But, but, but it was Pokémon

The Los Angeles Police Department has a long-standing reputation for corruption and violence. You wouldn't knoww it if you're a fan of Bosch (the TV series based on the writing of Michael Connelly), but things may have toned down in recent years. Still, the LAPD certainly carries with it an inglorious history. Think the beating of Rodney King. Mark Fuhrman and the OJ trial. The Rampart Division corruption scandal.

But the latest LAPD scandal is something of a nothing-burger, and is actually pretty amusing. Unless you were the victim of the active mall robbery that officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell chose to ignore in April 2017.

They were too busy, it seems, trying to capture a Pokémon character they'd spotted in the vicinity.

Not exactly "One Adam 12, one Adam 12. See the man." behavior. In their defense, it was, afterall, Pokémon. And it was, after all, a craze.

I well remember the Pokémon Go craze. You could barely make it through the hordes in the Boston Public Garden roaming around with their smartphones, trying to capture the illusive characters who had virtually popped up in the area. There's been a bit of a pandemic resurgence, but it's nothing quite like it was back in the day. Which was back in the day when Lozano and Mitchell decided to take the mandate about all work and no play a bit too seriously.

They were fired. 

The two appealed, arguing that the video that was used in evidence was of a private convo and thus inadmissable. And that when they were questioned about the incident they hadn't yet lawyered up. But their appeal was just turned down. 

The officers had claimed that they hadn't heard the call about the mall robbery. 

However, an in-car recording of their conversation revealed that they had heard the call, spoke about it and decided not to respond, court records show. (Source: Huff Po)

Just the facts, ma'am. Just the facts.  

“Aw, screw it,” Lozano reportedly said after a discussion about the call. Five minutes later, Mitchell allegedly told Lozano that a Pokemon character known as a Snorlax had popped up nearby.

For about the next 20 minutes, the officers could be heard on the in-car recording discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones, court documents said.

After capturing the Snorlax, the officers then traveled to another location to capture another Pokemon, known as a Togetic.

“When their car stopped again, the DICVS [in-car video system] recorded Mitchell saying, ‘Don’t run away. Don’t run away,’ while Lozano described how he ‘buried it and ultra-balled’ the Togetic before announcing, ‘Got him,’” court documents said. 

"Don't run away. Don't run away." Think of all the stories we've heard about police officers shooting someone (unarmed) running away, killing them because they didn't comply. It's probably not helpful in terms of impulse control and thinking things through that officers are "trained" to be trigger happy via video games. Sigh.

Most of us have goofed off at work at one time or another. Pre-Internet, it was mostly taking a gab break with colleagues. Post Internet, it was mostly checking personal emails or doing a bit of online something or other. (One guy I worked with was fired for watching porn. A young woman in my group was caught up in a mini-scandal for trading salacious emails with a security guard. It wasn't the immediate cause of her losing her job, but the next time we had layoffs, she headed the list.) Now the goofing off likely involves shopping Amazon, random googling, and social media stuff. 

But most goofing off at work doesn't involve putting lives at risk. And if you're a salaried employee, you make the time frittered away by staying later or whatever. 

Anyway, if a marketing writer goofs off at work, no big deal. But if a surgeon, or a pilot, or a cop goofs off at work, the stakes are a bit higher.

No one died because Lozano and Mitchell were on the trail of Snorlax and Togetic. But when they ignored the call, they (the officers, not Snorlax and Togetic) didn't know that. 

When you carry a badge, you can't be spending your time on the job upping your Pokémon scores. 

Non-justifiable dumbicide. Book 'em, Danno.