LOS ANGELES — LAPD insiders who oppose the 2020 Los Angeles budget reforms — prompted by the killing of George Floyd and the nationwide #BlackLivesMatters protests last summer against several documented incidents of police brutality — began a press campaign this week alleging that the reforms will prevent the department from investigating high-profile cases such as the sexual assault investigation against Ron Jeremy.
In a story leaked to TMZ, and subsequently picked up by other news organizations, anonymous LAPD personnel told the gossip news site that “the elimination of LAPD's Sex Crimes Unit is going to make investigating high-profile cases — like Harvey Weinstein and Ron Jeremy — much more challenging, if not nearly impossible.”
TMZ headlined the piece “Loss of LAPD's RHD [Robbery-Homicide Division] Sex Crimes Unit Hurts High-Profile Cases, Cops Say” adding that “cops [are] pissed over its elimination.”
The law enforcement sources blamed “budget cuts and the movement to defund the police department” for the February closure of what the site referred to as “the 'Special Victims Unit'-esque division” of the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Divisions.
The LAPD insiders who opposed the measure told TMZ “high-ranking LAPD officers are upset” and “think this is a horrible mistake.”
TMZ also quoted celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, whom lambasted the new budget and opined that "the safety of the community is at risk when sex crimes against women and children no longer appears to be a priority."
A Publicity Campaign Against Budget Cuts
The LAPD has been engaging in a publicity campaign since November to protest cuts of $150 million to its $3 billion annual budget (including pensions), citing examples like the closure of the sex crime unit — which has massive brand name recognition partly to the ubiquity of the “Law & Order” TV franchise — and referring to high-profile investigations like the Jeremy and Weinstein cases.
In late June, following the #BlackLivesMatter protests, the L.A. City Council on Wednesday voted to cut $150 million out of the Los Angeles Police Department's $1.8 billion operating budget, and planned to reinvest the funds in marginalized communities.
The cuts that the LAPD insiders are protesting by planting anonymous TMZ items — concerning Ron Jeremy's and Harvey Weinstein's cases and "Law & Order: SVU" to bank on the name recognition — are less than 10% of the department's operating budget and less than 5% of their overall budget, including pensions.
Different Law Enforcement Entities
Despite of the claims by these anonymous LAPD officers to TMZ, the Ron Jeremy investigation was initially spearheaded by other law enforcement entities: the Los Angeles District Attorney's office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.
The Weinstein investigation was also conducted by the Entertainment Industry Sex Crimes Task Force. That task force was formed by former Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey in 2017 to investigate sexual misconduct allegations in the entertainment industry, after receiving criticism concerning her office’s handling of the Harvey Weinstein allegations.
Although at some point news sources referred to at least 40 investigations being handled by the task force, from 2017 until the week of Ron Jeremy’s arrest in June 2020, Lacey’s task force had only pursued charges against one defendant — Harvey Weinstein.
The Weinstein charges were announced by Lacey on January 6, 2020, in a press conference that coincided with renewed public appearances for her current re-election campaign. The Jeremy arrest was announced immediately following the #BlackLivesMatter protests but Lacey’s lack of crucial political endorsements for the election contributed to her eventual loss to George Gascón.
A few days prior to Jeremy’s arrest, a second case connected to a Task Force investigation, that of mainstream producer and agent David Guillod, was filed by the Santa Barbara District Attorney.
