LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles district attorney has backed off felony charges against a police officer who secretly recorded his colleagues making racist remarks after facing criticism the response was too harsh and could deter whistleblowers from coming forward. Los Angeles Police Officer Daniel Flores was charged in July with 16 felonies after he shared recordings last year that captured officers in LAPD’s recruitment division making racist and sexist comments. He reported those recordings to the LAPD’s internal affairs in early 2025. The Los Angeles Times first reported the existence of the tapes at the time. More than a year after the tapes were shared, District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged Flores for violating a decades-old California eavesdropping statute that prohibits secret recordings without informed consent of all parties present. He faced up to 13 years in prison. But those charges prompted swift backlash, including from Flores’ attorney, who said it was wrong to prosecute Flores for exposing bad behavior. Attorney Alan Jackson told the LA Times in July that the charges sent a message that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom. It tells them the safe move is to hear slurs and say nothing.” District attorney believes Flores violated law but drops felony charges Hochman on Wednesday said he still believed Flores violated the law, but announced that prosecutors would downgrade all 16 charges to misdemeanors. That will allow Flores to enter a diversion agreement, which means he can avoid jail time as long as he doesn’t violate any laws for a year. Jackson did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Wednesday morning. Hochman said his office was “listening to the impact the case was having on potential whistleblowers” when it decided to reduce the initial charges, which he said, “sent the wrong message” to the public. Hochman vehemently denounced the comments made by the other officers, saying the remarks amounted to “hate speech.” But he said that there wasn’t evidence that they amounted to a hate crime, which prevented his office from criminally prosecuting those who made the comments. Recordings capture LA officers making racist, sexist remarks The recordings Flores shared with LAPD internal affairs showed other officers making a wide array of offensive comments. Officers joked about a famous Latino baseball pitcher dying from eating “too many tacos,” invoked racist tropes about Black people, and on one occasion called a young LAPD recruit “rapeable” because they were “someone who could be taken advantage of,” according to a motion filed by the district attorney’s office. Hochman condemned the officers’ remarks on Wednesday, but said that he still adamantly believes Flores should face some consequences for breaking the law. He said he hoped his decision would encourage officers to work with the district attorney’s office to gather evidence through legal channels. “Here we have an LAPD officer who should know the law better than anyone else,” he said, adding later that his office works “every single day with individuals who are whistleblowers who have brought wrongdoing forward through legitimate means.” Whistleblower attorney says it’s obvious Flores had no confidence in department Carney Shegerian, a California-based attorney who frequently represents whistleblowers and pursues litigation on their behalf, called the entire case “disappointing.” On the one hand, he said, that the district attorney shouldn’t have capitulated to public outcry since it’s clear that state law prohibiting secret recordings was broken. On the other hand, he said, it falls on the LAPD that there are still officers who espouse bigoted rhetoric -- and that officers like Flores clearly feel like they have little legal recourse to respond. “It’s unfortunate this cop obviously didn’t have the confidence in the LAPD that they would look into it or they would believe him,” he said, adding that Flores would be protected against retaliation from the LAPD under state civil whistleblower laws. Flores was found guilty in a separate, internal LAPD investigation, and given a 22-day suspension without pay, the LA Times reported. It is not clear whether Flores served that time. The LAPD also opened confidential disciplinary hearings against the officers who made the comments, but the department has not said whether anyone has been disciplined. Safiyah Riddle, The Associated Press
