Grace and Understanding After Juneteenth

This year’s annual San Pedro Committee Network’s Juneteenth celebration at Peck Park went off without a hitch. It’s the second hosting since the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been lifted, so the number of attendees is still low compared to years prior. But still, it was a success. Councilman Tim McOsker made sure the event was supported with a stage, sound system, port-a-potties, and honored community figures. There were three layers of security including Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division officers, Black Knight Patrol, and individuals connected to the SPCN serving as community ambassadors. Everything went without a hitch until it didn’t.

For SPCN, the main problem was that the permit for the event ended at 7 p.m. After all the official Juneteenth pomp and community recognition, what remained were families with longstanding ties in the community barbecuing and reconnecting with each other. It was in this space that misunderstanding and a lack of grace reigned. 

There is no doubt in my mind that last year’s shooting at the park’s baseball diamond, which resulted in one death and several injuries played a significant role in how Harbor Division responded to the permitting issue at the Juneteenth celebration this past June. The SPCN was not the organizer of the baseball game, but that nevertheless, we’re still dealing with the fallout from the shooting. 

This was a space in which the Harbor Division Capt. Brent McGuyre of the LAPD, which held the ship steady during an election season that would have tossed it despite his best efforts, was needed. 

Alarmed homeowners living near the park asked legitimate questions regarding police patrols, City of LA Department of Recreation and Parks permitting processes, and enforcement. The much less well-received part is that regardless of the organizer’s adherence to the permitting process or patrols by Harbor Division officers, neither prevented the mass shooting. 

McGuyre’s deft navigation of these issues, avoiding misinformation and prematurely casting blame even as political campaigns at the time attempted to use those tragic events to their advantage, was needed and welcomed.

As the minutes and seconds ticked closer to the terminus of the event, witnesses say that some Harbor Division police officers aggressively pushed the remaining families to leave the park with little care for the fact that this event has continued for 43 years with hardly any disturbance. 

The sun sets a few minutes after 8 p.m. on June 18. I believe there was enough space for community policing to operate with grace and compassion even as police officers moved to ensure that the conditions of the permit were met.

The SPCN is set to meet with LAPD’s Harbor Division to iron out the differences that emerge at the end of this year’s Juneteenth. But my hope is the example of community policing and community relations that Capt. McGuyre displayed in the aftermath of last year’s shooting is what carries the day going forward. 

Terelle Jerricks has been with Random Lengths News for two decades, and its managing editor for the past 19 years. In this role, he helped document the histories of San Pedro’s communities of color, labor and progressive movements.