Repovich Was Suspended by LAPD for Sex Harassment

A Los Angeles police officer--the Republican challenger to capture a Democratic state Assembly seat in a race of key importance for the balance of power in Sacramento--was suspended for 44 days without pay last year on charges of sexually harassing a female officer, LAPD records showed Monday.

A Board of Rights found Peter Repovich guilty on five of 12 accusations, including calling the officer “baby” and tickling her feet during a training exercise. The board found him innocent of an accusation that he simulated licking her toes, and said he was trying to be funny, not offensive.

Repovich is running against Democrat Scott Wildman in the 43rd Assembly district, which covers Glendale, Burbank, Los Feliz, Hollywood and other parts of northeastern Los Angeles County.

The revelation of Repovich’s record could hinder Republican efforts to win back the seat in a district that traditionally votes Republican, but where Democrat strength has been growing.

Wildman eked out a narrow victory there in 1994 to become the first Democrat elected to the seat in six decades, and political observers say that recapturing it is an important part of the GOP hopes to regain control of the Assembly, where the GOP is currently outnumbered by Democrats 45-37.

“These are the type of seats that both parties need to win to achieve majority status,” said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of “California Target,” a bipartisan publication that tracks key state legislative races. The GOP did particularly poorly among working suburban women in the 1994 election that Wildman won, Hoffenblum added.

The sexual harassment incident came to light after the Los Angeles Police Protective League--of which Repovich is a member--last week revoked its endorsement of his candidacy and endorsed Wildman in his place.

League President Dave Hepburn declined to say whether the sex harassment finding played a role in the action, saying only that “Wildman has been supportive of those issues which are most important to us and would best represent the interests of our members, rank and file police officers, in Sacramento.”

Repovich said that he regretted the harassment incident, and that he meant it as a joke.

“I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” he said. “I feel bad and embarrassed about it. It did happen, but it wasn’t one of these situations where I was purposely trying to be offensive. This was very traumatic to me, and I never have had any other problems with peer officers in my 15 years on the force. It’s made me circumspect about all my relationships.”

He said he hopes the fallout from the report will be minimal.

“Hopefully, my career will not be destroyed by a bad decision. I think the voters will give me an opportunity to beat Scott Wildman on the issues.”

Wildman said he was surprised by the revelations. “A suspension of that degree reflects the seriousness of the conduct,” he said. “I’m going to run on my record and I think unfortunately Peter is going to have to run on his.”

Police sources said the 44-day suspension was one of the harshest penalties that the Board of Rights could have imposed, next to outright dismissal.

The board found Repovich guilty of making sexist comments and inappropriately touching a female officer during a 1996 training session, including telling her “I bet you get all your boyfriends this way,” and “I cannot believe I’m getting paid to do this,” as they practiced wrestling a suspect into submission with a leg hold, police documents show.

The board said an aggravating factor in the case was that Repovich had been aware of the department’s sexual harassment policy because he had taken classes, only months previously, aimed at preventing just such conduct, the 516-page LAPD transcript of the action shows.

It was also noted by the board that “no harm was meant by the actions attributed to Officer Repovich,” who it said was “behaving as a class clown, joking with others.”

While his comments were inappropriate and were offensive to one member of class, the report added, “it was not his intention to do so.”

The Wildman-Repovich race is considered “in the top seven” contests by Republicans hoping to recapture the Assembly, said Assemblyman Bruce Thompson, chairman of the Assembly Republican Elections Committee.

Hoffenblum said Republicans hope Wildman’s close ties to organized labor could cause him problems in a district heavily populated by small and medium business interests.

James Rogan was elected to the seat four years ago after former Assemblyman Pat Nolan was sentenced to jail for campaign finance violations. That continued a history of Republican domination in the district which was broken in 1996, when the party split between conservatives and moderates.

Repovich, ran a close second in the Republican primary in 1996. This time around, he has been endorsed by Rogan, now a congressman, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.