Pasadena Police Department accused of racial discrimination, retaliation

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- The Pasadena Police Department is being accused of racial discrimination against its own officers, and some claim they were even subjected to assaults.

Several former officers held a press conference Thursday alongside their attorney to announce a lawsuit, claiming the department has a history of racial discrimination.

"I have been assaulted as well to the point that I was told, as I went down, that I was a crybaby," said Carolyn Gordon. "I was a lieutenant of internal affairs and because I spoke up against unlawful practices, I was removed from that position."

The former officers claim disparities of punishment of Black employees and retaliation against those officers who complained about discrimination.

"These are police officers that are supposed to protect and serve our community, but they attack their own, particularly African American officers, are getting attacked and injured," said attorney Brad Gage.

One former officer claims his training officer offered money to an arrestee to fight the former officer.

"Another Black officer who, years ago, says that his training officer paid money to have a suspect fight with him," said Gage.

David Llanes with the Pasadena Police Officers Association told ABC7 that never happened.

"The allegation that a training officer, which was me, 20 years ago, wagered a bet with a prisoner to beat up my trainee is absolutely false," he said. "It was proven to be false."

The city of Pasadena issued a statement Thursday, which says in part, "The City of Pasadena cannot respond in a public debate regarding the claims, as they involve personnel matters, which are confidential under California law. With that said, personnel complaints against any Pasadena police officers are investigated thoroughly and fairly, and all personnel throughout our ranks are always held accountable for their actions when warranted."

Gage said cases like this would likely take a year before they are resolved and go through the courts.