An officer accused of falsifying information as a part of an L.A. Police Division gang-framing scandal pleaded no contest Thursday to 6 felony counts.
Prosecutors alleged Braxton Shaw falsified dozens of interview playing cards that police fill out whereas within the subject, labeling as gang members 43 individuals who had made no such admission or had outright denied affiliation. A few of these folks ended up in a state gang database.
The 41-year-old officer entered the plea as a part of a take care of prosecutors to resolve a number of felony counts that would have seen him sentenced to a long time in jail.
Shaw was amongst six officers from the LAPD’s elite Metropolitan Division charged in 2020 within the falsified-data investigation. Costs for the opposite 5 have been dismissed.
Prosecutors mentioned a few of the folks Shaw misidentified wound up within the state database referred to as CalGang. The LAPD and the county district legal professional’s workplace later mentioned body-worn digital camera footage from Shaw and his companions confirmed the playing cards had been falsified.
In return for Shaw’s no contest plea to 6 felony counts of submitting a false police report, a prosecutor advised Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Eleanor Hunter, Shaw would serve two years’ probation, give up his peace officer certification and carry out 250 hours of neighborhood service. If he violates the phrases of his probation, Shaw might face greater than seven years in jail.
Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s workplace additionally reserved the appropriate to object to any effort by the protection at Shaw’s Sept. 25 sentencing to cut back the convictions to misdemeanors.
“I’m happy with the result of this case,” Gascón mentioned Thursday. “Mr. Shaw’s betrayal of the oath to serve and shield the neighborhood isn’t solely disappointing however undermines the integrity of our legislation enforcement and the belief that the neighborhood locations in them. Our workplace stays dedicated to fostering a authorized system that operates with integrity and equity.”
The investigation into falsified information was launched in 2019 after a Van Nuys lady obtained a letter informing her that her son had been recognized as a gang member. She believed her son was misidentified and reported it to a supervisor at a close-by police station. The supervisor reviewed body-worn digital camera footage and located inaccuracies by the officer. The division eliminated the girl’s son from the gang database.
Shaw’s legal professional Greg Yacoubian in prior hearings had portrayed his consumer as counting on data from different officers and sources in describing an individual as a “self-admitted” gang member.
Area interviews of gang members have been utilized by the division as one measure of productiveness, giving officers an incentive to make stops.
Within the wake of the scandal, the police chief and mayor introduced the LAPD would cease submitting new entries into the CalGang database. Then-Chief Michel Moore conceded to the Police Fee {that a} months-long overview discovered evident inconsistencies and inaccuracies in how the LAPD used the database, and the chief beneficial the division completely halt its participation.
A 2020 Occasions evaluation discovered that subject interview playing cards have been used extra by the Metro Division than by different elements of the division. The division made up about 4% of the pressure however accounted for greater than 20% of the division’s subject interview playing cards issued throughout an 18-month interval.
