Two Los Angeles police officers are suing the city, alleging they were removed from elite federal task force assignments as 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.
Officers Derrick Boykins and Jonathan Pacheco are the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court whistleblower lawsuit in which they seek unspecified damages. Boykins, like Bass, is Black.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
A representative for the City Attorney's Office did not immediately return a call for comment on the suit brought July 23.
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.
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 as well.
Boykins and Pacheco additionally allege the department has subjected both to more retaliatory actions that have hurt their promotion opportunities and were done to isolate them and damage their reputations.
Both officers are experiencing lost income and emotional distress, according to their complaint.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok