LAPD officer resigns amid allegations he tapped police database on behalf of gang member

[alp227]

Source: Los Angeles Times

A rookie Los Angeles police officer has resigned amid allegations he illegally tapped into a law enforcement computer on behalf of a gang member who was recently convicted of murder.

The officer, Gabriel Morales, 25, was seeking information on two key witnesses who testified at the gang member's murder trial, according to court records. Morales had been dating the gang member's sister for several years.

The law enforcement database that police say Morales accessed contains a wide array of personal information on people, including home addresses. Authorities said he made printouts of the information he found.

The allegations against Morales underscore the predicament of police officers when they feel forced to choose between their oath to uphold the law and their allegiance to friends and family, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-gang-ties-20101115,0,7927518.story

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Disgusting. What can Morales do with his life now that he's pretty much locked himself out of law enforcement forever?

[bluedigger]

1. You're worried about the cop? Really?

I'm disgusted that he was allowed to resign and is apparently still a free man...

"I have Gabriel looking at these guys, those tattoo guys," Wayne Turner said, according to a transcript of the recording. "I have Gabriel running their names. He supposed to bring me their names today, where their locations at, so we can get a hold of them."

[Skittles]

2. he should be charged with conspiracy of some sort

you are correct; it is absolutely disgusting

[alp227]

4. When he can't find a job he might start committing MORE crimes n/t

[bluedigger]

5. Nothing seemed to stop him from committing crimes when he had a job.

His biggest concern now should be the reception cops/gangbangers get in the pen.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. well shit...

let him keep his cop job then. Wouldn't want him to commit more crimes :sarcasm:

[no limit]

14. Are you a cop?

[freematthewturner]

16. THE TURTH IS NEAR !!!

this is sad how people believe everything the media puts out. he was actually a good officer and was uncovering some information about the mans innocence. the bad cops, however , didnt wanna hear it. so what happens when a conspiracy occurs? they try to silence the truth . this is coming from someone that knows the whole story..and f.y.i…this isnt the first time the LAPD has convicted an innocent man….same story…different people….look what happened to the cop that tried to help an innocent man….
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/16/48hours/main6965418.shtml

[U4ikLefty]

18. the "TURTH" ???

tee-hee

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. A better question is... given the back ground check

BEFORE the Academy, how the hell did he make it into it?

He should not have.

[jancantor]

6. It's actually been a problem for years

(not sure if this is the case here) that gangs in LA will groom prospective cops. Iow, they will take certain members of their gang and purposefully keep them out of trouble. These members won't participate They are essentially like secret members. They do this so that these members can later apply to law enforcement. It's actually estimated there are many of these "covert" gang members in LAPD and other such agencies and they can be VERY useful to gangs. Even without doing stuff like the guy in this case did, they can teach gang members police tactics in responding to calls, give them all sorts of useful intel, etc.

[SoCalDemGrrl]

7. That is some SCARY stuff..... infiltrating the LAPD..

how would they even screen these individuals out when they appear to have clean records?

[jancantor]

11. It's an imperfect process

and of course they DO have clean records. So, it's going to be pretty tough. Plus, they can't really discriminate if the applicant has a family member who is a known gang member, if the applicant convinces them "hey, that's my Uncle, it's not me". Assume a big family, and the kid lives in the "wrong neighborhood", it's actually pretty common that they are going to have some distant relation, in-law, etc. who has some sort of tie to a gang.

They polygraph people, but that is far from a perfect screener. There's a reason they aren't admissible. They will work IF the person being poly'd is convinced they do work. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, the person THINKS the machine is reading their lie, they emote, and the machine picks up the nervousness, etc. If they can be a cool cucumber otoh, not so much.

I don't think there's any easy solution, and also LA gangs tend to be primarily racial minorities, and the last thing the LAPD wants to do is even have the appearance of putting one racial group under more scrutiny than another.

Fwiw, gangs are also smart enough to groom female applicants for these positions sometimes, for obvious reasons.

[xor]

19. That seems a bit far fetched

I'm not saying it couldn't have ever happened, but for it to be a regular thing seems a bit too much. Joining the police, unlike joining the military, is a little bit more involved, no? For example, not only would they need someone who was living that life to have a clean record, but they would also need someone who has attended college and is able to make it through the police academy. If someone has those traits, doesn't that decrease the likeliness that they would be part of that life? Again, I could see there being some special cases in which that does happen, but it seems improbable that it would be a common issue.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. they also...

use the military to train certain members.

[jancantor]

10. Yup

that was mentioned in the article I read. That's a great way to give the guy a much better chance of getting INTO the police dept. plus they learn some really good stuff in the military.

[chidy]

17. you just love propaganda, don't you?

do you know *anything* about actual "gang members" like, anything at all? or perhaps the police? that is to say, what they are really like, and how much "honor" and "justice" truly mean to them? no, it's pretty clear you don't. to you, everything is black and white, snort. just like on TV. good guys, and bad guys, and the twain shall never meet.

"they," /me making laughing sound/ go watch some more Law and Order; reality is too complicated for you.

[pattmarty]

12. I can count the "good" cops I have met in my 64 yrs on one fucking hand.........

...............A hell of a lot are corrupt and the rest have the "John Wayne" complex.

[No Elephants]

13. Huh? He's a healthy 25 year old cop and you're implying his employment life is over?

If he were a 50 year old doctor or lawyer who had his license pulled, maybe.

[Heywood J]

15. "The allegations against Morales underscore the predicament of police officers

when they feel forced to choose between their oath to uphold the law and their allegiance to friends and family, Los Angeles Police Department officials said."

More like the "predicament" of choosing to be a party to the potential murder of witnesses vs. not being a party. Some choice there. It's disgusting to see the LAPD covering for him by phrasing the situation that way.