Laguna Beach to release body-camera footage of city manager’s traffic stop

Laguna Beach will release a police officer’s body-camera footage from a traffic stop involving City Manager Shohreh Dupuis after a City Council majority voted to make the video available to the public.

In November, Dupuis was pulled over for driving while using a hand-held cellphone. A California Public Records Act request sought to obtain the video and dispatch logs from the traffic stop.

Michele Monda, a resident who said she made two public records requests related to the incident, took issue with the length of time it took for the city to respond to her requests, and she called refusal to turn over the body-camera footage to the public a lack of transparency.

“For me, the issue with Shohreh Dupuis has never been about the … traffic ticket,” Monda told the City Council Tuesday. “It’s about the lack of transparency and the resulting inability of residents to confirm her version of the incident. It’s about evaluating for themselves whether she lied to police and abused her office by telling the arresting officer, who is her employee, that she was speaking to another of his bosses when pulled over.”

Council members had a chance to review the body-camera footage before deciding whether to release it to the public. Council members George Weiss, Mark Orgill and Alex Rounaghi voted to do so, with the vote carrying 3-2.

“I think this does need to be released because it’s really a question mark in the public’s mind,” Weiss said before making a motion. “... This is a matter of public interest and integrity and of public knowledge and trust in government.”

Mayor Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf cast the dissenting votes, both expressing that they did not see cause for concern and did not wish to set a precedent for the city releasing video to the public for a minor traffic infraction.

“I think it’s going to corroborate that our city manager acted entirely appropriately during the stop,” Whalen said of the body-camera footage being released. “She was very reserved and had very little to say really, other than turning over her information.

“The whole tenor of the conversation, from the beginning, by some people was she’s looking to exercise undue influence, clearly very negative towards her motives and the role she played and kind of how she runs the city. … I think she’s doing a great job. I think she’s been highly pressured by some people who are critical of her job, and you got to live with that, but she’s getting a lot done. … Video or no video coming out, she gets my full support.”

Laguna Beach City Manager Shohreh Dupuis was stopped for driving while using a hand-held cellphone.

(File Photo)

In a Jan. 10 meeting of the City Council, Dupuis spoke about the Nov. 16 traffic stop. She detailed making two calls — one to Police Chief Jeff Calvert at his office number and a subsequent call to his cellphone — on her drive to work. She was pulled over by a motor officer on Coast Highway near the intersection at Thalia Street.

“I was given a citation for being on the phone, and I’m planning to pay the citation,” Dupuis said during her Jan. 10 comments. “The call logs, both on my phone and Chief Calvert’s phone, show that I was speaking to him when I was pulled over. I told the officer that I was sorry that I was on the phone, and I was talking to Chief Calvert. I did not ask to not to be given a ticket. He asked for my driver’s license and registration, and he wrote me a ticket.”

Following the vote to release the footage of the traffic stop, Whalen said parts of the video would be redacted to keep personal information such as license and registration private.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.