The LAPD’s gang task force is concerned about allegations that officers are breaking body camera laws
The LAPD’s South Los Angeles gang unit has been pulled from street duty as investigators investigate allegations that officers may have deliberately flouted camera rules to conceal from officers how they stopped.
The department confirmed Tuesday that it has “discontinued” the gang unit at the 77th Street Division while internal affairs detectives investigate the allegations reported by NBC 4.
Ten police officers of the unit were ordered to remain inside the station while they were on duty and others were ordered to remain under investigation.
Some officers deliberately failed to use body cameras during stops and neglected to document some of their encounters, raising fears that they may have been hiding work and random video surveillance from supervisors, according to the report.
“We take this very seriously,” Assistant Chief Scott Harrelson told the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday.
“There is a zero tolerance policy for violations of our wearable and in-car video policy.”
The explosive allegations come on the heels of a similar scandal in 2023 involving the LAPD’s Mission Division gang unit in the San Fernando Valley.
“I think that having another incident of a gang possibly making illegal traffic stops is unacceptable,” Police Commission President Rasha Gerges Shields said, according to NBC 4.
“Because this is not the first time this has happened, and after what happened in the Mission Division, I’m concerned that this is not just ‘We don’t know what the policy is,'” he added.
The LAPD’s body camera policy, implemented in 2015, requires officers to turn on recording devices before any investigative or law enforcement activity involving the public, including traffic and pedestrian stops.
Gang officials do not respond to regular radio calls. Instead, LAPD records show they patrol designated areas, monitor suspected gang members, hold checkpoints and make arrests in an effort to prevent revenge violence and other crimes before they happen.
The outcome of the Mission Division’s previous investigation was not made public.
But LAPD disciplinary records released in January show that two officers assigned to “law enforcement,” a category that includes gang intelligence, resigned over allegations of racism, willful failure to use body and vehicle cameras, and concealment of arrests.
According to the disciplinary disclosure, one of those officers was also accused of participating in a gang, pointing a gun at someone without reason and searching a vehicle without reason.
