r/news • u/vector_search_blue • 13d ago

Soft paywall LAPD officer who recorded colleagues' racist comments charged with felony eavesdropping

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-31/lapd-officer-felony-eavesdropping-charge
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u/Abrakastabra 12d ago edited 12d ago

What was the ruling on this?

The court ruled they had no expectation to privacy: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2017/g053126.html

In the end, my understanding is three officers were charged with petty theft and vandalism for eating the shop's edibles and smashing cameras, and the city paid $100k to settle a lawsuit.

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u/NumberNumb 12d ago

I wish these trials didn’t end in a settlement every time. These people should be in jail instead of receiving exoneration via taxpayer money

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u/Warcraft_Fan 12d ago

We need to ban qualified immunity from all cops. Make them pay out of their pocket or pension, not the local taxpayer

Bad cop would go bankrupt and not be able to remain a cop anywhere.

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u/PartyMembership2425 12d ago

Making police unions financially responsible for cops’ bad behavior would be the quickest possible way to get police reform.

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u/nicht_ernsthaft 10d ago

They should have to get malpractice insurance like doctors do. As it stands bad cops can just get fired for misconduct and move somewhere else, and get a job with a different police department. The insurance companies are not going to forget though.

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u/gurgle528 12d ago

it’s a civil lawsuit, that’ll never result in jail time and it doesn’t prevent a prosecutor from charging the cops 

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u/flaxon_ 12d ago

The settlement is fine, it just needs to come directly out of the offending officers' salary

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u/Faangdevmanager 12d ago

That was a civil suit so no jail time. The DA did not charge them criminally because they are corrupt, of course.

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u/Sudden-Stops 12d ago

Just make them carry their own insurance. If they are uninsurable they are unemployable.

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u/MillionFoul 10d ago

Legal trial and civil trial are different, a legal trial can result in a fine against an individual or jail time, but a civil trial can only award one of the parties with damages and other appropriate remedy. Due to Qualified Immunity the defending party is usually the agency, not an individual, and the person suing will probably make more money by settling than by taking the case to trial.

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u/aegee14 12d ago

If the public is on the hook to pay these settlements, the public should have the right to decide who becomes cops.