AnLAPD gang enforcementunit in South Los Angeles has been pulled from street duty as investigators probe allegations that officers may have intentionally skirted body-camera rules and concealed their stops from supervisors.
The department confirmed Tuesday that it had “stood down” the gang unit within the 77th Street Division whileInternal Affairs detectivesinvestigated the claims reported byNBC 4.
Ten officers from the unit have been ordered to remain inside the station during their shifts while several others were reassigned pending the investigation.
Some officers intentionally failed to activate body cameras during stops and neglected to document certain encounters altogether, sparking fears they may have been hiding activity from supervisors and random video audits, according to the report.
“We take this very, very seriously,” Assistant Chief Scott Harrelson told theLos Angeles Police Commissionon Tuesday.
“There is a zero tolerance policy for violations of our body worn and in-car video policy.”
The explosive allegations come after a similar 2023 scandal involving the LAPD’s Mission Division gang unit in the San Fernando Valley.
“I think having another instance of a gang unit potentially doing undocumented stops is unacceptable,” said Police Commission President Rasha Gerges Shields.
“Given the fact that this is not the first time this has happened, and on the heels of what happened in the Mission Division, I worry that this isn’t just a ‘We don’t know what the policy is,’” she added.
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