Sacramento police called kids ‘ghetto’ before handcuffing 14-year-old Black boy

Two Sacramento police officers referred to a group of kids as “ghetto” and “retarded” before improperly putting a 14-year-old Black boy in handcuffs. Both are still on the force.

Police Chief Kathy Lester, then a deputy chief, sustained allegations of discrimination against Officer Brandon Lundgren and excessive force against Officer Connor Lawrence, according to October 2021 disciplinary letters the department posted to its website Thursday. The department ordered both to complete additional training.

Just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, the two officers were dispatched to the area outside the movie theater at the Delta Shores shopping center in Meadowview. A caller had said kids were “loitering, fighting and deterring patrons from going to businesses,” the disciplinary letters stated.

After the kids did not follow police orders to leave, Lundgren told a 14-year-old Black boy “alright, first victim,” then handcuffed him and put him in the backseat of a patrol car, the letter stated.

“There is two hundred of you roaming around, being a pack of animals,” Lundgren can be heard saying on a body camera, according to the disciplinary letter. “It’s like a pack of wolves out there destroying the community ... you are not going to get away... I could tase you, I could bola wrap you, I could shoot you with a bean bag round. I could deploy a dog on you. I mean is this really how you are going to grow up and live your life, just f--- the police? ... Live a great life and show some respect. Because right now, you are the problem with our society. You are the problem with our country.”

The department has no policy prohibiting the handcuffing of minors, unlike Baltimore and San Jose. Last year, unidentified Sacramento officers handcuffed a Black 10-year-old girl as she sobbed. The city’s Office of Public Safety Accountability Director LaTesha Watson and Inspector General Dwight White showed the council the video last month during a discussion about police racial bias that has yet to result in council action.

Lundgren and Lawrence did not respond Friday to emails seeking comment on the Delta Shores incident. The city and its police department, through spokespeople, declined comment.

During a July 2021 interview with the department’s internal affairs division, Lundgren admitted the “first victim” comment has a negative impact and could be perceived as though the kid was going to be the victim of something, and that his other comments “could leave a long-lasting effect on a 14-year-old,” the letter stated.

Sonia Lewis, a community organizer, said the city should have disciplined the officers more harshly.

“People in the Black community have stressed for too long that training doesn’t deter this type of behavior,” Lewis said. “It’s a culture, it’s a norm of law enforcement. I would like to see suspensions unpaid. We need to hit them in the pockets. Too often when something really goes awry it hits the taxpayer in the pocket when huge settlements are paid out for wrongdoings by cops.”

Lewis said the council should create a policy to bar officers for handcuffing kids.

“It’s one of those things that are long lasting traumas,” Lewis said. “Handcuffing doesn’t solve anything. You detaining a child in handcuffs does more irreparable harm than good.”

Lundgren telling the 14-year-old Black boy was “the problem with this country,” did severe damage, and he could be saying similar things to other Black kids, she said.

“It shapes a narrative that there’s no value in me,” Lewis said. “If we tell a person long enough they are bad, they’ll believe they are bad.”

What discriminatory language did the police use?

Right when the two officers arrived on scene, the body cameras picked up a conversation between Lundgren and Lawrence in the patrol car.

“How many of these kids you think are drinking Lean and shit?” Lawrence said, referring to a drink made with liquid prescription medication and soda, the letter stated. “So ghetto, so ghetto, so ghetto.”

“Should I just go out there and grab somebody and f------, ka-ka-ka” Lawrence said, according to the letters.

The disciplinary letter stated about that comment: “You admitted that someone could interpret the verbiage, ‘ka-ka-ka,’ as using force or shooting,” the letter stated. “You admitted the phrase...could bring discredit or embarrassment to the (department).”

Both officers referred to the kids as “retarded.”

During the internal affairs interview, Lawrence explained his use of the word “ghetto.”

“You stated that by saying ‘So ghetto, so ghetto, so ghetto,’ you were referring to the behavior of the large crowd in the area and their lack of regard for the businesses, police and patrons in the area,” the letter stated. “You admitted your comments ... could be offensive to the public and could bring discredit or embarrassment to the (department).”

Both admitted using the word “retarded” is derogatory. Lawrence admitted that referring to people as “blind cats,” could be taken as derogatory.

Police failed to report incident

The incident reports both officers filled out lacked “pertinent information” relative to the detainment of a kid, the letter stated. They did not ensure the kid was released to a parent or guardian, in violation of department policy. They didn’t fill out the Racial and Identify Profiling Act entries for the kid who was detained, another policy violation.

The 14-year-old boy was handcuffed for a total of 27 minutes, and there was no department document about it, the letter stated. The failure to document the detainment was a violation of city policy. The pair did not call a sergeant to inform him they had taken someone to the ground, another policy violation.

Lawrence detained the minor as an attempt to issue a notice of trespass, but it evolved into a detention for resisting arrest, in violation of a state law, the letter stated.

As punishment, Lawrence and Lundgren both had to attend a three-day training involving “resilience, compassion and leadership for law enforcement,” the letter stated. They also had to participate in a two-week assignment in the department’s Outreach and Engagement Division to complete a “community engagement project” involving south Sacramento youth.

Lundgren was one of two officers involved in a use of force causing great bodily injury to a Black female on Jan. 19 at Mack Road and Center Parkway, according to the department website. The department has not yet released documents detailing that incident.

The disciplinary letters are likely no longer in the officers’ personnel files because 18 months have passed, according to the letters.

Lundgren, who has been with the department since 2016, was paid $127,540 in total compensation last year. Lawrence, who has been with the department since 2017, made $113,582 in total compensation last year.