local Black Lives Matter's representative. The City felt like that was unnecessary, and declined that circumstantial request. The Mayor believes his comments should be clarified without such representation.
