District Attorney Nathan Hochman reduces charges against LAPD officer Daniel Flores for secretly recording colleagues

District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Wednesday that he will reduce the criminal charges against LAPD officer Daniel Flores from felonies to misdemeanors. The decision follows criticism that the original 16 felony charges, which could have resulted in up to 13 years in prison, were too harsh for an officer who was exposing internal racism and sexism. Daniel Flores was charged for making 122 recordings of his colleagues without their permission, violating a California eavesdropping statute. While Hochman maintains that Flores violated the law, he acknowledged that the felony prosecution risked chilling the spirit of future whistleblowers. By downgrading the charges, Flores will likely enter a court diversion program, potentially avoiding jail time if he remains law-abiding for a year. The recordings captured colleagues making derogatory remarks about various ethnicities and genders, including a comment about a Latino baseball pitcher dying from eating "too many tacos." While the officers who made the comments were disciplined internally, Hochman noted there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them for hate crimes.

Sources

• The Washington Post
  L.A. officer who recorded colleagues’ racist remarks won’t face felony charges
• ABC7 Los Angeles
  LAPD officer Daniel Flores, who secretly recorded others, will likely avoid jail after charges reduced to misdemeanors
• The New York Times
  Prosecutor Reduces Charges Against L.A.P.D. Whistle-Blower After Uproar
• Police1
  D.A. lowers charges to misdemeanors for LAPD officer accused of taping colleagues' racist remarks
• Los Angeles Times
  D.A. reduces charges against LAPD officer who recorded racist remarks by colleagues