Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman reduced the 16 felony charges against the LAPD officer to misdemeanors. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 on Aug. 25 to shelve a resolution condemning the prosecution of an LAPD officer accused of secretly recording colleagues making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks after Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman reduced 16 felony charges against the officer to misdemeanors.

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez, 13th District, introduced the resolution on Aug. 11 calling on Hochman to dismiss the charges against Officer Daniel Flores and condemning the prosecution of a city employee who reported workplace discrimination.

Hochman announced on Aug. 20 that prosecutors had moved to reduce all 16 felony counts of eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications against Flores to misdemeanors, citing concerns that the felony prosecution could deter whistleblowers from coming forward.

“In making this decision, I’ve carefully considered the feedback given by the public, community groups, local officials and members of our office concerning the potential deterrence felony charges pose for whistleblowers coming forward,” Hochman said.

Flores’ attorneys subsequently requested judicial diversion for one year on all 16 misdemeanor charges, a request prosecutors submitted to the judge’s discretion. The court granted the request, placing Flores in a one-year diversion program. If Flores obeys all laws and successfully completes the diversion, the court will dismiss the charges against him.

Flores had previously faced up to 13 years in state prison if convicted on the felony charges.

“While those who break the law and illegally eavesdrop on others will still be held accountable, my ‘hard middle’ approach requires continual examination of the acts, the law and the impact a prosecution has on deterring criminals while incentivizing whistleblowers,” Hochman said. “Law enforcement officers should and will be held to a higher standard, but I don’t want this case to discourage in any way legitimate whistleblowers seeking to report wrongdoing.”

Hochman added that reducing the charges “takes state prison off the table” while maintaining that illegal eavesdropping should be prosecuted.

Five days after Hochman announced the reduction, Soto-Martínez asked the City Council to note and file his resolution rather than adopt it. The council voted 14-0 to do so, effectively disposing of the resolution without adopting it.

Soto-Martínez thanked Hochman for “changing course” but said the council should not lose sight of the conduct Flores allegedly exposed within the LAPD.

“It was a betrayal of our community and violation of the trust we placed in public servants and a failure in responsibility of this LAPD unit, and we cannot lose sight of that,” Soto-Martínez said. “So today I ask that we note and file item No. 21 and keep the focus where it belongs – building a city where it treats every community with the dignity and respect that they deserve.”

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, 8th District, called the original prosecution “particularly aggressive” and said the city needs better methods for employees to expose misconduct.

“Everybody knows that if this same officer had went and said, ‘Hey, I heard all of these things in the training,’ one, no one would’ve believed him, and two, he probably would’ve gotten in trouble and punished within the department,” Harris-Dawson said. “There has to be better pathways for our employees to help us get to a place where this type of thing doesn’t happen in our police department.”

Councilwoman Monica Rod-riguez, 7th District, who seconded Soto-Martínez’s original resolution, also introduced a motion on Aug. 25 seeking a review of the city’s whistleblower and anti-retaliation protections. Soto-Martínez seconded the motion.

Rodriguez said city employees, whether civilian or sworn, should feel comfortable reporting abuses of public trust or public funds without fearing retaliation. At the same time, she said employees need lawful mechanisms for exposing wrongdoing.

“We also want to make sure that people don’t take matters into their own hands and break the law in order to do that,” Rodriguez said. “We need to make sure that there are lawful ways to identify and reveal what is occurring … It was not just enough for us to bring forward a resolution. This is about how we forge a path forward and whether all employees have a procedural understanding about how to report incidents like this or any other whistleblower concerns without exposing themselves to any greater liability risk.”

Flores allegedly recorded 16 LAPD colleagues 122 times during 2024 without their knowledge or consent. The employees were responsible for evaluating candidates seeking to become LAPD officers, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

According to Soto-Martínez’s office, the recordings captured officers referring to a female supervisor using a homophobic slur, describing a potential LAPD recruit as “rapeable” and making derogatory remarks about Black people.

Flores filed a complaint with LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau and the Office of Inspector General on Jan. 5 documenting the alleged conduct, according to Soto-Martínez’s office.

Hochman has maintained that Flores had legal avenues available to report misconduct without secretly recording his colleagues. California law generally prohibits recording confidential conversations without the consent of all parties.

Hochman said the officers who allegedly made the remarks are facing disciplinary proceedings.

“The racist, sexist and homophobic remarks made by LAPD officers are deplorable,” Hochman said.