Two on-duty L.A. traffic officers allegedly participate in porn video

Los Angeles officials have launched an investigation into allegations that two on-duty city traffic officers participated in a pornographic video using city uniforms and a city vehicle.

The Department of Transportation employees were placed on administrative leave Thursday pending completion of the inquiry, according to Amir Sedadi, the agency’s interim general manager. The investigation stems from inquiries by KNBC Channel 4, which planned to air an investigative report on the employees Friday night.

According to the station, the video was posted on an adult subscription website and shows an actress approaching a city traffic officer and jumping into his arms.

The officer spanks the woman and fondles her bare breasts, the station said on its website.

A second officer is spanked by the actress, who then gets into an official city car and performs lewd acts on herself, according to KNBC’s account.

A parking enforcement manager knew of the employees’ behavior more than two months ago — and referenced it in a memo to superiors and employees — but failed to take disciplinary action, the station reported.

The department received anonymous photos earlier this year of the alleged misconduct, but faces were blurry and identifying numbers on badges and what appeared to be city cars were blocked out, spokesman Christopher Rider said. “There was nothing identifiable on those pictures,” he said. It was only after additional information was received from the television station that the investigation involving specific employees was launched, Rider added. He declined to name the officers.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, chairman of the city Transportation Committee, was briefed on the investigation and said he was “appalled and outraged.”

“If there is any criminal aspect to this, there will be action,” he said.

The city’s parking ticket operation has come under frequent criticism, including an audit released this week saying that millions of dollars in fines racked up by chronic scofflaws have gone uncollected at a time when the city is facing budget shortfalls.

Sedadi said his agency “does not condone or tolerate unacceptable or inappropriate behavior from any of our employees.”

“The allegations involving these two individuals in no way should be taken as representative of the nearly 600 professional” parking and traffic officers in the city, he said.

The city attorney, the Los Angeles Police Department and personnel department investigators may be involved in the investigation as it moves forward, a Transportation Department spokesman said.

rich.connell@latimes.com