California Officers Ignoring Robbery To Play Pokémon Go

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department released video footage depicting two officers conversing about catching a character in a game of Pokémon Go while disregarding a robbery call back in 2017.

LAPD In Court

The two officers in question, Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell, were fired in 2018 after it was ruled unanimously by a disciplinary panel that they breached department policy by not providing support to a colleague on a pending robbery call. Additionally, they lied about playing the game when confronted by supervisors and internal affairs investigators.

Lozano and Mitchell disputed their dismissals, which resulted in the case going to a California Court of Appeal. In 2019, the lower court's decision that the LAPD was warranted in the firings was upheld. The officers had worked on the force for approximately 17 years and seven years, respectively.

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Their attorney, Greg Yacoubian, argued that his clients were "treated unfairly." He has long argued that the department violated its own rules by utilizing the dashcam recording of their private conversation to prove their misconduct. Yacoubian also claimed that the officers were questioned improperly without legal or labor representation present.

The Day It Happened

On April 15, 2017, a busy day in the Crenshaw area, most on-duty officers were tied up with calls. During this time, a robbery in progress with multiple suspects occurred at the Crenshaw Mall Macy's store, prompting an LAPD captain to request backup from nearby officers.

However, two officers, Lozano and Mitchell, parked less than 200 yards away, ignored the call and did not respond. They later claimed to have been in a nearby park engaging with the community and listening to loud music, but their patrol supervisor, who repeatedly questioned their whereabouts during the incident, believed that they heard the call and decided to ignore it.

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After reviewing the video footage from their squad car, the supervisor discovered that the officers were playing the popular phone game Pokémon Go instead of responding to the call. The city released the officers' dashcam video, which is roughly three hours long, on Thursday through its online records portal.

As the officers drove to various locations where imaginary characters such as Snorlax and Togetic were believed to appear, they spent more than 20 minutes discussing the game. During their conversation, one officer asked his partner if he was playing or just watching a video.

Initially, the officers denied playing the game when questioned. Instead, they claimed to be using a tracking app to locate "mythical" creatures while driving, arguing that the game requires walking. However, an internal investigation uncovered evidence of misconduct, including failure to respond to a robbery call and providing misleading statements to department officials.

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The Disciplinary Hearings

During disciplinary hearings, the department presented 16 exhibits, some of which included evidence that defined the officers' words as part of the Pokémon Go lexicon. The officers admitted to leaving their footbeat to search for the Snorlax but claimed it was part of a "social media event," "extra patrol," or simply to "chase this mythical creature."

The officers were found guilty of not responding to the radio call and were unanimously ruled against by disciplinary boards for their deceitful remarks and unprofessional behavior. Their actions violated the trust of the public and were deemed embarrassing and unacceptable.

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