Former Los Angeles assistant police chief Alfred “Al” Labrada has retired from the division after a disciplinary board discovered that he secretly tracked a fellow officer he was romantically concerned with after which tried to cowl his tracks, in accordance with three sources aware of the case.
The board discovered Labrada responsible Monday of all seven counts he confronted, together with that he lied to inside affairs detectives and tried to influence a witness to not testify in a division investigation into the matter, in accordance with a supply who requested anonymity to debate the usually secret proceedings.
The three-member panel was purported to reconvene in October to determine on an acceptable penalty for Labrada, who confronted termination. However Labrada confirmed via a spokesperson Friday that he was leaving the division; his retirement is retroactive to July 1, the spokesperson stated.
An e mail to the LAPD looking for Labrada’s work standing was not instantly responded to Friday.
The panel’s unanimous ruling represents a startling fall for an official who was second in command to then-Chief Michel Moore and appeared poised to probably take the reins of the the division. The case in opposition to Labrada stems from allegations by LAPD Officer Daybreak Silva, who stated he positioned an Apple AirTag beneath the bumper of her automobile to trace her actions whereas the couple had been ending their home partnership.
Underneath the town’s constitution, LAPD disciplinary hearings play out like minitrials, with proof and witnesses, in entrance of a three-member panel. With only a few exceptions, the proceedings are held behind closed doorways, in windowless listening to rooms within the Skilled Requirements Bureau’s workplace on Figueroa Road.
The Labrada listening to, which was unfold out over a number of weeks, was described to The Instances by somebody aware of the case who was not licensed to talk publicly. The panel of three civilians heard proof suggesting Labrada tried to cowl up his actions when confronted about Silva’s allegations.
Among the many expenses leveled in opposition to Labrada by the division is that he lied to inside affairs. The panel heard that Labrada initially instructed investigators he had bought AirTags to trace his baggage whereas he was on a Caribbean cruise. However after investigators obtained a search warrant for his city-assigned telephone, they discovered screenshots in its “Lately Deleted” folder suggesting he had used the gadgets to observe Silva’s actions on quite a few events over a number of months.
In a press release Friday, Labrada lashed out at what he described as “the political affect that has tainted the Board of Rights and LAPD Inner Affairs course of.”
“Having witnessed firsthand the dearth of a good course of, I’m now extra decided than ever to struggle for the officers whose lives have been impacted by this flawed system. Moreover, I’m deeply disillusioned within the failures of the Inner Affairs course of,” the assertion learn. “In attaining the rank of Assistant Chief, the second highest place inside the LAPD, I by no means anticipated that my impeccable service document and three a long time of dedication could be marred by a malicious and unfounded assault.”
After The Instances reported on the allegations final fall, Labrada was relieved of obligation, demoted to commander and really useful for termination, pending a disciplinary panel referred to as a board of rights that might decide whether or not he could be fired.
The division’s probe additionally revealed that Labrada unpaired the monitoring gadgets from his telephone nearly instantly after receiving a name from Moore telling him he was beneath inside investigation. Investigators additionally uncovered textual content messages they described as threatening and possessive that Labrada despatched to Silva throughout their relationship.
In a single message, he reportedly warned her to not “be bending over for” different males, utilizing a Spanish homophobic slur. In others, he despatched her knife emoji and wrote “be good or reduce you” and demanded repeatedly to know if she “beloved him.”
The division additionally accused him of making an attempt to coerce a witness within the case, one other LAPD officer, into not testifying, reportedly threatening to disclose damaging details about the officer. In presenting its case, the division known as a number of witnesses to testify, together with Silva and Assistant Chief Daniel Randolph, who instructed the panel that Labrada’s actions after being put beneath investigation instructed a “consciousness of guilt.”
Labrada’s lawyer known as a number of former senior LAPD officers to testify about his character through the continuing, together with former Deputy Chief Dennis Kato, who testified that he had identified Labrada since Labrada was a younger sergeant and that he had at all times discovered him to be upstanding.
Robert Arcos, now a top-ranking official within the Los Angeles County district lawyer’s workplace who has utilized for the LAPD police chief job, described his former protege as a tough employee and powerful advocate for the Latino neighborhood. However when pressed by an lawyer for the division, Arcos stated he would suggest eradicating any worker who, like Labrada, was discovered to have lied.
Attorneys for the division argued that, due to issues about his credibility, Labrada would not be allowed to testify in courtroom.
Earlier than his demotion, Labrada had been one of many highest-ranking Latinos within the division’s historical past. He has repeatedly denied that he purposely tracked Silva. This yr, he filed a authorities declare in opposition to the LAPD — a precursor to a lawsuit — accusing Moore of violating his due course of by publicly discussing his case earlier than it was resolved. Moore, he alleged, had typically been extra lenient, a double customary that emerged when Moore didn’t take an identical motion in opposition to one other prime former LAPD assistant chief who had an inappropriate relationship with the identical girl as Labrada.
Silva has sued the town, alleging division officers failed to guard her from backlash after she accused Labrada. She has a short lived restraining order in opposition to him, which is ready to run out subsequent yr. As a situation of the order, Labrada is barred from possessing any firearms except he meets sure situations.
In his declare, Labrada accused Moore — who retired on the finish of February, however stated he would proceed working for the LAPD as a advisor — of main a marketing campaign to dam his profession development, saying his former boss felt threatened at a time when he confronted criticism over a drop in morale and staffing shortages. Labrada additionally cited an alleged tradition of cronyism on the LAPD beneath Moore that concerned wanting the opposite means when the chief’s allies had been accused of misconduct.
After a police investigation into the AirTag allegations — which stemmed from a report filed in September with San Bernardino County authorities — prosecutors declined to file felony expenses in opposition to Labrada, citing inadequate proof. The board’s ruling raises contemporary questions on that call.
On Friday, Labrada stated in his assertion that he would proceed to discover his authorized choices.
“My pursuit of justice is way from over. I’ll exhaust all out there avenues to make sure that the justice system in America, whether or not inside a authorities company just like the LAPD or in a courtroom of regulation, stays honest, simply, and fulfills its important function in upholding a free and open authorized system for all,” the assertion learn.
His phrases echo comparable criticism of the board of rights course of by officers who’ve sued the division and the police union. In latest months, a broader debate about overhauling the division’s much-maligned self-discipline system has brought about rigidity between the union and a few high-ranking division officers.
Late final month, the Metropolis Council authorized a poll measure that might give the police chief the authority to fireplace officers outright for sure severe misconduct, whereas eliminating the choice for officers to have their disciplinary instances reviewed solely by civilians.
In February, Silva sued the town for intercourse discrimination, harassment and retaliation, alleging that her romance with Labrada from October 2017 to July 2023 ended “due to the poisonous nature of their relationship.”
She alleged Labrada stored messaging her, even after a extremely publicized Oct. 7 information convention throughout which he vehemently denied the allegations she made in opposition to him. Labrada stated on the time that information protection of his case had brought about him “important emotional and bodily misery.”
