Associated Press
City officials in Anaheim, Calif. said Thursday that they will ask the state attorney general’s office to review allegations that police spied on local activists and officials in recent years.
City Manager David Morgan and police Chief John Welter said they are confident there is no inappropriate intelligence-gathering going on at the department, but an independent investigation should still be performed.
“We intend to gather all the facts and ensure that policies and practices are in place to prevent abuse of criminal intelligence gathering practices,” Welter said.
Their announcement follows allegations made by retired police Capt. Marc Hedgepeth in the Los Angeles Times that in 2000, police gathered intelligence on four Hispanic activists and a representative of the firefighters union, who is now a city councilman.
Anaheim officials had acknowledged the spying in a 2001 report, but Hedgepeth said it was more extensive than originally reported.
He said the former police chief and city manager ordered officers to spend hundreds of hours investigating Richard Chavez, who was head of the Anaheim Firefighters Association when it was involved in a labor dispute with the city.
Former police chief Roger Baker and former city manager James Ruth both denied the allegations.