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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge Tuesday gave the green light for trial of a whistleblower suit by a longtime Los Angeles police sergeant who alleges the department's SWAT unit is run by a "SWAT Mafia" of veteran officers.
Sgt. Timothy Colomey maintains in his Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that some SWAT leaders preferred candidates for the unit who "leaned toward shooting" over those who were "critical thinkers." Colomey joined SWAT in 2008 and was the most senior sergeant in the unit at the time.
On Tuesday, Judge Jon Takasugi denied a dismissal motion by the City Attorney's Office, which maintained it its court papers that the plaintiff had not presented a basic case for whistleblowing because he did not engage in "protected activity" as required by the state Labor Code.
According to the judge, Colomey submitted evidence supporting a "reasonable inference" that he made disclosures that he reasonably believed constituted violations of law as defined by the Labor Code.
"While (the city) may contend that plaintiff only believed he was disclosing perceived violations of the department's own policies, plaintiff's evidence supports a reasonable inference otherwise and thus is sufficient to create a triable issue of material fact," according to Takasugi, who has scheduled trial for Sept. 25.
In a sworn declaration, Colomey says he was the supervisor in charge of the LAPD SWAT training school from 2013-19 and acquired firsthand knowledge of how candidates were chosen to participate in the school and how it was run.
Colomey maintains that as the supervisor overseeing the school, he observed that those in charge of selecting candidates looked for those who "leaned toward shooting instead of being slow and methodical before using force, while disqualifying those officers who were `critical thinkers' or `unwilling to go along with the aggressive, quick-shooting SWAT culture during trainings."'
In September 2018, the LAPD's Internal Affairs group began investigating an anonymous complaint that compared the culture within SWAT to the LAPD Rampart scandal from the late 1990s, Colomey says.
Colomey also contends that he told an Internal Affairs interviewer that he had learned there was a group of "powerful" police officers who "wielded undue influence in SWAT, which they used to create a conformist culture within the unit that was aggressive and promoted the use of lethal force."
Colomey further says he told the interviewer that while he does not use the term "SWAT Mafia," he had heard the officers in question refer to themselves by that term.
On numerous SWAT calls in which he was the supervisor on scene, some of the officers in question attempted to take control of the scene and minimize Colomey's involvement, including by telling him, "Hey Sarge, move away" or "Stay here, Sarge" while the officers proceeded to engage a suspect, Colomey says.
The officers were "essentially informing me that they did not want me in the building with eyes on the situation when they entered and made contact with the suspect," according to Colomey.
Colomey says he was cleared of any misconduct by the Internal Affairs probe.
"Although the anonymous complaint alleged wrongdoing by me, other SWAT supervisors and even Chief (Michel) Moore, I was not found to have engaged in any wrongdoing and no allegations of misconduct were sustained against me," Colomey says.
Colomey was hired in 1995, joined the LAPD SWAT Unit as a sergeant 2 in September 2008 and remained in the unit until October 2019. According to the plaintiff's suit filed in January 2021, SWAT lieutenants and sergeants are all aware of the alleged SWAT Mafia's existence and influence, and a significant number of the supervisors participate both in acquiescing to the group as well as in undermining nonconforming officers and supervisors.
Colomey left SWAT for a post at Los Angeles International Airport.