Local News in Brief : Rumors of Hazing by Police Investigated
Reports that a police officer suffered back injuries in a hazing incident are being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, a spokesman said Tuesday.
“We have the rumor that there was some hazing and some sort of initiation process and that it involves some physical stuff that resulted in the officer’s injury. . . ,” Cmdr. William Booth said. “We will take corrective action based upon what our investigation shows.”
The Police Department forbids hazing, Booth said.
The injured officer, Mike Hansen, was confined to bed Tuesday at Daniel Freeman Hospital. He declined to discuss the early Friday incident at the Southeast Division, which reportedly involved several members of the anti-gang CRASH unit.
Hansen, who was on loan to the unit, said he did not want the incident to “blow up into a big deal.”
“It was just hazing that got out of hand,” said Frank Mezquita, a spokesman for the Police Protective League, the police union. He said he had checked into the incident and was surprised to hear that a police unit might be engaging in hazing.
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