A group of Los Angeles police officers who are suing the city over allegations they suffered sexual hazing on the LAPD's amateur football team are now at risk of retaliation, their lawyer says, because the department revealed their identities during a internal investigation.
The attorney, Michael Morrison, said he was concerned that the internal affairs unit had revealed the names to other officers during questioning about misconduct related to the Centurions, an LAPD-only team with about 50 players that competes against other agencies. police. His comments came as department officials announced they lacked evidence to bring a criminal case against any officer “at this time.”
Morrison said officials should have known about the potential for backlash if the names of their clients, which had been kept secret during the litigation, became known within the department. Like other police departments, Morrison said, the LAPD has an insular culture that punishes those who break ranks, even to report potential wrongdoing.
“I don't see any other purpose for this, because you can ask all the questions you want without revealing their names,” Morrison said.
An LAPD spokesperson said Thursday that the department does not comment on pending litigation and did not immediately respond to a call to the internal affairs unit.
Morrison said one of the officers who brought forward hazing allegations was confronted last week at a Dodgers game by an LAPD colleague and former Centurion teammate, who demanded to know why the officer had “snitched” on us.
The encounter left the officer shaken and worried about his future with the department, his attorney said.
Morrison said he called the internal affairs unit this week and spoke to a supervisor about his concerns. The supervisor became defensive and asked Morrison if he knew how to conduct an investigation better than detectives, Morrison said.
According to Capt. Scott Williams, the department's elite Robbery-Homicide Division conducted a separate criminal investigation into the sexual assault allegations. “We did not receive any cooperation from the victims, so we do not have enough evidence to file a criminal case at this time,” he said.
Morrison said he was not surprised by the decision, saying “that's what happens when the department investigates itself.”
“Our victims did not speak to them, but they provided them with claims for damages,” which laid out all of the allegations in the case, Morrison said. “We also told them to wait, that these people would be removed as part of our civil case and that we would share the statements with them.”
The case centers on allegations, first reported by The Times last fall, by four officers who said in legal complaints filed against the city that other Centurions players had sexually assaulted them as part of a hazing culture that the department's top brass have known for a long time and failed. be guided by.
The officers are listed as John Does in court documents, and The Times is not identifying them in line with its policy on reporting on alleged victims of sexual assault. The city, which is listed as a co-defendant along with Centurion Corp., a nonprofit associated with the team, has denied the officers' claims in the lawsuit.
In March, the city argued in a court filing that it should not be liable for any potential harm since the hazing alleged by the officers did not occur “within the course and scope of their duties as employees of the city of Los Angeles, were not known by the city of Los Angeles and were not ratified by the city of Los Angeles.”
An LAPD detective was the first to speak out, claiming he was sexually assaulted in early 2009 in front of 30 or 40 LAPD officers during a hazing ritual for Centurions rookies. Several of those present, he said, are now department supervisors.
In the months following his decision to report the case last year, the detective's name circulated throughout the department, even reaching former officers who had long since retired.
Last year, the LAPD launched its own internal investigation to investigate the Centurions' allegations, which is standard practice whenever a claim or lawsuit is filed against the department.
These internal investigations are often carried out in secret, with the names of those involved and details about what was said in interviews outside of special hearings kept secret.
Morrison said he was concerned about the potential chilling effect of releasing his clients' names. The case is still under investigation, he said, and the internal affairs unit had sent approximately 150 letters to former Centurions players.
Mario Muñoz, a former LAPD internal affairs lieutenant, said that in most cases investigators must reveal the identity of the complainant to the accused officer, as required by the so-called Peace Officers' Bill of Rights, a series of laws. California that grant law enforcement officers unique legal protections. This, he said, also applies to officers who may not have participated in the alleged assaults but could still face discipline for not reporting the misconduct.
At the same time, the department has been the subject of numerous lawsuits in recent years alleging that the internal affairs process has been “weaponized” to silence whistleblowers who come forward with potentially embarrassing information, especially involving command staff, he said. .
“Internal Affairs has many systems in place to ensure [retaliation] It doesn't happen, but the problem is that when you control the process you control the investigation,” said Muñoz, who retired in 2014.
The detective responsible for the allegations in the Centurions case previously told The Times that he kept the assault a secret for a long time because of the potential blowback. At first he only told a few family members and friends, until, years later, he had a chance encounter with one of the officers who was present during the hazing.
She reported the alleged assault to the Los Angeles Police Commission inspector general's office in March 2023. When she received no response to her initial complaint, she sent the office a follow-up email a month later, which was also ignored, his said claim.
Two other officers who joined the detective's complaint said they had been sexually harassed in 2006 and 2009. In total, the four accusers maintain that the abuse was an open secret among department leaders that was allowed to continue. for many years”.
Morrison previously denounced what he saw as a campaign by the department to “discredit” the detective and others associated with the case. Within days of the first complaint being filed, several of the detective's relatives received “harassing” letters from the department referring to an investigation into unspecified allegations, Morrison said.
The statute of limitations for criminal charges has expired, but officers can still file civil lawsuits.
