Within a two-month span, Keith Puckett was visited or stopped twice by El Segundo police officers.
One encounter was a visit to the 46-year-old Black man’s El Segundo home in the early morning hours by a cadre of cops, and another was an evening traffic stop by an individual officer.
These two incidents in 2021 are at the heart of a racial profiling and unlawful detention lawsuit filed Thursday by attorneys representing Puckett against the city of El Segundo.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, compensatory damages and an injunction barring the city from engaging in unconstitutional conduct. The plaintiff also asks that El Segundo adopt appropriate policies and training to avoid such conduct in the future.
“Racism by law enforcement is unlawful, unconstitutional and harmful to everyone who experiences it, even when it doesn’t involve violence,” Lauren Blas, a lawyer for Puckett, said in a statement. “Even if it doesn’t make national news, it’s the kind of harassing, demeaning, insidious conduct that Black people and people of color have to contend with every day.”
The city issued a statement: “The City of El Segundo is committed to treating everybody fairly, no matter their race, national origin, sexual orientation, sexual identity or alleged involvement in criminal activity.”
A police investigation on May 4 and city human resources investigation on April 22, 2022, into Puckett’s allegations found no wrongdoing.
Puckett is an active community member and has worked as a parent volunteer, PTA member, recreational youth sports coach, basketball coach at his son’s school, volunteer crossing guard and lunchtime security support member, according to the lawsuit.
El Segundo released nearly 20 minutes of dashcam and bodycam video of each incident.
The first incident took place on Jan. 21, 2021, outside Puckett’s home shortly after midnight when police questioned him about a car driven by a friend of Puckett that was registered with stolen plates.
Eventually, the officer explained to Puckett’s friend that there probably was a clerical error regarding his plates that needed to be cleared up with the DMV promptly, according to the footage.
“The Jan. 21 incident deeply disturbed Mr. Puckett,” the lawsuit states. “He couldn’t get back to sleep that night and had to take the next day off work.”
The second incident took place on March 14 when Puckett was stopped because an officer noticed his license plate light was not working.
Video and a subsequent photo taken by Puckett appear to show a working light and visible license plate.
The officer asked Puckett for his name and personal details.
Puckett accused the officer of pulling him over solely because of his race.
Shortly after running his information, the officer thanked Puckett for his cooperation and wished him a good night, according to video provided by the city.
“For the second time in two months, Mr. Puckett was deeply distressed and unable to sleep, and he had to take the next day off work,” the lawsuit said. Although Puckett has not been pulled over since, he said he fears more racial profiling.
But the city said in a statement that the videos showed that in “both instances the officers conducted themselves in professional and respectful manner.”
Still, Puckett filed complaints with the chief of police and city manager, without a resolution, according to the lawsuit.
After the second incident, Puckett emailed then-City Manager Scott Mitnick, according to the lawsuit.
Puckett met with Mitnick to further discuss what happened and spoke about the incidents at a City Council meeting on March 16, 2021.
An email to Mitnick, who is now the town manager of Moraga in Northern California, was not answered.
Before the lawsuit, Puckett’s legal team said, he entered into 11 agreements with the city regarding policing, anti-bias training and treatment of Black residents within the city in an effort to avoid a lawsuit.
The city said it treated Puckett’s claims “seriously” and hired an outside firm to investigate.
The city said it agreed to all but one policy change, which was to “deprioritize stops regarding obscured license plates.”
“The City of El Segundo is not willing to agree to discontinue practices when doing so would adversely impact public safety at a time of rising concerns about crime,” the city said.
Puckett’s lawyer Blas said the lawsuit “is a final effort to hold the city accountable for its unlawful conduct and to compel it to end racial profiling by the ESPD.”