Statement on Findings of Widespread Corruption Within LAPD's Metro Division
Yesterday, the LA Times revealed that more than a dozen police officers from the LAPD’s Metro Division are being investigated for falsifying information and deliberately portraying innocent Black & Brown people as gang members. This is yet another staggering example of people of color simply trying to live their lives while Metro is actively working to criminalize them and destroy those lives.
The division is corrupt, racist, abusing its power, and purposefully distorting information. They’re certainly not protecting and serving, a mantra that has long since lost truth for communities of color across Los Angeles and the United States.
This is sadly far from Metro’s first foray into controversy. In January 2019, a separate investigation from the Times found that Metro officers stop Black drivers at a rate more than 5 times their share of the city’s population. That was then followed by another investigation in October, which revealed that across the entire LAPD — including Metro — Black and Latinx drivers are being searched at rates of 4-to-1 and 3-to-1, respectively, compared to White drivers, yet officers are finding higher contraband hit rates among White motorists.