The settlement of a lawsuit filed over a prolonged California Public Records Act request has the press, the city of Los Angeles, the LAPD, the police union, and certain police officers, all blaming — and in some cases suing — each other.
On Wednesday, the city filed a lawsuit against the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and Knock L.A. reporter Ben Camacho, along with 50 other unnamed defendants, seeking the return of photos of undercover police officers Camacho obtained via a public records request he submitted to the LAPD in 202l.
The mishandling of the data has led the union representing rank-and-file officers to sue LAPD Chief Michel Moore, and over 300 undercover officers who claim to work in sensitive assignments have filed legal claims (the precursor to a lawsuit) against the city and the LAPD.
Camacho’s 2021 request was initially denied because it was deemed too “burdensome,” referring particularly to photos he requested of all active LAPD officers. Camacho went to court to compel release of the information, and the subsequent settlement granted him the pictures, names, and work locations of over 9,000 officers, with the caveat that current undercover officers would be excluded.
In 2022, Camacho provided the LAPD and the city with a flash drive for the records; once the flash drive was returned, he posted the database online.
Apparently unknown to the city and the LAPD at the time, Camacho had been given the names and photographs of active undercover officers, though the database does not specify which of the officers are undercover.
Last month the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a group that works to curb police surveillance, used the data to…
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