Lexis-Olivier Ray of L.A. TACO recently reported that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) rejected more than 1,700 complaints of “biased policing” in 2024—none of which were sustained, according to a new departmental report.
This marks a continuation of a longstanding pattern. From 2019 to 2021, the LAPD similarly dismissed all such complaints. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Commission told L.A. TACO that no reports were filed in 2022 or 2023.
In addition to the bias complaints, the LAPD also reported that it did not sustain any allegations involving “unwelcome sexual advances” in the workplace or “inequitable conduct.” Despite that, the department acknowledged that in 2024 alone, one-third of its employees were referenced in complaints. However, only 3.4 percent of sworn officers and 1 percent of civilian employees were named in complaints that were ultimately sustained.
According to L.A. TACO, the LAPD rarely upholds the growing number of misconduct allegations. More than 4,700 complaints were closed last year—a four-year high for the department—but only 4.7 percent (701 allegations) were sustained. In total, over 15,000 allegations were made against department employees, both by the public and internally.
While allegations of misconduct have surged, L.A. TACO noted, sustained complaints remain low. The department, however, framed the rise in complaints as a positive indicator. During a presentation at a Police Commission meeting last Tuesday, LAPD officials claimed the increase demonstrates growing community trust in the complaint process.
Commission Vice President Rasha Gerges Shields pushed back on that interpretation, saying, “I think that speaks more toward the results of the complaints, as opposed to the number of complaints.”
During the meeting, Detective Michael Hackman referenced a past case in which an employee was found guilty of biased policing through a board of rights hearing. However, because the case was not administratively closed until this year, it was not included in the 2024 report.
Hackman explained to L.A. TACO that the LAPD defines biased policing narrowly, as law enforcement actions taken on the basis of protected characteristics like race, gender, or religion. “For example,” he said, “if an officer arrests someone because they’re Black.”
Separate from biased policing, the department allows complaints for “demonstrations of bias,” such as making discriminatory remarks. Hackman confirmed that four such complaints were sustained in 2024. One involved a sworn officer who made race-based remarks to coworkers and faced a recommendation for termination. That officer resigned before completing the adjudication process.
According to the report, 64 employees left the department before facing consequences for sustained misconduct. In another case, an officer who made a gender-based remark in the office received a 22-day suspension. Civilian employees also faced discipline: one was terminated for making a gender-based remark to a coworker, and another was suspended for 22 days after making a race-based comment to an outside law enforcement agency.
Hackman told the commission these penalties reflect the department’s seriousness about misconduct. “The penalties are all very high,” he said, “which does reflect the department’s stance that we take it very seriously.”
Still, L.A. TACO noted that the most common disciplinary outcomes for sustained complaints were limited to “admonishment” and “official reprimand.”
Criticism of the LAPD’s complaint system has persisted for decades. L.A. TACO emphasized that skepticism has come from across the spectrum—including activist groups, community members, police commissioners, and even former Police Chief Michel Moore, who told the Los Angeles Times that “the current means of investigating community members’ complaints of biased policing is unsatisfactory for everyone involved.”
Public criticism of the department and the commission was sharp during Tuesday’s meeting. Community members condemned the LAPD’s failure to sustain a single biased policing complaint, despite evidence showing that people of color and other marginalized groups are disproportionately arrested or ignored by police.
One especially emotional point raised during public comment was the 2024 killing of Linda Becerra Moran, a transgender woman fatally shot by Officer Jacob Sanchez after she called 911. L.A. TACO reported that Moran was allegedly being sex trafficked at the time.
Speakers also criticized the Police Commission itself, accusing it of serving as a “rubber stamp” for the department. According to L.A. TACO, the outlet attempted to reach current LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell for comment on the complaint process but received no response.
