Alameda City Council will consider reprimanding Trish Herrera Spencer after public intoxication surveillance camera was released

Video footage released by the Long Beach Police Department shows Alameda City Councilwoman Trish Herrera Spencer was highly intoxicated and refused assistance from law enforcement while attending a California League of Cities conference Oct. 18 in Long Beach.

The department’s incident report and officer body camera footage obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and shared with the Bay Area news group show Spencer intoxicated and unresponsive as first responders treated her like ” emergency medical care,” according to police messages in the body. camera footage.

Following initial reporting of the incident by the Bay Area News Group, the Alameda City Council will consider reprimanding Spencer at its next meeting on Nov. 6 for violating the city code of conduct during a taxpayer-funded trip representing the city.

“(T)he inappropriate conduct of a Council member undermines public confidence in all matters before the Council,” the agenda item states.

Spencer is seeking re-election to the Alameda City Council, where she has served since 2016. Spencer is running against Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Greg Boller, journalist Thushan Amarasiriwardena, special education teacher Michelle Pryor and electrical engineer Steve Slauson.

Spencer and other council members traveled to Long Beach to attend the California League of Cities conference, where local government leaders attend workshops and networking events to “take their organization to the next level.” City representatives from across California attended the event at Bo Beau Kitchen & Roof Tap, located at 144 Pine Avenue, from 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm on Thursday.

According to LBPD body camera footage, an officer saw Spencer earlier in the evening at the 7-11 and noticed her pupils were dilated, a common sign of intoxication. Around midnight, a passerby helped Spencer walk down Pine Avenue on the way to her hotel when she collapsed outside the Alegria nightclub at 115 Pine Ave., according to officers’ comments in body camera footage. She and a passerby tried to enter the club, but the bouncer did not allow her to enter because she could not speak. Spencer briefly returned to the sidewalk before collapsing outside the club, prompting a passerby to call police at 12:12 p.m.

When officers arrived on the scene, body camera footage showed Spencer lying on the ground and supporting herself with one hand, struggling to answer officers’ basic questions about her identity and where she was. Officers repeatedly told her she was “no problem” as they tried to help her get up. But Spencer refused their help, saying: “I’m fine.” She then lay down on the ground and stopped responding.

Long Beach Fire Department Emergency Medical Services crews arrived on scene at 12:45 p.m., picked her up on a gurney and placed her in an ambulance to take her to a local hospital for treatment of a contusion to her head and bruises on her arms. , according to body camera footage and LBPD.

In a statement Spencer gave to the Bay Area News Group on Oct. 22, she said she was the victim of a crime that left her with a concussion and has “little recollection of the event.”

“Unfortunately, several social media platforms and posters are posting the message that I have been arrested and many other false claims. This is a lie fabricated by political opponents trying to smear my reputation,” Spencer wrote.

She also claimed that her personal belongings, including jewelry, were missing. However, in the security camera footage, Spencer is wearing jewelry.

Spencer also stated that her physician that evening was required to file a “Suspicious Injury Report” due to the suspicion that her injuries were the result of an assault or abuse. However, suspicious injury reports can also be filed if the injuries could be “caused by the victim’s own actions,” according to the California Department of Emergency Services.

The video footage shows that as LBPD officers relayed information to emergency personnel, one officer stated, “She is not a victim of a crime…whatever happened to her, she did it to herself.”

Additional inquiries from the Bay Area News Group about Spencer following the release of the LBPD body camera footage were directed to her friend and retired attorney Paul Forman, citing her ongoing recovery from the concussion.

“Her public statement indicates that she has no memory of the encounter with police and limited memory of medical care in Long Beach and that she had a concussion,” Forman wrote in the Bay Area News Group. “She only realized she might have been attacked long after the incident when she noticed her personal belongings were missing.”

Originally published: October 31, 2024 03:08 PM PDT