Crude details, including secret recordings, are emerging in a case of alleged racism and sexism by several male and female officers working in The Los Angeles Police Department’s Recruiting Employment Division.
In mid-February, news of the scandal broke after the Los Angeles Times learned of a written complaint outlining the accusations, which was filed anonymously on Jan. 5.
At the time, LAPD said four officers, including a lieutenant and a sergeant, had been assigned home with their police powers stripped amid the investigation. That number has reportedly increased by two additional officers.
The Times has since reviewed a copy of the complaint that details around 90 recordings between March and October in the department’s recruiting division where officers and supervisors reportedly hurled discriminatory remarks about colleagues and possible recruits based on race, sex and sexual orientation.
Some of the crude remarks include a Latina officer saying, “You hit Black people in the liver; I heard they got weak livers,” and referring to a Latina janitor as a “wetback.” A Latino officer reportedly said, “Black people enjoy watermelon in between basketball.”
An Asian sergeant is said to have criticized a civilian female supervisor to his subordinates for “looking like a man,” The Times reported, and then made jokes about the genitalia of Asian women.
Five of the six officers reportedly caught up in the scandal include Sgt. Denny Jong, who is Asian, Lt. Louis Lavender, who is Black, an officer identified only as McKay, Ofc. Shirley Burgos, a Latina and Ofc. Christian Flores, a Latino, according to The Times’ reporting.
The complaint alleges that Lavender, who oversaw the section, overheard and witnessed many of the conversations, though did nothing to stop them.
“Man, we’re going to end up in the L.A. Times the way you all talk in here,” he’s allegedly recorded saying. “You all can bring down the whole department.”
Jong, who reportedly ran the office day-to-day and is characterized in the complaint as leading the crude and prejudicial language, is also accused of allowing his officers to review the names of potential background investigators for the unit and then letting the officers veto them when they came up for hiring.
The allegations and investigation come at a time when LAPD is struggling to fill its ranks ahead of the Olympics and the World Cup.
Newly installed L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell has made it clear that the department faces staffing issues, saying that at the time of his appointment, there were 1,200 fewer officers than when he was last on the force 15 years ago, The Times reported.
While department officials have said the investigation into the matter is a top priority, the complaining officer, a Latino himself and a 10-year veteran of the department, is also likely to face an investigation into whether the recordings were made illegally.
His attorney, Greg Smith, told The Times, that officers should expect privacy from these types of recordings while in uniform and in a public building “ridiculing the very people they took an oath to serve.”
Smith added that his client, who has not been publicly identified, handed the recordings over to LAPD’s Inspector General.
As for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who was briefed on the complaint when it was filed in January, she referred to the allegations in a statement as “especially outrageous and unacceptable.”
“Growing LAPD’s ranks is a top priority of this Administration, and for our city’s safety,” she said.
The mayor added that she and Chief McDonnell are working together to “fix the recruiting and hiring process and make sure that officers stuck in the past don’t tarnish the badge for everyone else.”
