Alleged Whistleblower Officers Seek Info On LAPD Probes Into Their Complaints

LOS ANGELES, CA — Attorneys for two Los Angeles police officers who are suing the city, alleging they suffered a backlash for complaining that then- Police Chief Michel Moore sought Black officers to be part of newly elected Mayor Karen Bass's protection detail in 2022, want a judge to order the release of an LAPD investigations into the race discrimination complaint of one of the officers.

Officers Derrick Boykins, who is Black, and Jonathan Pacheco are the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court whistleblower lawsuit in which they seek unspecified damages. Both officers also want to obtain the complaint face sheet and the complete witness interviews in audio or transcript form the LAPD's Internal Affairs conducted in response to their lawsuit.

A hearing on the plaintiffs' motion is scheduled July 27 before Judge Teresa A. Beaudet. If the judge grants the motion, she will conduct an in- chambers inspection of the relevant records on a subsequent date and decide which, if any, should be turned over to the officers' attorneys.

Boykins filed his internal race discrimination complaint in February 2023 and Pacheco was interviewed as part of the LAPD investigation, according to the officers' attorneys' court papers. Within months, both plaintiffs were subjected to retaliation by their supervisors, according to their lawyers' pleadings.

In their previous court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney's Office denied the officers' allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitation and immunity of a public entity.

According to the suit, Pacheco was hired in 2006 and Boykins in 2010. Both are police officer 3s and are assigned to the Metropolitan Division. The two also did stints on loan with the U.S. Marshals Task Force, considered a "coveted" assignment in which members search for fugitives and dangerous felons.

In December 2022, Bass was sworn in as mayor and soon afterward Moore directed Metro supervisors to recruit Black officers specifically for the mayor's bodyguard detail, the suit alleges.

"Chief Moore's attempt to recruit Black officers for the mayor's detail was not requested from Mayor Bass, nor known by Mayor Bass," according to the suit filed in July 2024. Instead, Moore's recruitment of Black officers for the detail was an attempt to pander to the mayor, the suit alleges.

Boykins heard of the detail recruitment in January 2023 and found out that an inexperienced female Black officer was recruited for the assignment, the suit states.

Boykins was on duty in February 2023 when a lieutenant called asking if the officer wanted to be on the mayor's detail, according to the suit. Boykins said he was not interested and told the lieutenant, "If I was a white officer, and this was a white mayor, the city would go crazy. Why is this any different?," the suit states.

The lieutenant replied, "We all have to follow orders," according to the suit.

Other Black officers told Boykins they also were asked to serve on the mayor's detail and that they were afraid of punishment if they declined, the suit states.

Boykins filed a personnel complaint about Black officers allegedly being singled out for recruitment for the mayor's detail and the plaintiff was later interviewed by Internal Affairs, during which time he told interviewers that Pacheco had overheard the lieutenant trying to recruit Boykins, the suit states.

In alleged retaliation, both plaintiffs' U.S. Marshals Task Force assignments were ended, possibly at Moore's direction, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiffs were denied subsequent bids to rejoin the task force.

Boykins and Pacheco additionally allege the department has subjected both to more retaliatory actions that have hurt their promotion opportunities.