‘Hit Black People in the Liver’: LAPD Cops Caught In Secret Recordings Bragging About Racist Abuse and Targeting Black Citizens
Several Los Angeles police officers are at the center of a complaint alleging they made racist, sexist, and homophobic comments about their colleagues, potential recruits, and L.A. citizens.
According to the L.A. Times, a 10-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department secretly recorded dozens of conversations in the department’s recruitment office between March and October 2024 that captured his colleagues making the bigoted remarks.
Roughly 90 recordings reveal several officers and supervisors making racist statements and even targeting their colleagues with derogatory homophobic language, according to the Times, citing a complaint filed on Jan. 5.
According to the complaint, a Latina officer who once discussed how to physically fight Black citizens told her colleagues, “You hit Black people in the liver; I heard they got weak livers.”
That same female officer was also recorded telling a Black officer that “Black people like grape soda” and that Black people drinking Kool-Aid “go by color, not flavor.”
During that conversation, a Latino officer reportedly added, “Black people enjoy watermelon in between basketball.” The complaint states that that officer also bragged that he once called the cops on some Black children who were selling chocolate in his neighborhood, saying, “They do not belong here.”
The Black officer who was reportedly part of the “grape soda” conversation, was also reported to have called Black people “monkeys,” and would vocalize his thoughts while watching television news reports about crimes allegedly involving Black people with comments like, “What’s new?” and “Those people are horrible.”
In another conversation, the Latina officer called a female supervisor a “c***” and a “gay a** b****,” and also referred to a sergeant who was transferring to the recruiting unit as a ” little gay one.”
According to the complaint, that same cop often reviewed officer candidate profiles to see what they looked like and reportedly failed candidates based on their appearance. She allegedly made fun of overweight candidates and deemed some candidates as “ugly” and “creepy.”
The officers are also accused of making comments about deporting candidates and bragging about releasing disqualified candidates’ information to other police agencies.
After news of the complaint reached the public last month, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell removed a lieutenant, a sergeant, and four officers from the recruitment unit, saying he was “deeply disappointed by reports that certain officers were recorded making racist and offensive comments regarding department applicants.”
The officer who filed the complaint initially submitted several written complaints about his work environment but recently handed over his recordings.
“I feel that I need to take a stand and say something,” the officer wrote to internal affairs. “Officers and candidates are being cheated and it needs to stop.”
LAPD officials are reviewing the recordings to determine whether they were made illegally since California law prohibits recording a person without their consent. The recordings were also given to the inspector general.
“The officer that recorded and reported repeated offensive racial epithets and slurs concerning female officers and their sexual orientation, by those who are recruiting officers to serve the City of Los Angeles, should be celebrated as a hero,” the complaining officer’s attorney stated. “Instead, we now know he is being investigated by LAPD for secretly audio recording these disgusting statements. This officer is a whistleblower that reported egregious unlawful conduct by his supervisors and had no alternative but to secretly tape record the individuals to prove this conduct was occurring.”