Felony charges dropped against LAPD officer who secretly recorded colleagues making racist remarks
TheGrio...
Officer Daniel Flores will instead face misdemeanor charges after backlash that prosecutors said “sent the wrong message.”
Los Angeles County prosecutors have dropped felony counts against LAPD Officer Daniel Flores, who secretly recorded colleagues making racist and sexist remarks, replacing them with misdemeanors after backlash over the prosecution. marking a major reversal from the 16 felony counts TheGrio previously covered and arrive amid longstanding concerns about retaliation inside the LAPD.
The Associated Press reported that District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Wednesday that all 16 felony eavesdropping charges would be reduced to misdemeanors. The change allows Flores to enter a diversion agreement and avoid jail time if he does not violate any laws for one year.
Flores had faced up to 13 years in prison under California’s eavesdropping law, which generally prohibits secretly recording confidential conversations without the consent of everyone involved.
Hochman said he still believes Flores broke the law but acknowledged that the original prosecution “sent the wrong message” after critics warned it could discourage whistleblowers from documenting misconduct.
Flores shared the recordings with LAPD Internal Affairs in early 2025. The audio captured officers in the department’s recruitment division making racist and sexist comments, including racist tropes about Black people and an offensive remark about a young recruit.
Hochman condemned the comments as hate speech but said prosecutors did not have evidence that the remarks amounted to hate crimes. LAPD has opened confidential disciplinary proceedings involving officers heard on the recordings, but the department has not disclosed whether anyone has been disciplined.
Flores’ attorney, Alan Jackson, had sharply criticized the original felony case, arguing that his client turned the recordings over to his own department rather than leaking or selling them. The case became a flashpoint over whether punishing an officer who documents discriminatory conduct could strengthen the “blue wall of silence.”
Flores was separately found to have violated LAPD policy in an internal investigation and received a 22-day suspension without pay, though AP reported it was unclear whether he served the suspension.