West Covina Officials Outraged After Police Spoof Video Goes Viral
WEST COVINA (CBS) — City officials have promised swift punishment for whomever they find was involved in an online video that spoofs the West Covina Police Department.
The video depicts actors dressed as officers harassing a civilian at gunpoint and shooting in the air as they speed away.
"While we can see that the intent was a joke, at the same time, perception by the public is very important to us because we are professional," Cpl. Rudy Lopez said. "We don't want anyone to be misled."
The spoof was produced by Santa Monica-based production company Zoochosis and has already generated more than one million views on Youtube.
City leaders were alerted to the video after viewers spotted some of the officers' uniforms were emblazed with a patch that read "West Covina Police Department", even though an obvious effort had been made to cover it.
West Covina City Attorney Arnold Alvarez Glasman spoke at a city council meeting Tuesday night, saying he would launch an internal investigation into the incident.
"The city council has directed its attorneys and staff to contact the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office to evaluate if there's any criminal [participants] to be prosecuted and to proceed with all available civil remedies to recoup the cost of this misuse of public property, including all investigative and disciplinary cost associated therein," Glasman said.
Glasman said someone will be held responsible for the use of the two police cruisers. Police said they know the guns fired in the video seem real but insist they were props.
"We have a pretty good idea as to which parties are involved," Glasman said.
West Covina police said the five men in the video were not sworn police officers -- two of the actors were school police and the others were part-time city employees. Four of the men were still on the job as of Tuesday, pending the investigation. The fifth participant was no longer employed, which was not related to the video.
Police said the investigation should be resolved within the next two weeks.
