Review of violent Fresno PD arrest, delayed over concerns about community 'emotions', to be released next week, officials say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Fresno will release the independent police auditor's review of the violent Fresno Police arrest of London Wallace "no later than the end of next week," officials told Action News on Friday.

City officials spoke with independent reviewer John Gliatta, who delayed the review's release from July to October citing concern about the community response as he concluded his review at the same time as the Minneapolis Police killing of George Floyd.

His review will be released as a supplement to the second quarter report from the Office of Independent Review (OIR).

"This is a unique situation and future releases will conform to the normal quarterly OIR report schedule," said city manager Wilma Quan.

The Office of Independent Review is a third-party group that oversees reviews of Fresno Police Department policies, procedures, strategies, and internal investigations.

This is a breaking news update. Our original story follows below.

An investigation into a violent Fresno Police arrest of a Black teen is complete, but the city's independent reviewer chose to delay its release because he was concerned about community reaction.

Fresno's independent reviewer -- the person outside the Fresno Police Department who is responsible for investigating and addressing complaints against the department -- acknowledged in a Sept. 16 Fresno Commission for Police Reform subcommittee meeting that he delayed reporting his completed investigation into the London Wallace arrest.

Action News exposed the incident when we acquired body camera video several months after the January 2019 incident.

RELATED: Teen sues Fresno PD using body cam video of officer punching him multiple times

Independent reviewer John Gliatta said nobody at the police department influenced his decision to postpone releasing his report from July to October, but he was concerned about public reaction.

"Because of the emotions running in the community -- my investigation was completed probably about a week or so before the death of George Floyd -- I did not want to print my results at that time because I thought it would cause some issues within the community," Gliatta said.

He took some criticism from committee members, who pressed him about why he would withhold a completed investigation from public view.

His second quarter Office of Independent Review report does mention the incident in a list of unreasonable force complaints under investigation but says the findings will be released in the third-quarter report.

The second-quarter report reveals for the first time a summary of the case.

It indicates that not only did the complaining party allege unreasonable force, but the police department itself made two allegations that officers exceeded authority, three allegations officers used poor discretion, and accused one officer of falsifying a report, and another of failing to activate a body worn camera.

Gliatta says we'll see the OIR results in October.

We reached out to the Fresno Police Department for a response, but they told us they can't comment until they see the report from the Office of Independent Review.

The video above is from an earlier story.

Second quarter Office of Independent Review report: