10 Officers Assigned to Desk Duty as LAPD Investigates Misconduct Allegations

As the LAPD continues to investigate over 70 allegations of police misconduct during recent protests, 10 officers have been removed from the field and assigned to desk duties, the Los Angeles Times reports. Several of the officers were involved in an incident in Van Nuys in which police smashed out a car’s windows.

When the LAPD first announced it was launching an investigation into officers’ behavior during the protests, it cited 57 allegations. Now, the department is looking into 74 complaints. If you’d like to file a complaint, you find out more information here. It’s worth noting that many activists—and some callers to the recent Police Commission meetings—have expressed concern about law enforcement agencies investigating themselves.

Many instances of alleged police misconduct surfaced on social media following protests in late May and early June. There were disturbing accounts of mass arrests. There were photographer Kirk Tsonos’s shocking images of a man in a wheelchair, blood dripping from his face after he was struck by a foam round. Actor Kendrick Sampson joined Black Lives Matter L.A. members to present the People’s Budget to members of City Council. He told them he was shot several times with non-lethal rounds on May 30, resulting in painful wounds. 

A 26-year-old woman is suing the LAPD for $10 million, saying she spent nine days in the hospital after police shot a non-lethal round into her open window as she drove near the Grove that same day. The round hit her in the face, fracturing her cheekbone and resulting in stitches and a brain injury, according to the L.A. Times.

Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter-LA and other advocates have filed a suit against the LAPD over the allegations and the detention of over 2,600 protestors.