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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Last Friday LAPD officer Daniel Flores was charged with 16 felonies for illegally recording portions of conversations with his fellow officers that allegedly contained sexist, homophobic and racist remarks while he was assigned to a unit that performed background investigations into candidates seeking jobs with the LAPD.
Yes, the law requires that people consent to being recorded in conversation they believe take place in private.
Yes, the LAPD needs new officers – but at what cost?
In the current state of policing in Los Angeles, shouldn’t the people who will be affected the most have the right to know what is happening behind closed doors?
Sometimes a second wrong can help set things right.
Looking back at the audio recording of a private meeting on October 9, 2022, between City Council president Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera involving racist and disparaging comments, it toppled careers and created another layer of mistrust between the people and City Hall.
Does Flores flaunting of one law to reveal equally evil comments now mandate tough-on-crime County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to threaten Flores with 13 years in prison?
He self-justifies his actions: “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.
“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. For those illegal eavesdroppers, please know that my office will prosecute them for their actions surreptitiously recording others.”
So… whistleblowers can be charged but City Councilmembers and union officials should get off scot-free?
The guilty from the City Council scandal lost face and reputation but, moving forward, people had the choice to deal with them based on a better truth.
Has the LAPD or District Attorney’s office released the names of the offending and offensive officers? Will they ever?
Shouldn’t we have the right to know so their actions can be scrutinized in the future and, for now, insist they be disciplined or fired?
Shifting back to the bigger picture for the City, would Angelenos like to know the backroom deals that assign their taxes in ways that they don’t want?
Would they want to know who among their elected officials are involved in dastardly deeds and the bribes involved?
Would they want the names and positions of lower-level staff involved called out publicly to set examples for others who might emulate them and prevent future malfeasance throughout the chain-of-command?
The Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates have called on the Ethics Commission multiple times over the years to require the City publicly denounce employees as well as elected officials guilty of crimes. This is a far more effective deterrent than encouraging them to retire and sweeping as much of the mess as possible under City Hall’s carpet.
In some discussions the onus was shifted onto the unions which might sue. So let them. And let Angelenos rise up in anger at another travesty of justice where the criminal gets vindicated and the taxpayer gets screwed.
What the City really needs is a City Attorney with the balls to fight back against the scores of scurrilous lawsuits… but that’s a story for another time.
The City also needs consistent and effective:
* Accountability, pushing Departments to minimize risk, in particular through making them and their budgets responsible for losses and litigation; and
* Transparency, to ensure all actions by people paid from the public purse… are public.
With minimal funding as compared to the LAPD, the City’s Ethics Commission, on which Hochman once served, could expand the enforcement of ethics regulations, the training of people at all levels, the publicizing of their successes which would not only generate income from fines but deter more malfeasance, and develop better ways to welcome whistle-blowers.
If someone knows that not only will their criminality be outed to friends and family but, with negative recommendations, their economic future would be jeopardized, they will be forced to think, not twice, but multiple times before moving into the netherworld of breaking laws and regulations.
But City Hall wants to portray itself as virgin-pure despite well over a century of activities proving the opposite.
To change the narrative and earn the accolade of being a paragon of virtue, all those associated – from voters to unions through Committees and Commissions and up to the Mayor’s office – must accept their own responsibility for this sad state of affairs and cry: “No more!”
And join together and take action to achieve truth and justice.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected].)
