Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/beating-death/)
Dan Hughes, who was promoted to chief to clean up the police department following the 2011 beating death of Kelly Thomas, will retire from the department next month and become an executive overseeing security at the Disneyland resort in Anaheim.
Five years ago, the department earned nationwide scorn for the horrific beating death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man. Now the department’s homeless liaison unit works with a local nonprofit to get people off the street.
Similar to Rodney King’s, the Kelly Thomas case showed reluctance of juries to convict police. Also like King’s beating, Thomas’s death will have long-lasting impact.
Fullerton officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli, who were involved in the beating death of Kelly Thomas, were cleared of murder and manslaughter charges Monday.
To what extent did a longstanding bias among police toward
protecting their fellow officers contribute to the beating of Kelly
Thomas?
OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will confront an ingrained
reluctance among jurors to convict police officers as he attempts
to win murder and manslaughter convictions against two Fullerton
officers.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will announce Wednesday
whether he will charge Fullerton police officers in the death of
Kelly Thomas.
The Fullerton police chief, the focus of intense crtiticism
following the police beating of a homeless man, was Laguna Beach
chief when the ACLU sued the city for citing the homeless for
sleeping on the beach.