LAPD Officers Sold Guns to Civilians and Gun Dealers, Threatened Whistleblower Who Exposed the Scheme
The LA Times story centered around an LAPD report on the allegations. The report says if the allegations are true, the officer’s actions may have violated federal firearms laws and ethics regulations. The LAPD report that was released in August 2012 was part of an ongoing inquiry into Perez’s allegations, and was the second time the department looked into them. The first investigation was called “deficient” by Inspector General Alex Bustamante.
According to the Courthouse News Service, Perez reported his suspicions to Captain John Incontro. Incontro wanted to fix the matter “in house” and wanted his name to be taken off the list of gun buyers. Perez also reported on what he called an “inappropriate relationship” between a “subordinate and commanding officer,” and after that was aired, Incontro turned the investigation over to the LAPD’S Internal Affairs Group.
But internal affairs determined that there was no misconduct, though they did not interview Perez. After that, the retaliation began, according to the complaint. The retaliation grew in intensity after the Los Angeles Times reported on the story. Perez “was ostracized, his reputation damaged, and [was] told to ‘watch his back,’ among other retaliatory acts. Since reporting the illegal gun deals, Perez says, he has endured veiled threats, ostracism and his job responsibilities have been systematically removed in an attempt to force him to leave Metro,” the Courthouse News Service reports.