With a translator at his side, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck listened to Los Angelenos who repeatedly said, often in Spanish, that LAPD officers should not have used lethal force on Manuel Jamines. (Paresh Dave)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes opened their ears to the city Wednesday night, and as they listened, two conclusions should have been reached.

1. The police department must let the public know exactly how it is investigating the 40 seconds of action that climaxed with the death of Manuel Jamines or it will risk prolonging outcry and violence in the streets of the Westlake community.

2. A long-term solution must be found to provide officers on bicycles with a non-lethal weapon while all officers must receive increased instruction on dealing with situations on the streets.

At a meeting with community members in Westlake, one woman yelled out as Beck presented his opening remarks, “We don't want to hear you! Let the people speak first.”

During his closing statement, Beck said he had learned something during the meeting.

“This community wants a greater voice, so if I'm correct, then I'll give you one,” he said.

Beck was straight-to-the-point in his responses to public concerns. On two occasions, he tried to mix in Spanish words, though he poorly pronounced them.

Throughout the night, members of the public offered Beck several ideas.

• Police officers on bicycles should have had tear gas, one said. Beck addressed the issue at a previous press conference, saying the canisters are too heavy to ride on a bicycle with.

• Inspector General Nicole Bershon, who reports to the L.A. Police Commission and not the department, should create a community group to hear the concerns of the public regarding the shooting. She did not respond directly to the suggestion, but instead said that her office is open to anyone in-person, by phone or by e-mail.

• Police officers should be trained to better deal with stressful situations, said a man who stated he was a cousin of Jamines.

• Police have again lost control of Westlake, and they need to regain it, because the community needs lots of help, pleaded an immigrant who said he had worked in the area for years.

• Beck should release the official witness statements of every observer of the incident. He read one at the meeting. One man claimed the police has 15 witnesses.

• Every LAPD officer should receive a psychological evaluation because it doesn't make sense how someone could do this.

• Demonstrators that have been arrested in Westlake this week and are living in the U.S. illegaly should not be referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

• The officer who shot Jamines should be put in jail. Beck said that ultimately L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley has to decide whether Officer Frank Hernandez should be charged. Police say the initial evidence does not warrant a charge because Jamines was committing a crime at the time he died.

With the suggestions collected, Beck, the inspector general's office and the police commission will have to hash out some form of a community advisory board. One leader of the Guatemalan community said that is the best way to bring the transparency, which Beck has called for, to the investigation.

“We are expecting to have more than just a meeting,” said Julio Villasenor, president of S.O.S. Immigration International. “We just want to have more information. We don't want to be blind.”

Nearly every tragic incident incites a reactionary policy change. Jamines' death is likely to cause the police commission and the L.A. City Council to propose the addition of one non-lethal weapon to the arsenal of officers on bicycles. Tear gas is out the equation, leaving tasers, batons or bean bags as options.

Reyes' communications director Tony Perez said either the council or the commission will have to present what they deem to be the best option to the LAPD as a fix for what has turned out to be serious flaw in patrol operations. LAPD will also have to address why police officers are not trained to disarm people wielding knives.

Though policy changes may calm long-term concerns, a renewed resentment of LAPD requires increased openess from the commission and the department.

Early in the meeting Beck mentioned he was part of the Rampart Division that helped take back McArthur from transients and prostitutes and drug dealers. After his two children graduated from the police academy, he said he sent them to work at Rampart because the community it serves, including Westlake, was special and deserved the best.

Beck's task in the coming days will be to deicide if he will heed the public's desire for more access to internal deliberations.

“Transparency for us means members of the community should be part of the investigation as well,” said Juan Acano, a Westlake community worker. “The community spoke tonight. There are many that want to be part of the process, not just me.”

To reach reporter Paresh Dave, click here.

Find him on Twitter: @peard33.

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