Modesto councilman offers advice on complying with cops. Resident takes offense.
The national debate over the police in response to the death of George Floyd and other instances of fatal shootings, brutality and racist behavior by officers reached Modesto’s budget workshops last week after a councilman’s comments sparked an impassioned rebuttal from a social justice advocate.
Near the end of a presentation on the Police Department’s budget, which included a discussion of crime rates, staffing, deescalation training and mental health calls, Councilman Bill Zoslocki said this:
“I’d like to talk to the dads out there, and the moms that are listening. Train your kids. You want to maybe save their life. Something my dad taught me — it’s an old-school thing — when an officer approaches you, don’t resist. Let the officer ask the questions. He may seem gruff. He may seem short. He may be trying to solve a problem and understand and see if there is a serious situation. Don’t resist.
“Answer the officer, and if ... back in (the) 1950(s) had I resisted, my dad would have spanked me. And I would not be ... I would be sorry for what I did. We can’t seem to do that anymore. But that’s what I want to tell all the moms out there. Teach your kids: Don’t resist. Every officer just wants to get answers, and most of the time you go away because you may not even be the one they are looking for. And that’s a fundamental thing that is missing in society right now is don’t challenge the officer. He’s there to do his job. And he may have to arrest you if you try to challenge him. Would you rather just go home?”
‘Disgusted to my core listening ...’
Zoslocki, 67, made his comments during Tuesday’s workshop. The workshops were held over Zoom, and audience member Bianca Lopez issued a vehement and at times profane response.
She took particular offense to Zoslocki’s implying that if people complied then there would be no police brutality, excessive force and other misconduct.
Zoslocki said in a Friday interview that is not what he meant. He said relations between the police and the community would improve if both treated the other with respect, and more is needed, including weeding out bad cops.
“I am disgusted to my core listening to this nonsense conversation, and I am just baffled by the language that is being used, especially by the chair (Zoslocki),” said Lopez, co-founder of Valley Improvement Projects, a nonprofit dedicated to social and environmental justice in Stanislaus County, at Tuesday’s workshop.
“... What you just said right now about ‘I’m going to talk to all the moms and dads to train your kids,’ FU. FU. Do you know why? Is that what you are going to tell Darlene Ruiz? That her son should have just complied when his hands were up and Joseph Lamantia shot him within nine seconds of getting there? Disgusted.“
Then-Modesto police officer Joseph Lamantia fatally shot Ruiz’s son — 29-year-old Trevor Seever — on the grounds of the Church of the Brethren on Dec. 29. While there were reports Seever was armed and on his way home after making threats against family members, he was not armed. Lamantia fired his gun seven times.
Lamantia, 35, was fired from his job in mid March and charged with voluntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty. Seever was Lamantia’s fifth officer-involved shooting since 2010. Four were fatal. Authorities had determined the three fatal incidents before Seever were justified.
Lopez said in a Friday interview she agrees with treating officers with respect, but officers need to extend that same respect to the public. She said that does not mean the public cannot assert its rights in a respectful way when dealing with the police.
Compliance not the answer
She said the problem with Zoslocki’s comments is they wrongly suggest that complying with the police will stop them from engaging in excessive force and other bad behavior.
She said there have been too many instances in Modesto and throughout the nation of people complying but still being mistreated and even killed. Lopez said the focus needs to be on better training of police, including in de-escalating potentially dangerous situations, and deploying mental health clinicians on mental health calls.
Lopez also is advocating Modesto hire an independent police auditor and form a civilian oversight board for its Police Department. She said these measures will increase accountability, transparency and public trust in the police. She said they also will help officers do their jobs better.
Modesto is starting a community conversation regarding its Police Department’s policies and practices. It plans to hold a special City Council meeting in which the public can talk about the police. The city will then form a committee that represents all of the city’s constituencies to consider potential initiatives to improve relations between the police and community.
The committee’s work is expected to take six months to a year. The committee would then provide the City Council with recommendations. A civilian oversight board and auditor could come out of this process.
Tuesday update on police review
City Manager Joe Lopez is expected to update the council Tuesday on this effort. The council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. More information is available at www.modestogov.com/749/City-Council-Agendas-Minutes and by clicking on the meeting’s link.
Zoslocki said in the Friday interview that the point he was trying to make was that as a society we have lost respect for those who hold differing opinions. “We’ve lost the ability to have conversations,” he said. “We’ve forgotten the basic tenet: to love one another.”
He thanked Lopez on Tuesday for her comments during the workshop. He said they would have to agree to disagree, but he said they had some common ground. He said Friday that includes more training for officers, including in de-escalation, and having mental health clinicians respond to mental health calls. Modesto is looking into how to do that.
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
