LAPD
Officer Daryl Glover Jr.’s mother is a director for the LAPD police union.
The Los Angeles Police Department identified Sergeant Brett Hayhoe and Officer Daryl Glover Jr. as the shooters of 41-year-old Jermaine Petit in Leimert Park on July 18. Body-worn camera footage shows that both officers admit Petit was not holding a gun before shooting him. Glover is the son of Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) Vice President Jerretta Sandoz. She is the union director of the LAPD division her son is assigned to. In this role, one of her responsibilities is defending police officers who shoot people — like her son.
Sandoz wrote in an LAPPL blog post that releasing videos recorded on body-worn cameras could “cause civil unrest” if “the video is graphic or controversial.” She wrote an online rant titled “Releasing BWV [Body-Worn Video], Are You Kidding Me?” arguing against releasing body-worn videos. In the rant, she celebrates LAPPL’s negotiations about delaying footage releases for 90 days. Her piece also celebrates that the negotiations resulted in no penalties for officers who did not activate their BWV devices, so long as they wrote an explanation. Later, LAPD’s policy for BWV release was updated to 45 days and the 45-day policy was made California state law after the hearings, which Sandoz condemned.
Sandoz was quoted in an August 2020 LA Times article regarding a small uptick in complaints against LAPD officers, stating her concerns about increased levels of “demonstrably false” complaints. In 2019, less than 10% of all complaints were “sustained,” meaning the department found the complaint valid. Many sustained complaints end up being thrown out after an appeal process touted by LAPPL. Sandoz even said she believes those making unsustained complaints against officers should be prosecuted.
In October 2020, Sandoz and fellow LAPPL director Robert Harris made a PowerPoint presentation at a virtual town hall organized by the Police Advisory Committee. In it, she argued that LAPD’s disproportionate number of arrests of Black people in Los Angeles is justified. “If the LAPD arrested the 13,485 black violent crime suspects does that mean the LAPD is biased against black Angelenos? The answer to that is no,” she said. “The numbers don’t lie.”
On October 17, 2020, Sandoz addressed a “Defend The LAPD” rally alongside fellow LAPPL director Dave Abdalian in Elysian Park. Defend The LAPD was a series of pro-police demonstrations officially “organized by the community for the community,” held in 2020. Despite LAPPL’s assertions that the event was “not being organized by/affiliated with the LAPPL,” many LAPPL members attended one of their events outside LAPD headquarters in July 2020. Flyers for 2020 Defend The LAPD events are still viewable on LAPPL’s website. At the events, participants were encouraged to bring pro-police signs and to “come show our officers how much we need and appreciate them.”
City Councilmember Joe Buscaino also spoke at the event, telling rally-goers that he “proudly wore the LAPD badge for over 15 years and I’m a proud reserve officer today.” Attendees were provided food while listening to music performed by a cover band, as well as bagpipes played by current and former police officers.
Several attendees who identified themselves as security, or acted as though they were security, for the October 2020 event are associated with right-wing violence. This includes Ricky Willden, a Proud Boy who received two years in prison after assaulting police officers with a chemical irritant at the January 6 Washington DC insurrection in 2021. Telling Knock LA at the Elysian Park Rally that he was “here to make sure old ladies can get to their cars,” he lingered by the entrance to the event wearing a Proud Boys shirt.
Later, Willden attempted to fight a counter-demonstrator as the group exited the area. Eddie Block, a Proud Boy and vlogger, interviewed an attendee who said that “these Proud Boys are really cool! They were there with us and it’s kind of sad that they’re not back again!”
Steve Ceniceros slashed at a group of Black men with a blade during a politically charged fight after yelling racial slurs two months after the rally outside. He attempted to block several photographers from taking pictures of rally-goers during the event. When a counter-demonstration arrived,one Defend the LAPD attendee punched a woman dancing near him.
Several people involved in right-wing violence and multiple hate groups attended a July 2020 Defend The LAPD Rally outside LAPD Headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. Marcus Leo Kelly attended one in July 2020 and has been involved in numerous brawls alongside groups like the Proud Boys. Kelly was also arrested while wearing Proud Boy clothing after macing the inside of a car as a family sat inside. Arthur Schaper, leader of SPLC-identified hate group Mass Resistance, took video of the rally.
Petit’s shooting is not the first time a senior LAPPL leader’s child shot someone. Toni McBride — LAPD Newton officer, influencer, and daughter of LAPPL director Jamie McBride — shot and killed 38-year-old Daniel Hernandez in April 2020. Two of those shots were fired when Hernandez was already on the ground. LAPD Chief Michel Moore recommended that all of her shots be deemed legitimate by the Los Angeles Police Commission. Despite this, the Police Commission found McBride’s shots while Hernandez was on the ground to be out of policy in a December 2020 hearing. However, an inspector general report found that McBride was never charged or disciplined for shooting Hernandez — nor were 26 other officers who fired shots out of policy from 2015 to 2020.
Although LAPD acknowledged that Petit had a black metal auto part, they presented two charges of “brandishing a replica firearm” to the city attorney, who is still considering the charges. LAPD provided Knock LAtheir notes of two calls where callers believed that Petit had a gun, but Knock LA also received a report of one caller being unsure.
LAPD’s Southwest Division organized a virtual town hall, led by Captain Rudy Lopez and Deputy Chief Gerald Woodyard, scheduled one week after the shooting. Few new details were offered. According to Woodyard, they provided information to “dispel any rumors.” In fact, LAPD’s media division described the event as “not intended to be a press conference releasing new or updated information.” Resident Jan Williams remarked, “Why is [Lopez] here if he can’t answer questions?” Many of the town hall callers shared frustrations. Multiple people shared frustration that video from the scene shows police locating the actuator after shooting Petit, then appearing to nonchalantly throw the car part onto the hood of a nearby cruiser.
Both activists and Leimert Park residents continue to share frustrations regarding the case. LAPD released body-worn camera footage of the shooting on September 1, 2022. In the video, Petit can be seen walking away from three officers with weapons drawn. When asked “what’s that in your fucking hands?” Petit turns and shows the officers the car part to the officers while continuing to walk away. Both officers say that it is not a gun to each other. At least three shots were fired, including one that may have come from a supervisor in his patrol vehicle.
The investigation into the shooting of Daniel Hernandez by LAPPL’s Toni McBride may be an example of how the investigation into the shooting of Jermaine Petit will unfold. Discipline for officers who participate in shootings remains at a low rate, and union leaders — who are sometimes the parents of those same officers — continue to advocate against oversight reforms.