California Produces Training Videos Containing Racist Stereotypes

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Photo of an officer confiscating marijuana edibles. (Source: California Commission on Standards and Training of Peace Officers)

A look at training videos provided to the LAPD by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) shows potentially troubling attitudes in policing taught to police officers in training videos containing racist stereotypes. POST sets minimum screening and training standards for California law enforcement and is funded by California taxpayer dollars as well as criminal and traffic fines.

POST began uploading videos to a YouTube channel more than 11 years ago with an acceptance speech for Best Internally Developed Application at the Best of California Awards. But at the time of publication, he had only gained 420 subscribers. The channel offers short videos for police officers as well as workshops lasting several hours. Many POST videos are published only on their website as part of a training portal, and some are only available on DVD through purchase from POST.

Although Knock LA was able to obtain many videos via recording requests, several videos were redacted in part. POST demanded an exemption to requests for recordings which claim that the public interest served by not disclosing the [full videos] clearly outweighs the public interest served by the disclosure of [full videos].

Many of the videos available on YouTube are advertisements for POST law enforcement training in basic policing concepts. A video promises to go over the basics of search warrants. Another provides a refresher on Marsys Law.

Stigmatizing and poorly documented content

A video titled Law Enforcement Response to Terrorism (LERT) features a longer video training officers to recognize potential terrorist activity. An image during the introduction is a photo taken from a publication of the neofascist group Patriot Front. A later image in the video features text describing a member of an anti-government militia group. At another point in the video, a man is pictured next to a quote saying it’s time for us to take a real stand against the evils of big government and upset the balance of power in this country.

Another video, Did you know? Adult-Use Cannabis, depicts a conscious but unresponsive marijuana user after vomiting. A person named Matthew sits on the floor, his chest covered in what appears to be fake vomit as a character named Officer Green talks with his mother. She reveals that she searched her bag and found a bag of edibles.

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is rare and does not develop after a single use. An emergency department nurse working in Los Angeles who wished to remain anonymous laughed when she showed the video and said the video was likely trying to portray the rare syndrome. She told Knock LA that she has seen tens of thousands of patients in her career and only remembers one case of CHS.

“Did You Know – ‘Fentanyl Exposure Risks,'” another POST production, depicts an officer grazing pills with a pen. Lynchian music plays as The Risk of Inhaling Fentanyl Is Real appears on screen. The officer is then shown bagging the pills, putting them in the evidence locker, and driving home. The ominous music continues to play as the camera shows a few pill particles still on his clothes as the kids say daddy! and run to him for a hug.

California Public Records Act (CPRA) activist Adrian Riskin has released several never-before-seen POST videos, each several hours long. Riskin manages MichaelKohlhaas.org and Chez-Risk.in, two large archives of public information requests. Videos posted by Riskin include videos on Indian land policing, drug influence and awareness, and social media.

A POST video posted by Riskin is titled News Media Relations. Sergeant Mike Crain of the Marin County Sheriff’s Department tells the interns that there’s no such thing as secrecy, no matter who tells you, it’s still recorded, in the video. Later in the video, LAPD Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain) Paul Vernon describes helping put [negative stories about police] rest, keeping this to a shorter shelf life and sets the example of the shooting deaths of 19-month-old Suzie Marie Pea and her father Jose Raul Pea.

Pea had taken her daughter hostage, and LAPD officers shot both in the shootout. We were going to say right off the bat, we think it was our policemen’s bullet that killed the child, but that doesn’t change the outcome of what happened. The father was still responsible for what happened in that shooting.

Anti-Islamic content used in LAPD training

In early December 2022, Hatewatch, a branch of the Southern Poverty Law Center, first reported that a POST-produced video titled Radicalization contained anti-Muslim messages. At least 71 current LAPD officers watched the video, at least one as recently as August 2022. LASD has not commented on the Hatewatchs article. At the time of publication, the video was no longer available on the POST training portal.

Content warning: anti-Muslim content, physical violence against women.

Knock LA obtained clips from another video called Radicalization Countermeasures, which also includes anti-Islamic views. The first few minutes of the videos contain right-wing tropes about Islam. In another video also titled Radicalization Countermeasures, a man attacks a white woman who is wearing a dress. The man tells her that a Muslim woman does not dress that way. The woman replies that I am not a Muslim, and the man punches her in the face and forces her to go home.

Beth Ruyak, former host of Insight with Beth Ruyak in Sacramento, says terrorists can be found in every region of the world. However, the majority of terrorist groups are based in the Middle East. In fact, the vast majority of terrorist acts since 9/11 have been committed by permanent residents or non-Muslim white American citizens.

The video then continues with a story from the Middle East. In this section, retired Lt. Michael Hahn of the San Jose Police Department explains to viewers that this conflict is not just about US forces fighting overseas. You are on the front line in your community for anything that might happen in town.

Deputy Chief Marc Reina, who heads up the LAPD’s training office, reiterated many of the talking points from the fentanyl video in a widely circulated tweet. LAPD has been embroiled in numerous anti-Muslim scandals, including allegations that they forcibly removed a Muslim inmate’s headscarf and proposed a system to map Muslims in Los Angeles.

The LASD has been accused of neglecting the religious rights of Muslim prisoners, and a former LASD chief of staff resigned after widespread criticism over emails containing negative views about Muslims (among many other groups). While it’s unclear exactly how many officers viewed these videos, they could potentially exacerbate an atmosphere of misinformation and racism.

LASD declined to comment in time for this article. When questions were emailed about LAPD officers using the training videos and appearing in the videos, the LAPD responded with, Thank you for your email. All videos are the responsibility of the California Peace Officer Standards and Training Post.

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