A police body-worn camera.
The Los Angeles Police Chief said this week that the internal investigation into allegations that some gang enforcement officers who worked out of the Mission Area police station -- and are suspected of trying to hide some traffic stops and unlawful searches from being recorded -- has already uncovered enough evidence to warrant the terminations of a least two of the officers under scrutiny.
“While the investigations are ongoing, sufficient evidence has already been discovered to sustain allegations of serious misconduct for two officers,” the LAPD told NBC4’s I-Team in a written statement. “These officers, who were previously assigned home, were relieved of duty and directed to a Board of Rights hearing on August 31."
A Board of Rights is an internal, administrative trial board for officers suspected of misconduct, and the Chief can ‘direct’ officers accused of the most serious wrongdoing to hearings that can lead to termination, although under City rules, the LAPD Chief cannot directly fire officers.
Chief Michel Moore has said other officers, sergeants, and a lieutenant who were assigned to the Mission Area gang unit at the time of the alleged misconduct, have been transferred to other roles while the internal affairs investigation was being completed.
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The inquiry began last December when a motorist made a complaint that officers had searched a car without consent or a warrant. A review of the officers’ body worn video and activity logs then revealed that, it appeared, the officers’ cameras had been intentionally switched-off and details of the contact weren’t fully documented.
LAPD internal affairs detectives obtained search warrants for some of the suspect officers’ lockers, cars, and homes to look for specific items that had been taken from at least one of the undocumented stops, officials confirmed.
Late last month the Chief took the unusual step of publicly disclosing the existence of the investigation, and said the Department had invited the FBI to join the case. Multiple law enforcement sources told the I-Team it appeared at least some of the accused officers used unauthorized -- and likely unlawful -- techniques to communicate with and track several people suspected of gang membership and of engaging in criminal behavior, such as the sale of illegal guns.
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So far, Moore said, it appeared this particular pattern of behavior was confined to the officers at the Mission Area gang unit, but integrity audits and body worn video recordings were reviewed at other gang units before the existence of this investigation was acknowledged.
“Investigators have found no evidence that this type of misconduct extends to any other division in the City,” the LAPD said in its statement this week.
“The misconduct discovered is being addressed with urgency and certainty, and I will never tolerate actions that undermine the public’s trust and tarnish the badge we all so proudly wear,” Moore said.
