The city of LA has denied in a court filing that it should be held responsible for the alleged hazing and assaults of four LAPD officers, who say in a lawsuit, they were the victims of physical and psychological abuse carried out by other officers when they joined a department-affiliated football league more than a decade ago.
The LA City Attorney’s Office filed the response to the four officers’ lawsuit this week, and in a second filing called a cross-complaint, asking an LA Superior Court judge to shift any liability in the case to the football team itself, the Centurions, which the city said is responsible for any injuries suffered by the officers.
One of the four officers who filed the hazing lawsuit told the I-Team that he wrestled with the decision to report the alleged incidents for years, fearful of retaliation from other officers and from the LAPD’s administration.
“I didn't want to die with this on my conscience,” the officer said in an audio-only interview. NBC Los Angeles agreed to withhold his identity as an alleged victim of sexual assault.
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"As a police officer, why am I afraid to report what happened to me to the cops?" he said.
He and the three other officers filed their lawsuit in late December 2023 as John Does although their identities will likely become public at some point during the litigation.
The case claims the Centurions recreational football team is closely tied to the LAPD as its players and many of the organization’s directors are police officers, and the lawsuit says some members of the team attended practices and events while on-duty and with the full knowledge of the police department.
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The LA City Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case citing the ongoing litigation but said in its court filings that the incidents alleged by the officers did not occur “within the course and scope of their duties as employees.”
The Centurions chairman, LAPD officer Joshua Rider, said in an email last week the organization would not comment on the accusations because of the lawsuit.
