LAPD watchdog pushes for more transparency amid outcry over officers’ alleged racist remarks

They are the civilian bosses of the Los Angeles police, tasked with oversight of the department, yet members of the Police Commission say they’ve been left in the dark recently about high-profile incidents — including an occasion when officers allegedly made racist and sexist remarks about new recruits that spurred searing condemnation.

The Police Commission on Tuesday requested that the Los Angeles Police Department be more forthcoming about its handling of serious allegations against its officers, and whether they result in any punishment.

Rasha Gerges Shields, the commission’s vice president, asked for “greater visibility” about disciplinary matters during the commission’s weekly meeting at police headquarters, citing her concerns about the comments allegedly made by officers from the LAPD’s recruitment and employment division.

The remarks, which officers allegedly made while working with recruits, drew censure from the commission, the police union, activists and Mayor Karen Bass, who called them “especially outrageous and unacceptable.” The exact content of the remarks, which Police Chief Jim McDonnell said had been recorded, has not be released.

Department sources previously said an initial investigation into the remarks had led to a lieutenant, a sergeant and two officers being placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a broader internal affairs probe. One department source described the alleged remarks as “worse than what Nury Martinez and the council members said,” referring to a City Hall scandal in which city and labor leaders were secretly recorded making offensive comments about Black people, Indigenous Oaxacans and others.

On Tuesday, McDonnell confirmed that two additional officers had been placed on leave, a move typically reserved for serious investigations.

McDonnell also said a captain had also been relieved of duty for a separate issue, without offering specifics. Two sources with knowledge of the investigation identified the captain as Robin Petillo, who runs the recruitment unit, and said her temporary removal was in response to a complaint made against her.

Petillo didn’t immediately respond to a message left on her city-issued cellphone.

The accusations come at a time when the LAPD, like other police departments across the country, is struggling to recruit officers and retain others.

McDonnell signed off on the officers’ removal from duty after learning of the specific allegations, and later briefed the mayor about the serious nature of the investigation.

In recent weeks, several commissioners have expressed shock after learning from the news or social media about allegations against officers involving drunk driving.

Calling the alleged remarks by officers to recruits “concerning” and “unacceptable,” Gerges Shields on Tuesday said the tastelessness of the comments, combined with the fact that they were made openly in the workplace, raised questions about how seriously the department took such allegations, and whether this sent a message to officers that such behavior was tolerated.

“It indicates either that everyone thought this was acceptable behavior, or they thought nothing would happen to them if they got caught,” she said during the commission meeting.

Gerges Shields said she would like the commission’s executive director, Django Sibley, to work with the department to ensure greater visibility around the LAPD’s handling of disciplinary matters, without going into detail about her expectations.

“I think it’s important for the commission to see more regularly what that looks like,” she said.

The department already provides yearly updates to the commission on how many officer complaints it has received and how many of them have led to discipline.

McDonnell called the alleged racist and sexist comments “of grave concern to all of you and certainly to all of us” and said that although the complaint was made anonymously, the department would take steps to protect the whistleblower from any possible retaliation.

“This was very disappointing to everyone,” he said.

Later, he said the city’s personnel department would conduct a “biopsy on cases to be able to see if there were any adverse impacts” and what role the involved officers played in the selection and rejection of officer candidates in recent years.

Gerges Shields said she wanted the department to explain its decision-making in another case that had gained traction on social media in which department officials recommended against disciplining an officer who was caught on video calling a citizen a “Black fool.”

Gerges Shields said she and some of her colleagues “feel like that’s not the appropriate result.”

During the public comment period of Tuesday’s meeting, William Gude, a prominent police watchdog who uses the online handle @FilmThePoliceLA, confirmed that the “Black fool” comment was made toward him. Gude said he emailed McDonnell repeatedly for months, and copied other department and commission staff, to demand an explanation for why the officer was not disciplined for making the remark. He has yet to receive a response, he said.

Gude’s emails said the comment was made while he filmed a Hollywood officer “committing an unlawful search” in November 2020. The officer initially refused to identify himself and then made the comment, the emails said.

After reviewing body camera footage of the incident as part of its internal investigation, the department recommended that the officer receive a two-day suspension for the improper search allegation. But it deemed the “Black fool” comment a nondisciplinary matter, according to Gude’s emails.

Under state law, most officer disciplinary matters are considered private.

The investigation comes only a couple of months into McDonnell’s tenure and could prove an early test of accountability within the department. As L.A. County sheriff, McDonnell garnered a reputation for having zero tolerance for misconduct.

In announcing McDonnell’s selection in October, Bass laid out several goals, including “working with him to grow and strengthen LAPD.”

The commission has in recent months pushed for a greater role in officer discipline. Last year, several members expressed concern about being left out of a City Council discussion over a controversial proposal that would give the LAPD chief the power to fire officers outright for suspected misconduct and reform a disciplinary process that critics say has seriously undermined accountability efforts.

The police union pushed back against the changes, contending that it would concentrate too much power in the chief’s hands.

A push to change the makeup of the disciplinary panels comprising only civilians, which review the cases of officers accused of misconduct and decide whether they should be fired or face punishment, ultimately failed.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.