It was apology time for the Inglewood...

It was apology time for the Inglewood Police Department after one of its officers told a man being arrested during an undercover operation that, next time he should buy his drugs in Gardena instead of Inglewood.

It was a “highly inappropriate” statement, said Inglewood Police Chief Ray Johnson in a letter of apology to Gardena Police Chief Richard Propster.

The officer’s remark was made April 29 during a “reverse sting” by Inglewood’s narcotics team to catch drug buyers, Johnson said. The operation was filmed by a television news crew and later broadcast.

“In no way do we wish to imply that Gardena is a haven for drug buyers, or that the Gardena police are mounting any less of a vigorous anti-drug law enforcement program than her neighbors,” Johnson said in the May 12 letter.

The Gardena City Council was “very upset” over the incident, said City Manager Kenneth Landau. “We believe the apology was satisfactory, but that doesn’t mean we were happy with the situation.”

Landau said several residents had seen the news segment when it aired, and complained to the City Council. “They were concerned about drug dealing in their neighborhoods and they thought the comment meant that Gardena was soft on crime,” Landau said.

Inglewood police later downplayed the incident, saying the remark was made only in passing.

“It was no big deal,” Johnson said in an interview. “It was a spontaneous statement made by one of my investigators . . . the cameras just happened to be on him.

“It was not our idea to tell (drug dealers) to go to any other community anywhere, in Los Angeles County or elsewhere,” Johnson said.