LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has placed a group of officers assigned to its recruitment office on administrative leave, stripping them of their police powers, pending an investigation into audio recordings containing alleged racist and derogatory remarks, LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell announced Tuesday.
“We’re in the process of backfilling all of those individuals so we can keep the job going of recruitment and bringing people on board,” McDonnell said, adding, “But it’s certainly a major setback for all of us, and we’re just disgusted with what we heard. The investigation will go on, and appropriate action will be taken,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times published Monday, a complaint filed Jan. 5 with the LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau contains approximately 90 recordings over more than a year, allegedly capturing offensive remarks targeting Black applicants, as well as female, lesbian, and gay colleagues.
The officers under investigation include Lieutenant Louis Lavender, Sergeant Denny Jong, Officer Shirley Burgos, and an officer identified only as McKay, wrote the LA Times, adding Burgos was allegedly heard advising others on how to fight Black individuals, stating, “You hit Black people in the liver; I heard they got weak livers,” and referring to a Latina janitor using a racial slur.
Additionally, the LA Times story notes how officers were recorded making stereotypic statements about Black individuals, such as “Black people enjoy grape soda” and “Black people enjoy watermelon between basketball.”
Jong was accused of leading the offensive exchanges, said the Times, allegedly making a derogatory comment regarding the death of former Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, stating, “I know why he died, he ate too much tacos.”
Lavender was accused of failing to intervene and allegedly acknowledging at one point, “Man, we’re going to end up in the LA Times the way you all talk in here. You all can bring down the whole department,” reported the LA Times.
The Los Angeles Times quoted Police Commissioner Teresan Sanchez-Gordon stating, “This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable and erodes public trust in our department.
It’s disheartening that these comments are coming from individuals of diverse backgrounds, including Black officers, women, Latinos, and Asians. I hope this investigation will have an impact and send a clear message that the LAPD will not tolerate such a toxic environment.”
In a statement released Monday, according to the LA Times, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file officers, strongly condemned the reported comments, noting, “We are appalled by the reports of officers speaking in this manner about potential recruits, co-workers, and supervisors. This language is beyond unacceptable.”
The union, said the Times, questioned why Deputy Chief Marc Reina, who oversees the recruitment unit, had not been placed on leave, asking, “We question why Reina has not been relieved of duty for what appears to be his complete lack of oversight of this unit.”
