LAPD Officer Who Recorded Colleagues’ Racist Comments Charged With Felony Eavesdropping

Los Angeles County prosecutors on Friday charged an LAPD officer with felony eavesdropping for making secret recordings of his colleagues’ racist, sexist and homophobic comments on the job.

The officer, Daniel Flores, was charged with 16 felony counts of eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications — crimes that carry a sentence of up to 13 years in prison, if convicted.

In a statement announcing the charges, L.A. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said that while he found the recorded comments deplorable, Flores still violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which prohibits recording others without their consent.

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Flores turned over roughly 90 recordings to his superiors, according to an internal affairs complaint he filed with the department last year, which said he hoped the evidence would be used to discipline those responsible.

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In a retaliation lawsuit that Flores filed last month against the city, the officer claimed he overheard his supervisor, who was Asian, remark that an “Asian invasion” had begun, before starting to recruit officers of Asian descent to the unit. Other times, according to the lawsuit, the supervisors and unnamed colleagues made inappropriate comments about women, referring to them as “bitches” who couldn’t be trusted.

In another conversation described in the lawsuit, Flores said he heard his supervisor discuss the death of Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela from septic shock, allegedly telling subordinates that the Mexican pitcher “ate too many” tacos.

Flores alleged in the suit that the officers referred to other colleagues they believed to be queer with a slew of derogatory terms. They also referred to Black people as monkeys, the complaint said. “Black people like grape soda — they enjoy watermelon between basketball,” one was overheard saying, according to the lawsuit.

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