Officer Pleads Not Guilty of Embezzling

A Los Angeles police officer who was arrested for pocketing $270 taken from drug dealers has pleaded not guilty to a charge of embezzlement, authorities said today.

Kendall Lee Walker, 30, a five-year veteran of the department, was arrested Aug. 10 after an internal sting operation showed he was taking small amounts of money from cash taken during drug arrests, Cmdr. William Booth said. Walker resigned from the department the day of his arrest.

“This was seized money that he was siphoning off a little bit at a time,” Booth said. “He was not booking all the money” into evidence.

Walker was charged on five counts of embezzling public money, Booth said. He was released on $5,000 bail and pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Walker had been assigned to the Valley’s field enforcement team, a unit based in Van Nuys that primarily conducts street level “buy-bust” operations.

Booth said the investigation of Walker began several weeks ago when a fellow member of the field enforcement team noticed discrepancies between amounts of money taken during arrests and the amounts later placed in evidence. The officer then alerted superiors.

An internal sting operation then followed in which Walker’s method of handling seized money was carefully observed, Booth said. Walker did not follow department procedures requiring officers to file detailed reports on items and cash taken during arrests, Booth said.

The investigation documented that Walker had taken a total of $270 during five different arrests before and after the sting operation began, Booth said.

Booth said department supervisors do not believe that Walker’s arrest will endanger any narcotics cases in which he was involved because Walker worked with members of a team on all investigations. Other team members can be witnesses in the cases.