By Ruben Vives
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that the L.A. Police Department retaliated against four officers who attempted to raise concerns about unsafe working conditions at a firearms training facility.
As part of their verdict, the jury awarded the four nearly $15 million, according to Matthew McNicholas, the lead attorney for the officers.
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“These officers bravely spoke out not just for their own rights, but for the safety of the public and their fellow officers. In return, they were subjected to egregious retaliation simply because they reported misconduct and unsafe working conditions,” McNicholas said in a news release.
A spokesperson for the LAPD could not immediately be reached for comment.
Attorneys for the four officers — Craig Burns, Alex Chan, Mark Hogan and Kristine Salazar — said each officer brought nearly two decades of experience and a strong reputation in their respective role: Salazar and Hogan were senior firearms instructors, and Burns and Chan were veteran armorers whose job it was to maintain, repair and issue firearms and tactical equipment.
The civil lawsuit was brought six years ago after claims were filed against the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD in September 2019.
The suit stems from a series of safety concerns the officers raised in 2018 at the LAPD Edward M. Davis Training Facility in Granada Hills, where they all worked.
Among the issues they reported were staffing shortages that left police recruits without adequate firearms training, and unsafe training protocols and working conditions, according to the lawsuits. The attorneys said those concerns were ignored.
“Instead, in 2019, following their protected whistleblower activity, the department initiated internal affairs investigations and imposed a series of adverse employment actions against all four officers, including demotions, removals from specialized assignments, and involuntary transfers,” the attorneys said. “In Salazar’s case, the department falsely accused her of participating in a ‘blue flu’ after she took a sick day due to legitimate illness.”
Blue flu is when a large number of police officers take sick leave as a form of protest.
“This verdict exposes a culture of retaliation designed to silence officers who report misconduct, and it sends a powerful message that those who abuse authority will be held accountable,” McNicholas said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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