Union calls leak of racist recordings illegal, but LAPD has not been asked to find culprit
The recording, which has not been released to the public, is a recording of a Feb. 27 meeting between the NAACP’s board of directors and Los Angeles Police officers.
An excerpt of the meeting, obtained by The Times, shows an NAACP official asking for more funding to hire new police officers. The officers told the NAACP representatives that “we can’t help you anyway, … you guys really need to go out and get jobs,” the audio recording revealed.
In a statement released Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Police Commission said that it was looking into the issue.
“Our officers and their staff members receive training on the L.A. Police Department’s core values and procedures,” the commission said. “A complete review of what happened during the meeting will determine any course of action to address any concerns.”
The recording was released to The Times by the NAACP and the L.A. civil rights organization the Center for Constitutional Rights on Tuesday night.
A statement from the police commission released Tuesday night said that it was “working through the investigation.”
“Our investigation is ongoing,” the commission said in a statement. “Based on the findings of that investigation, any course of action will be determined at that time.”
At a Tuesday night briefing, top police officials were asked about the recording. They did not dispute that it exists but said it was a breach of trust.
“There is a trust here, there is an obligation,” said Sgt. Barry Williams, the LAPD’s assistant chief.
He said, “The people that the commission is working with had a right to know what the police officers were saying.”
“We were very frustrated to see that the meeting was leaked. It was disrespectful to our community and to our officers,” said Williams, who also was a candidate in the mayoral election.
Chief Daniel Isidore, chief of LAPD’s media bureau, defended the officers, saying they were given information about the meeting and the recording was accurate.
“I don’t know what other explanation we can give them