Police On the Defense in Venice

Emotions ran high at a town hall meeting inside a Venice elementary school auditorium Thursday night. The issue: the killing of an unarmed homeless man by an LAPD officer near the Venice Boardwalk this week. City Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents Venice, said what happened to 29-year-old Brendon Glenn highlights problems with how LAPD interacts with panhandlers and people living on the streets. “We always fail each other and the homeless when we make LAPD our first responder for homelessness. That doesn’t work," Bonin said. Residents, store owners and activists lined up to speak and ask questions. But LAPD Deputy Chief Beatrice Girmala was short on answers. Including when -- if ever -- a surveillance video of the shooting would be released. She asked more witnesses to come forward first. “One of the reasons that video is not out there is we cannot taint the memories of witnesses, we want them to be absolutely pure," Girmala said. KCRW's Steve Chiotakis spoke with Kate Mather, who reports on crime and breaking news for the LA Times.