Los Angeles Police Captain Silvia Sanchez has become embroiled in a conflict with the Police Protective League following her investigation into alleged misconduct by two officers during a 2022 domestic violence call. Sanchez, who reviewed body camera footage revealing potential use of force, initiated an inquiry that has drawn the ire of the union, which accuses her of unfairly targeting officers.
The incident that put Los Angeles police Capt. Silvia Sanchez on a collision course with the union for more than 8,000 rank-and-file cops began with a 911 call about a fight on the city's Eastside. Two Hollenbeck Division officers showed up to find two young women arguing in the street next to a gray SUV. They decided to arrest the younger of the couple, a 16-year-old, on suspicion of domestic violence, detaining her without force — or so they wrote in their report.
A routine review found nothing amiss with their actions, and the case was all but closed and forgotten. Then Sanchez, the Hollenbeck patrol captain, intervened. After receiving a complaint about the March 30, 2022, incident, she went back and reviewed the officers' body-worn camera footage. The video seemed to show one of the cops grabbing the teen by the neck and slamming her against a concrete barrier, Sanchez alleged. Sanchez ordered an investigation into the officers’ “illegal detention followed by an unauthorized use of force' and their failure to document it, she said in a government claim she filed against the city in October. Her moves have drawn the ire of the powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League. The veteran female commander and her allies allege she has become the target of a smear campaign by union leadership to turn the department against her. The union's president has accused Sanchez of her of going out of her way to railroad a pair of officers for doing their jobs. The case has become the latest lighting rod in a long-running debate over how to reform the department's disciplinary system. Amid numerous reports that have faulted the department for how it investigates its own, critics both inside and outside the LAPD believe the process remains inconsistent at best and fundamentally broken at worst. The sentiment among many lower-ranking officers is that they are under a microscope while their bosses are rarely held accountable for misconduct. On the other side are commanders like Sanchez, who alleges she was targeted after calling out bad behavior. Sanchez's claim, which typically serves as the precursor to a lawsuit, says that after ordering the investigation into the 2022 incident she faced retaliation and “resistance' from Hollenbeck’s then-senior Capt. Al Mendoza and others in 'her command, who appeared intent on brushing this incident under the rug.' The Police Protective League, which represents cops up to the rank of lieutenant, has defended the officers Sanchez put under scrutiny. Last summer in the union's monthly magazine, Thin Blue Line, League President Craig Lally blasted an unnamed female captain that fit Sanchez's profile. Around the time it was published, an unnamed LAPD official filed a formal complaint against Sanchez, alleging she had handled the situation inappropriately. Sanchez and her attorney did not respond to requests for comment. The Times obtained a copy of the police report from the 2022 incident. The officers said when they arrived to the 100 block of North Myers Street — near the 1st Street Viaduct heading into Boyle Heights — one of the two women they encountered insisted that nothing was wrong and said they were looking for a lost pendant that had fallen off a broken gold chain. The police report did not provide an age for the second woman, but department sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said she was older and appeared to be an adult. According to the police report, the pair “refused to cooperate” and began walking away. The officers wrote that when they decided to make an arrest, the teenager 'began screaming,' then 'threw herself' into a concrete barrier and began flailing her legs, kicking both officers. She was then 'detained without further incident,' the report said. The officers called an ambulance after the younger girl said she was suffering a panic attack. Both women were later released at the scene and could not be reached for comment. After Sanchez reviewed body camera footage of the call, she concluded that the officers had committed 'an illegal detention followed by an unauthorized use of force,' grabbing the teen by the neck and slamming her into the concrete wall as she started to walk away. Sanchez also faulted them for using a homophobic slur toward the couple. Other department officials who reviewed the case insisted there was nothing wrong. But Sanchez took the matter up to her boss, Cmdr. Michael Oreb, who leads the Central Bureau. He agreed that the officers' actions needed to be reviewed and should have been documented in their report. It's unclear whether the officers were investigated or faced any punishment, as most police discipline matters are shielded from public view under state law. The recent claim is not the first time Sanchez has blown the whistle on what she alleged was problematic behavior at Hollenbeck
LAW ENFORCEMENT POLICE MISCONDUCT DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM REFORM LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT POLICE UNION BODY CAMERAS
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