Nude biking okay, says CPD Chief Paul Cooper

Riding your bike around Claremont while naked will not get you arrested, according to Claremont Police Chief Paul Cooper. Well, sometimes it won't.

Cooper said police will not take action against a nude biker as long as witnesses are not offended by the nudity or the biker is not getting sexual pleasure from his/her activity.

"This is a specific intent crime," Cooper said. "The persons exposing their genitals have to receive some type of sexual gratification from this. There's no evidence to support that [in this case]."

The discussion came at last night's council meeting, sparked by public comment from resident Ralph Ruiz, a retired LAPD cop who likes to complain about anything and everything that Claremont cops do.

On a recent Friday evening, Ruiz was driving near the Village with his 14-year-old daughter when a group of 25 to 30 scantily clad college students came riding by on their bikes. Ruiz called the cops, who stopped a handful of the naked riders but let them go on their merry way.

"When you have 25 to 30 students out there naked on their bikes, you have to cite and you have to make arrests ," Ruiz said. "You can't just let them do whatever they want."

Mayor Pro Tem Sam Pedroza called the incident a "shocking reminder that we do live in a college town."

Councilmember Corey Calaycay chimed in on the discussion, saying Claremont is trying to bill itself as a tourist destination and public nudity might harm the city's image. He also seemed offended by what he read in a Pomona College student newspaper about the incident.

"One of the writers referred to one of our officers as a 'douche bag' for apprehending her," Calaycay said. "I just thought that was out-of-line, disrespectful to our officers."

Wait, did Calaycay just say 'douche bag' up on the dais? New Mayor Linda Elderkin couldn't repress a chuckle upon hearing the statement from her colleague. Neither could I.

At any rate, Cooper suggested the possibility of a "public nudity ordinance" that could deter further nakedness around town. The council didn't seem too interested at this time.

No charges over debacle at the health care reform debate

The LA County District Attorney's Office announced last week that it will not file criminal charges against Charles Cox for his role at the August 27 health care reform debate. Citing a California Supreme Court decision on freedom of speech at public meetings, the DA's Office determined that Cox's disruptive actions did not warrant criminal charges.

"It is clear that many in the room were disturbed by the acts of Mr. Cox, but it is unlikely that ... can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt [in court]," according to a charge evaluation worksheet from the DA's Office.

Two weeks ago, the DA's Office declined to file criminal charges against organizer Rudy Mann, who was cited for battery at the debate upon the request of Cox. Cox claimed to Claremont police that he was assaulted by Mann at the meeting.

Tomorrow night, the city council will hear a full report from Claremont Police Chief Paul Cooper about the incident and the police's response. Residents have complained over the Police Department's lack of presence at the meeting and perceived unfair treatment by investigating officers.

A mess that could have been avoided

Sparks flew at Tuesday night's city council meeting with a number of residents upset over the Claremont Police Department's handling of the health care reform debate.

Members of the Democratic Club of Claremont rallied around Rudy Mann, who was cited for allegedly assaulting a disruptive participant, Charles Cox.

Andrew Winnick, a DCC member and a Human Services Commissioner, said police should have been aware of a potential threat and called their response a "major failure."

Mann also spoke out at the meeting. He said he was "denied his right to file a complaint against this person who committed this crime against me and against the public."

The police officer who did show up cited Mann for assault but refused to cite Cox for disrupting the meeting. Both men were attempting to make citizen's arrests against each other, but the officer refused to handle Mann's request.

So the officer either showed bias against Mann or simply did not understand how citizen's arrests should be handled. Either case is inexcusable.

Another speaker, Carolyn Gonzalez, President of the Mountain View Republican Club, also addressed the council. She place the blame on the organizers (the event was sponsored by the Democratic Club of Claremont), calling them "irresponsible" to host the event without any security.

She went on: “[Cox] did stand up. He did shout. He was loud and that is accurate. However what is not being said is that one of the moderators went to him and was poking him in the chest. Physically poking him. He did nothing in response to defend himself. Another gentleman came up, an older man and physically grabbed him. Again, this protester did nothing to defend himself."

I wasn't at the debate, but it seems Cox's whole goal of being there was to draw attention to his pro-life organization, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.

He was annoying enough to get organizers to poke, grab, push or otherwise physically confront him. Then he can file a citizen's arrest and get his name and his organization's name some media attention.

If just one police officer had been there throughout the meeting, perhaps none of this mess would have happened. The officer could have removed Cox from the meeting for being disruptive, and organizers would never have touched him.

Police Chief Paul Cooper argued that the Police Department is not a private security force, and the organizers could have hired police to be there.

But I've been to plenty of protests in Claremont, and there's always a police presence. Why have 3 cops at a rally for peace in Iraq and none at a heated health care debate?

It would have been wise to designate at least one officer to monitor the event. After all, health care debates across the country have erupted into yelling matches and even violence.

The follow-up investigation, the citizen's arrests, the accusations of bias and threats of lawsuits could have all been avoided by sending one officer to the 2-hour meeting.