LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
NEWS Volume 40, Number 41
INSIDE
Gilligan’s Island in the 14th District.
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Million Dollar Movies 16
October 10, 2011
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
READY FOR SCHOOL
More financial trouble at LA Plaza.
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Big retail changes at Seventh and Spring.
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photos by Gary Leonard
On Thursday, Oct. 6, the Fred Jordan Mission in Skid Row hosted a free back-to-school giveaway for thousands of children. The mission partnered with Foot Locker, which gave each child a pair of shoes. The children also received backpacks, school supplies and other gear.
A new view of food from Peru.
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Racism, Sexual Harassment Lawsuits Roil Central Division Shakeup at Downtown Station Follows Allegations Including That One Officer Gave Another a Cake Topped With Watermelon and Fried Chicken
MOCA’s shining ‘Big Black Sun.’
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17 CALENDAR LISTINGS 20 MAP 21 CLASSIFIEDS
by Ryan Vaillancourt staff writer
T
he Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Division is caught in a tangle of lawsuits alleging a culture of racial and sexual harassment that several officers say has been tolerated by command staff. Four officers and two sergeants ensnared in the allegations have been transferred out of the Downtown police station and suffered a downgrade in rank. The city is fighting three lawsuits, and potentially facing millions of dollars in damages from officers who worked, until recently, in Central’s Community Relations Office. The office is comprised of the division’s senior lead officers, who serve as community liaisons in several Downtown neighborhoods. Complaints filed by senior lead officers Earl
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Wright and Mike Fernandez and Officer Marie Kardiban paint a picture of the office as a place where inappropriate racial and sexually charged comments and pranks have become embedded in the workplace culture. The suits allege that Sgt. Pete Foster, who supervised the unit until he was transferred last year, and who is awaiting a disciplinary hearing, was the chief culprit. Among a litany of allegations, the lawsuits charge that: n Foster presented Wright, who is African American, with a cake topped with a piece of fried chicken and a slice of watermelon. n Foster sent Fernandez, who is partly of Mexican descent, a text message with an image depicting a stick propping up a box, over a bottle of Mexican beer and the caption: “Mexican Trap: How Arizona Will Catch Their Illegals.”
n When Kardiban and some community volunteers walked past Foster, he held up a dollar bill and said, “Here’s a tip for last night.” n An officer was removed by Foster from a special overtime detail and replaced by Foster’s wife, who is also a police officer. n Central Area Capt. Todd Chamberlain, in discussing an overtime detail on Seventh Street during the holidays, stated that he didn’t want any officers hiding in 7-Eleven drinking watermelon Slurpees, which some perceived as a dig at AfricanAmerican officers. The statement allegedly came in a weekly crime control meeting with several officers, command staffers and community members present. n Capt. Darrell Russell, second in command at Central, initiated a transfer of Foster, but his susee LAPD, page 10
It’s happening downtown. www.lacwh.org
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(213) 742.5784 COMING THIS FALL