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Allegations of officer misconduct during promotion exams that circulated at the Los Angeles Police Department over the summer were found to be false after an internal investigation, officials announced this week.
As first reported by the Times in September, the department said LAPD officers used camera-equipped smart glasses to record questions on the sergeant promotion exam and relay that information to other candidates. We investigated this claim.
The story sparked several conversations within the department, according to people who requested anonymity to discuss the internal investigation. In one report, the officer in question was a female police officer who allegedly sold test questions to a group of SWAT team members. Another version pointed to a male officer serving in the Southeast Division.
After the department’s press office began fielding questions, then-interim Secretary Dominic Choi raised the issue at a senior staff meeting in September. Although he stopped short of completely dismissing the allegations, he told the Times a few days later that there was no evidence to support the claims.
Deputy Commissioner Michael Rimkunas said the department’s investigation is now closed and investigators have determined no wrongdoing occurred.
“The case is almost closed,” said Rimkunas, who oversees the Office of Professional Standards, which includes Home Affairs.
He did not go into detail about how investigators reached their conclusions and referred further questions about the exam to the human resources department, which has ignored many inquiries.
Los Angeles Police Department officers seeking promotion to sergeant must take an exam, which is not held every year. This year, the test was conducted online, with some officers taking the test before others. Candidates are also given an oral interview before being ranked based on their scores.
For weeks, rumors have been circulating among rank-and-file officers and LAPD retirees that some officers were improperly obtaining questions in advance so they could score higher on tests. Ta. According to investigators, suspicions arose after the test taker was seen repeatedly fiddling with the frames of his glasses.
Rimkunas said the ministry did not launch an internal investigation until several weeks after the exam was conducted and only after receiving “actionable information” from the Human Resources Office, which administers the exam.
In the ensuing investigation, search warrants were executed at a locker at Southeast Station and a home in Minnesota, and one officer was searched remotely. Glasses were found at one of the scenes, but they did not have a recording function, two people familiar with the case said.
The Office of the Inspector General, which investigates allegations against police chiefs and oversees complaint investigations in other departments, acknowledged it received an email urging an investigation into exam misconduct.
“Consistent with normal procedures, the OIG is responsible for ensuring that all Department investigations are fair, complete, and impartial,” the agency said in an emailed statement. “OIG also regularly stays informed of any developments related to these important investigations.”
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