DA’s office, LAPD investigating after video shows former detective using racial slurs in Valencia

A screenshot posted of the video posted on social media.
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The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office and L.A. Police Department have both opened investigations after seeing video of a former LAPD detective using racial slurs in an altercation following a traffic collision in Valencia on Saturday. 

“The video in question is disturbing and involves a former homicide detective exhibiting racist tendencies,” said a statement issued by District Attorney George Gascón. “(The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)  

is taking immediate action and has identified several cases where this individual was a witness. We are in the process of notifying defense attorneys in such cases.”  

The LAPD said it is reviewing 370 cases handled by the former detective.  

In the video, which was widely shared on social media on Monday and Tuesday, a white man and woman are seen arguing with a Black man on Valencia Boulevard around 3 p.m. Saturday.   

After a heated exchange between the two men, the white man identified as the former LAPD officer used a number of racial slurs and epithets directed at the other man, who responded with a slur and profanity directed at the former detective.   

The Signal has decided not to publish the video due to its graphic language and racial slurs.  

On Tuesday, Deputy Natalie Arriaga, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, confirmed a traffic report had been filed as it relates to the two-vehicle collision. The details of the report have not yet been released publicly, with Arriaga saying it’s part of an ongoing investigation.  

No arrests were made in connection to the incident surrounding the collision as of Tuesday, according to Arriaga. 

“Yes, we are aware of that video,” Officer William Cooper, a public information officer for the LAPD, said on Tuesday. Although he would not officially confirm the name of the person featured in the video, Cooper did say that the man “is no longer an (LAPD) employee … he is retired.” 

In a statement released on its Twitter account, LAPD Headquarters acknowledged they had been made aware of the video, and said they would be reviewing the hundreds of cases that had been handled by the retired detective.  

“The individual is not a current member of the LAPD and retired in May 2020 as a detective assigned to Operations Central Bureau Homicide,” the LAPD said via social media. “To ensure there is no current department nexus to this incident, there has been an internal investigation started.” 

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