Calling the Cops

An EdSource investigation into policing in California schools

Fire incidents

at Suva Elementary School

Montebello Unified School District, Los Angeles County

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1

Incidents reported
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1

Police Departments
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617

Enrollment
2022-23

Police call logs are from a sampling of schools representing California for the period Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023. The database does not include all schools or districts.

School information

School demographics
Percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price meals (FRPM)
School suspension rate and state average (%)

Data source: California Department of Education; Year 2022-23

(Incident breakdown by subcategory chart not displayed if there is only one subcategory)

Incident Logs

displaying 1 - 1 records in total 1

Serious Violent

Arson — Suva Elementary School

Montebello Unified School District, Los Angeles County

INCIDENT REPORT   Reported to Bell Gardens Police Department

6/8/23 at 1:57:23 PM

Incident details:

On 05/26/2023, at approximately 1235 hours, I (Officer Rafael #613) was working as a School Resource Officer in the City of Bell Gardens. At this time, I was dispatched to Suva Elementary School regarding an arson investigation. Upon my arrival, I contacted the Principal of Suva Elementary School, later identified as Richard Williams. Richard told me the following in summary: On 05/26/2023, at approximately 1110 hours, Richard was notified by school staff that there was a fire in the girls restroom located on the south east side of campus. Richard went to the girls restroom and observed a gray rubber trashcan on fire inside the girls restroom. Richard contacted the Los Angeles County Fire Department and his staff members immediately used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire. At approximately 1116 hours, the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived on scene and informed Richard that the trashcan was set on fire intentionally, possibly by a Suva Elementary Student. Richard informed me that he does not have any video surveillance cameras near the girls restroom and he is still investigating on who the student(s) caused the fire. Richard stated that there was no damage to the girls restroom due to the fire being extinguished immediately. Richard informed me that he would handle this investigation administratively and he would notify BGPD to assist him in counseling the students about the dangers of fire. I took photos of the scene and later uploaded the photos to the BGPD main server. I also provided Richard with an incident number for his reference.
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