Family of man shot by Salinas police seeks more information from city officials

A day after the city of Salinas released the names of the officers involved with the four fatal officer-involved shootings this year, members of one of the victim’s families spoke out.

According to NewsChannel 5 reporter Jake Reiner, the families say the city dropped the ball by not releasing the names sooner.

Even now that they know the names of the officers, it still isn’t enough for the families of Carlos Mejia and Frank Alvarado, who are suing the city over the shootings.

‘The majority of the information that is collected is really not accessible to the public,” said local human rights activist Margaret Serna Bonetti.

Bonetti spoke Thursday on behalf of Frank Alvarado’s family.

Prosecutors say Alvarado, who was killed by gunfire in July, charged at officers with his hands extended, holding what they believed was a gun. It turned out to be a cellphone.

“We want more transparency, more information released from the police department regarding each individual officer,” said Bonetti.

She said the families want background information and internal police reports to see if there is a pattern of misconduct within the department targeting Latinos.

“I understand that the families want a lot of information, probably a lot more information than we’re able to provide right now,” said Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin. “We are in litigation and any requests for information is going to have to go through our city attorney’s office.”

Alvarado’s sister, Angelica Garza, said that nothing will bring her brother back though.

It’s been 82 days since Alvarado was shot by police officers after he allegedly lit his grandparents home on fire. His mother has previously told NewsChannel 5 that he challenged police and at one point told the family he never wanted to go back to prison.

The Alvarado family says they plan to do their own background check on the officers involved with Frank’s shooting.

Meanwhile, Chief McMillin maintains the officer involved shootings are separate from each other and should be looked at as isolated incidents.