LAPD Chief Moore Acknowledges Investigation Into Assistant Chief

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday regarding the allegations facing one of his assistant chiefs.

Last month, Assistant Chief Jorge Villegas, a 29-year veteran of the department, suddenly announced that he is retiring.

The move came just a week before a report surfaced that Villegas is under investigation by LAPD Internal Affairs for allegedly having inappropriate sexual relationships with officers in his command.

Outside an LAPD Board of Police Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, Moore acknowledged that Villegas is facing a complaint investigation, but would not elaborate.

"Well, I'm aware of his announced retirement, and this is a personnel matter," Moore told reporters. "And by state law, I'm preempted from discussing it further from what I've just described."

When pushed on the issue, Moore responded that he was "not aware of any criminal case involving Assistant Chief Villegas."

The exact details of allegations were not known.

According to his department biography, Villegas overseas the LAPD Office of Administrative Services, where he manages the LAPD's $1.6 billion budget. He previously ran the Office of Operations, where he helped update the department's use of force policy last year.

This comes after LAPD dealt with a major scandal with its cadet program last year which led to the arrest of one officer and seven juvenile cadets.