LAPD Chief Calls Crime Underreporting Claims 'Damn Lies'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — LAPD Chief Charlie Beck came out firing Tuesday night after one of his captains accused high-ranking officials of cooking the books.
"Recent claims made about the LAPD crime statistics are not only untrue, they are outrageous. They are not only lies, they're damn lies," said Beck.
Capt. Lillian Carranza says the command staff has been misclassifying violent crimes to convince the public that crime was not going up. And now she's suing the department, claiming that it retaliated against her for speaking up.
"I have been told I will not be promoted because I need to stay in my lane and stop meddling and looking at other people's numbers," said Carranza.
She says she began telling the command staff about the underreporting of crimes in different divisions since 2014, but nothing was done about it. She said she had no other choice but to come forward and take legal action.
"Carranza's made these claims in the past. She's very litigious, this is not the first time she's sued," said Beck. "She has a history of instituting litigation when she believes she is not being promoted."
"It's wrong, the public deserves to know the truth and so do our elected officials," said Carranza.
Hours after Chief Beck spoke to reporters, he was at the police commission meeting in Van Nuys. Carranza was there and some spoke in support of her.
"I want to applaud Capt. Carranza for having the guts to stand up to you, and having the guts to stand up to your intimidation. I hope she ends up getting a million dollars," said a Carranza supporter.
"Likely here with these crime reports, time and time again, we hear how the LAPD is altering and falsifying or withholding information in ways that have a real impact on people's lives," said another supporter of Carranza.
Carranza didn't speak about her claims at the meeting Tuesday night, and neither did Chief Beck, though he did have a message for the community.
"These claims are a slap in the face to the many detectives and command officers who work so hard with a very difficult system to get crime statistics as close to accurate as we possibly can," said Beck.
