A Los Angeles Police Department officer who recorded some of his colleagues allegedly making racist, sexist and homophobic comments pleaded not guilty Monday through his attorney to 16 felony counts of eavesdropping or recording confidential communications.
Daniel Flores, 43, is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Sept. 9, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial. He remains free on his own recognizance.
Prosecutors allege that Flores, who was assigned to the LAPD’s Recruitment and Employment Division, made the recordings of his colleagues in 2024, and that they were made “without the permission of those who were recorded.”
Flores claimed in a hostile-workplace lawsuit he filed against the city in June that he made the recordings in what he believed was part of a “lawful investigation as a police officer” into department members using racist, sexist and homophobic slurs.
When the charges were announced, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement, “We deplore the sexist, homophobic and racist remarks made by certain LAPD employees, and they should be held accountable for such statements. However, in our all-party consent state, where California has been one of the nation’s leaders in protecting privacy and deterring illegal eavesdropping for over a half a century, one cannot simply choose to break the law because one wants to pursue a personal agenda.
“The options are not break the law or do nothing. One can address important issues by going through the proper legal channels. If one chooses a law-breaking path instead, then the consequences will be straightforward and significant.”
Flores could face up to 13 years in prison if convicted.
It was unknown if any of the officers caught making disparaging remarks on the recordings were ever disciplined.
Flores’ attorney, Alan Jackson, has been openly critical of the case, saying Flores was being targeted for reporting racism within the LAPD.
“The prosecution of this case, the prosecution of my client, Daniel Flores, sends a really, really scary message,” he told reporters after the arraignment. “And that message is if you expose racism and sexism and bigotry and misogyny and bias within the walls of the LAPD, then you’re going to be … the one exposed to potential state prison because of a prosecution like this.”
The defense attorney said there has been widespread countywide, statewide and even national criticism of the decision by the District Attorney’s Office to file the case against Flores, whom he said “did exactly that which we would expect him to do as an officer of the law, as a peace officer.”
“… We will be able to defend this case up one side and down the other in a courtroom,” Jackson added.
In his lawsuit filed in June against the city, Flores contended that he was subjected to a hostile workplace beginning in about late 2021 when a new supervisor took over the LAPD’s recruitment division and “repeatedly made derogatory statements and fostered an environment in which other employees were encouraged to do the same.”
The lawsuit claims his co-workers made comments calling women “bitches who cannot be trusted.” Some co-workers also derided Asians and Hispanics, with Flores’ supervisor claiming former Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela died because “he ate too many tacos,” the suit states.
The suit also contends co-workers made derogatory statements about sexual orientation, using references such as “gay ass bitch,” “the little gay one” and “little bitches.” Other co-workers made various derogatory statements against Black people, including a comment that they “enjoy watermelon between basketball.”
According to the lawsuit, Flores submitted his complaints about his co-workers to LAPD Internal Affairs and the Los Angeles Police Commission in January 2025.