June 02--Long Beach's city prosecutor said Wednesday he will not appeal a judge's ruling that said the city police department unfairly targeted gay men when it carried out lewd conduct stings.
In an email announcing the decision, City Prosecutor Douglas Haubert said he did not agree with the April 29 ruling issued by Superior Court Judge Halim Dhanidina, and did not believe the judge's findings should affect relations between the city and its LGBT residents.
"The City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Police Department have worked hard to build a positive relationship with the LGBTQ community, a relationship built over many years and based on mutual respect and open dialogue," he said in an email. "I do not think this ruling will or should hinder that relationship."
The controversy stemmed from the 2014 arrest of Rory Moroney, a 50-year-old Long Beach resident who was charged with indecent exposure and lewd conduct after a run-in with an undercover police officer inside a restroom at Recreation Park.
Moroney's attorney, Bruce Nickerson, had argued that the police department's vice unit unfairly targeted gay men because they used only male undercover officers to arrest male suspects seeking sex with other men.
Moroney previously told The Times that he did not enter the restroom seeking a sexual encounter, and had simply responded to the undercover officer's flirtations.
Dhanidina agreed. In his ruling, the judge found the police department "intentionally targeted men who engaged in homosexual sex" and said the undercover officer's tactics induced the crime.
News that the stings were continuing stunned some local LGBT activists, especially in Long Beach, a city with an openly gay mayor. Similar tactics have been abandoned by some police departments throughout the state amidst political backlash and lawsuits in recent years.
Many of California's largest police departments instead favor of posting uniform officers near hotspots for lewd conduct.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last month, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said he was unaware the department had been carrying out such stings, and promised to review the policy.
"I view Long Beach as a progressive place that believes in justice and dignity for everybody," he said. "So when I hear that something occurs that could be contrary to that, I'm alarmed."
A police spokesman said Wednesday that the policy remained under review.
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, who is gay and a former special assistant in the Sheriff's Department who worked with its LGBT advisory council, said the prosecutor's decision not to appeal is a positive step for the city.
Prang, who helped the Sheriff's Department modify its policy on the same issues, said he has spoken with Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna about the stings and believes the department has become receptive to adopting new ways to tackle lewd conduct problems.
"When I spoke with the chief, he was very interested in a better approach to deal with the issue, so I'm pretty encouraged. I think they recognized the challenges of the past enforcement practices," Prang said. "There is a large body of work that indicates there's better ways to alleviate the problem."
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UPDATES:
6:31 p.m.: This story was updated with additional comments from Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang.
This story was originally published at 6:03 p.m.
