A Los Angeles police captain whose officers were recorded making racist, sexist and homophobic comments has avoided termination and will be reassigned to another position in the department, according to a transfer order and three sources who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential personnel matter.
The captain, Robin Petillo, saw her case before a disciplinary panel dismissed over an apparent statutory issue before a hearing that was scheduled for March 4, according to the sources.
Petillo was relieved of her supervisor duties early last year, after The Times reported on a complaint filed with the LAPD alleging that officers under her command in the recruitment and employment division had been unknowingly recorded making vulgar comments, including while talking about police applicants. The case drew widespread attention and revived concerns that the department had failed to root out a culture of intolerance that led to past scandals.
At least five others from the unit were assigned to home pending the completion of an internal affairs probe, officials said at the time.
The Board of Police Commissioners demanded a thorough internal investigation last March, but the status of that probe is unclear and a spokesperson for the commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
An LAPD spokesperson declined to comment. Petillo didn’t respond to an email to her work account.
The LAPD complaint about Petillo’s unit detailed portions of roughly 90 recordings of slurs and offensive remarks made by officers tasked with deciding who could join the police force. The complaint detailed taped comments made by Petillo’s subordinates but included no evidence showing she had participated in the exchanges.
Mayor Karen Bass said at the time that the allegations were “especially outrageous and unacceptable.”
LAPD officers accused of wrongdoing are entitled to a disciplinary process known as the Board of Rights, which prevents the chief from firing anyone outright. The boards have been criticized in the past for allowing officers to remain with the department even when they are prohibited from handling evidence or working in the field due to concerns about trustworthiness.
Under a new proposal being evaluated by officials, the City Council could have the power to override decisions not to fire by the disciplinary panels.
The Board of Rights hearings are mini-trials in which the officer and department officials present evidence and call witnesses. The process and outcomes are shielded from public view under the department’s interpretation of a court decision.
Occasionally, cases are dismissed on statutory grounds. Some accused officers have argued through their attorneys that the department waited too long to launch an internal investigation or failed to issue discipline within a year of learning about the alleged wrongdoing, as required by city rules.
That appears to have been the case with Petillo.
According to a transfer order reviewed by The Times, Petillo will maintain her rank as a senior captain and has been reassigned to run the custody services division, which runs the department’s jails.
The transfer came last week amid a flurry of personnel changes.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell announced that he had hired Dean Gialamas to become his new civilian chief information officer, filling a post that had been vacant since the department’s last technology czar, John McMahon, retired last week. McDonnell and Gialamas previously worked together during McDonnell’s term as Los Angeles County sheriff.
The department’s top lawyer, Terree A. Bowers, retired from his role as director of constitutional policing. Bowers is a respected figure in local legal circles, previously serving as U.S. attorney and as a top deputy in the L.A. city attorney’s office. His career also included a stint as a lead war crimes prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.
