LAPD headquarters
Source: Robert Gauthier / Getty

When we say the problem with police in the U.S. goes far beyond “a few bad apples,” and that the entire system of policing and police culture is the problem, stories like this one coming out of Los Angeles are exactly what we mean.

An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department filed an internal affairs complaint against his LAPD colleagues after recording them making racist, homophobic and sexist comments, and in response, Los Angeles County prosecutors charged that officer with more than a dozen felony counts for eavesdropping on the bigoted cops, who are apparently the victims of this story, according to said prosecutors.

According to the Los Angeles Times, on Friday, LAPD officer Daniel Flores was charged with 16 felony counts of eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications. If convicted, Flores faces up to 13 years in prison — for blowing the whistle on racist, homophobic and sexist cops who are patrolling streets that are chock-full of Black people, gay people, and women.

In fact, not only did L.A. prosecutors arrest and charge Flores for doing what any decent person would consider a rare good deed by an officer of the law who was brave enough to stop protecting bad cops, but L.A. District Attorney Nathan Hochman released a statement that implied his office had done something noble.

“This case serves as a warning to anyone seeking to record a conversation without the other person’s permission that doing so is illegal and has been a crime in the state of California for over 50 years,” the statement read. “It doesn’t matter where you work or who you are – a neighbor, a coworker or, in this case, a police officer. Your right to privacy in a confidential conversation is protected, no matter who is doing the recording or, with few exceptions, why they are doing the recording.”

Conveniently enough, the statement makes no mention of the contents of what Flores recorded, because doing so might elicit a different response from the public in one of the most liberal cities in the country. (Like, sir, this is L.A. as in Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama. TF do you think you’re at?)

A statement released by Flores’ attorney, Alan Jackson, wouldn’t omit such information from the full story.

“Today the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged a police officer with a crime for reporting racism inside the Los Angeles Police Department,” Jackson said. “Not the officers who were recorded using racial, sexist, and anti-gay slurs. Not the officers who sat in a government building and said those things while holding the power to decide who becomes an LAPD officer. The officer who reported them.”

Jackson’s statement continued by charging that the arrest and prosecution of his client sends a message that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom,” and that “it tells them the safe move is to hear slurs and say nothing.”

From the Times:

Jackson said he intends to argue that Flores made the recordings within the scope of his duties as a police officer, investigating misconduct within the workplace.

The conversations were taped between March and October 2024 involving members of the department’s recruitment unit, whose officers are tasked with deciding who can join the police force.

After The Times revealed the recordings, their existence drew wide condemnation, including by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, Mayor Karen Bass and the police union, which called them “reprehensible” and “unacceptable” at a time when the department was struggling to attract recruits.

Jackson said the officer will fight the charge and plead not guilty, and that the law only applies where the speakers have a reasonable expectation that what they say would not be overheard or recorded.

In 2023, we reported on a California cop who resigned after 10 pages of racist text messages were found during an internal investigation by his department, including a message that said, flat-out, “I hate Black people,” which certainly wasn’t the first time we reported on cops who vehemently hate Black people and have no problem saying so out loud where people can hear them. This year, we reported on a now-former cop in Houston who recorded herself ranting about her hatred of Black people and willingness to arrest them for no reason, and then posted her anti-Black vitriol online.

In fact, we probably don’t go more than a few months without having a fresh story about vocally bigoted cops, or cops whose group chats reveal their bigotry. And just last week, we reported on a district attorney in Pennsylvania who responded to allegations that a police officer in his county racially profiled a Black teen with a racist rant full of anti-Black stereotypes.

Again, it’s about more than a “few bad apples.” Apparently, the whole orchard is rotten to the core.

SEE ALSO:

Memphis Cop Under Fire For Racist Comments

Racist Houston Cop Relieved Of Duties After Viral N-Word-Laced Rant