A Los Angeles police officer accused of secretly recording coworkers allegedly making racist and homophobic remarks pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges.
Officer Daniel Flores, who filed a harassment lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles in June and made detailed allegations against his supervisor and others in the Los Angeles Police Department’s recruiting and employment division, was charged last month with 16 felony counts of eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications.
Flores alleged that his unnamed supervisors and coworkers — who work for the LAPD team that evaluates aspiring officers for their character, suitability and qualifications — regularly made derogatory comments about officers and others who were Black, Asian, gay or Hispanic.
In his lawsuit, Flores said he made the recordings in 2024 as a “lawful investigation as a police officer” into department members allegedly using racist, sexist and homophobic slurs.
When the charges were announced, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he believes LAPD employees should be held accountable for sexist, homophobic and racist remarks, but emphasized that California is an all-party consent state.
“One cannot simply choose to break the law because one wants to pursue a personal agenda,” Hochman said. “One can address important issues by going through the proper legal channels. If one chooses a law-breaking path instead, then the consequences will be straightforward and significant.”
Flores could face up to 13 years in prison if convicted on all counts, the DA’s office said in a statement.
The LAPD has not said whether any of the officers caught making disparaging remarks on the recordings were ever disciplined.
When Flores was charged last month, his defense attorney, Alan Jackson, expressed shock that the LAPD employees accused of making racist comments were not the target of the DA’s case, while the officer who reported them was.
“Daniel Flores did not leak this material. He did not sell it, post it or hand it to a reporter. He walked it into Internal Affairs and gave it to his own department, in an official complaint, because he believed the Department would do something about it,” Jackson wrote.
“The Department’s answer was to investigate him. The District Attorney’s answer is to prosecute him.”
Flores’ lawsuit, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, claims his coworkers made comments calling women “bitches who cannot be trusted.” Some coworkers also insulted Asians and Hispanics, while Flores’ supervisor allegedly said former Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela died because “he ate too many tacos,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges Flores’ coworkers made derogatory statements about sexual orientation, using references such as “gay ass bitch,” “the little gay one” and “little bitches.” Other coworkers allegedly made derogatory statements about Black people, including a comment that they “enjoy watermelon between basketball,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Flores submitted complaints about his coworkers to LAPD Internal Affairs and the Los Angeles Police Commission in January 2025.