The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 28 - July 9, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Community Briefs...............2
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................5
Legals.................................4,9
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................10
Police Reports.....................2
Recreation and Parks Show the
True Spirit of the 4th of July
Rec Park was decorated red, white and blue. The park staff wished everyone a happy and healthy 4th of July weekend with pinwheels. They are a reminder that we are all connected this year, even without
the regular fireworks and festivities. Photo courtesy El Segundo Recreation and Parks.
Real Estate.............6-9,11,12 A Conversation with El Segundo
Weekend
Forecast
Police Chief Bill Whalen
By Rob McCarthy
The recent calls for police reform have divided
El Segundo residents into two camps. Some
demand changes to the police department’s
practices, while the opposing side supports
the officers and insists they aren’t part of the
nationwide problem. Police Chief Bill Whalen
weighed in on the controversy and explained
that a re-examination of police use-of-force
already was underway before peaceful protests
began in El Segundo after the death of George
Floyd in Minneapolis.
The El Segundo department revised its useof
force standard in late June, and posted the
changes in an infographic, explaining what
the police chief and City Council expect from
officers. “We rewrote our policy a couple of
weeks ago to articulate how we’re consistent
with a prominent use-of-force reform campaign
throughout the country,” the chief said last week.
Before the police-reform movement of 2020,
California lawmakers had passed legislation
about the use of force. As a result, El Segundo
police officers are now told to avoid using chokeholds
except in cases where a detained person
poses a threat to officers or another person.
The city’s officers are required to intervene to
stop any use of excessive force, meeting one
of the local activists’ demands for reforms.
Chief Whalen says while his officers are
naturally concerned by the discussions about
defunding police departments, the situation in
El Segundo hasn’t reached that pitched battle to
defund. It’s possible to be a supporter of police
reforms and equal treatment for people of color
who live and work in the city while also being
in the pro-police camp that uses the slogan
“blue lives matter,” the chief said. “The people
in El Segundo support the police department.
That’s an important message for the officers
to hear. They do an excellent job. But what I
told them is, hey, this is an exciting time. I’ve
been in the profession for 30 years, and I did
things because I was told to do it “Many times,
we would say, ‘Why are we going on a call like
this. This isn’t a police call.’ But there never
was strong enough support to change anything.”
The chief considers the past few months a
“pivotal time” for law enforcement, making
him open to the opportunity for improvement
and self-examination. “If there’s a way we can
do and be safer and find a way to be more
inclusive to members of our community who
See Chief Whalen, page 9
ESUSD Lays Out Two Day School Plan
By Rob McCarthy
The El Segundo Unified School District
is moving ahead with a plan to limit
students to two days in their classrooms
when the school year begins next month,
Superintendent Melissa Moore said Tuesday.
COVID-19 restrictions for Los Angeles
County schools make it impossible for
the district to offer five-day-a-week live
instruction, she explained in response to a
letter-writing campaign from parents.
The district plans to mix two days of
classroom instruction with three days of
distance learning for El Segundo public
schools, scheduled to reopen August 26.
Los Angeles County Public Health officials
have ordered all schools to practice social
distancing and limit class sizes to limit the
coronavirus spread. “We will have to follow
the health order, it is not a recommendation,”
Moore said Tuesday. Parents first learned
about the hybrid-learning plan at a virtual
town hall meeting on May 18. Primary
grades will be limited to 12 students per
classroom, while middle and high schools
will be allowed up to 18 pupils in a classroom
or group setting.
Moore and the school board want children
back in school full-time, too, they assured
parents on Tuesday. The county is at Stage
3 for reopening and going backward with
a new surge in coronavirus cases and
hospitalizations, dashing any hopes the
county will reach Stages 4 or 5 before the
new school year. El Segundo had 25 active
cases as of Tuesday night, coronavirus
update - the most since the pandemic began
See School Board, page 5
Friday
Sunny
76˚/64˚
Saturday
Sunny
78˚/68˚
Sunday
Sunny
80˚/68˚