Los Angeles City Council votes to sue school police officer accused of falsely triggering expensive manhunt
The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to file a lawsuit against the school police officer accused of making up a story about being shot by an assailant near El Camino High School, triggering a vast and expensive police manhunt.
The council unanimously passed an emergency motion to demand that Jeffrey Stenroos, an eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force, reimburse the city for the costs of the search, which involved not only the Los Angeles Police Department but city traffic officers, the county Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol and the FBI, among others.
"We had thousands of dollars spent on police overtime," said Council President Eric Garcetti, who called the cost of responding to the alleged hoax "appalling" at a time when city workers are going on furlough.
"This wasn’t simply a human mistake by a police officer. This had a real dollar cost," he added.
School Supt. Ramon Cortines apologized for the incident, which forced thousands of students to remain on lockdown for hours as law enforcement authorities searched for a shooting suspect.
The lawsuit was proposed by Councilman Dennis Zine, a former police officer.
"We need to send a message that a person who's sworn to protect and serve cannot do this, and there's consequences for that activity," Zine said.
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Officer's story of being shot was inconsistent from the beginning, Chief Beck says
-- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall
Photo: Parents stood in line for hours to pick up their children at Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills, which was under lockdown. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
This is a start. They should start recovering costs from all nimrods who cause a significant drain of public services.
Posted by: u know | January 28, 2011 at 02:58 PM
Okay they voted to sue and what exactly do they expect to collect? More knee-jerk reaction of the city council. They want to spend countless dollars in sueing this guy who will be fired and jailed.
Why dosen't the city council sue those who trek off in the mountains and trails who get lost and thousands of dollars are spent for their rescue efforts.
Posted by: marvin williams | January 28, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Wonder how many other things cops lie about?
Posted by: kathyo | January 28, 2011 at 03:02 PM
where are all the cops, that normally chime in, yea, i would be embarrassed also!.
Posted by: joe s | January 28, 2011 at 03:08 PM
OK. The writer didn't cut to the chase. How much are they suing him for?
Posted by: West Valley Dave | January 28, 2011 at 03:40 PM
How did the city incur overtime costs for the police when they don't get paid cash overtime anymore?
Posted by: Thomas | January 28, 2011 at 03:49 PM
Good. If the school board doesn't sue him, the people of LA should file a class action for fraud in the use of public funds. He needs to pay back EVERY PENNY spent on this investigation from the beginning.
Posted by: SRC | January 28, 2011 at 03:50 PM
Ridiculous...only symbolic. The guy won't be able to work again and is probably under water on his home (per kcal, bought for $800k 3 years ago, worth $500k now).
Why don't you examine the LAUSD PD and find out how many other "rogue" officers may be in there?
Posted by: Rocker | January 28, 2011 at 03:55 PM
Public employees don't need much of an excuse to bill tax payers for overtime. Police departments are not an exception. It takes the CHP hours just to clear out a fender bender. Appalling!
Posted by: Gene | January 28, 2011 at 04:06 PM
In a city that is run amok the LA City Council can't seem to get their priorities in order. If the self-inflicted shooter had been an illegal alien the LA City Council would have embraced him with open arms!
Posted by: Steve Rodriguez | January 28, 2011 at 04:59 PM
If I called 9-1-1 and said I had been shot in Woodland hills, they might send a squad car to investigate two hours later.
There would NEVER be a gigantic dragnet to find the alleged shooter of an ordinary citizen. This is a much the city's fault for not giving all victims equal effort.
Posted by: Jonah Corling | January 28, 2011 at 05:35 PM
Superhero will default on the lawsuits and file bankruptcy. Why even bother with a lawsuit. He doesn't have any money...
Posted by: Insurrextion | January 28, 2011 at 06:07 PM
This is very good news and maybe a sign of change. Either way though, today's cops must be held personally financially liable for their criminal acts and violations of civil rights rather than taxpayers.
Until cops are forced to pay out of their own pockets for there egregious misdeeds nothing is going to change. It's also amazing that city council members and other politicians don't realize that, but let this broken system of police immunity to continue unchecked and out of control costing CA millions of dollars each year.
Also, if the state likes to hold parents liable for their children's actions then maybe it's time to hold top brass personally liable for the corrupt cops they keep on the streets.
Why does Beck get a free pass for allowing a cop like Stenroos to where a badge?
Who's screening these guys before hiring?
Posted by: Shane Vendrell | January 28, 2011 at 06:09 PM
This is a knee-jerk reaction. Prosecute the man for lying and follow through with that. He will never be able to pay the costs involved, and a lawsuit on top of arrest would be just enough to lead to suicide. Despite what is known, it seems there's a great deal more unknown about what really happened.
We have this guy: lied for some unknown reason...lost his job...has been arrested/charged...city council wants to sue him? I know this thing has been very distressing to the whole community, but it's like they're just giving him a rope and showing him which beam he can sling it over. 'Pile on' seems to be officials' specialty.
Posted by: dee | January 28, 2011 at 06:10 PM
The answer to everything in the USA is sue,is there anything you don't sue for?The only thing the city will get is their own legal bills.
Posted by: john | January 28, 2011 at 06:57 PM
Let's sue the LA City Council for stupidity and incompetence!
Posted by: Steve Rodriguez | January 28, 2011 at 11:50 PM
To hum this may counseriing; Can you send all information that you have on LIEG cop (JEFFREY STEROOS) I know for fact that it was this wed... THANK YOU
Posted by: joe | January 29, 2011 at 03:32 AM
Another cop from the finest police "LAPD" everyday we hear from officers not doing the right thing, THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW..... THAT S WHY WE SHOULD HATE COPS.
Posted by: Batz | January 29, 2011 at 10:04 AM
Is Lapd and LAUSD PD the same police department? I think they are two diffrent police departments.
Posted by: JustCause | January 29, 2011 at 10:37 AM
Fire half the police force, sell their high powered rifles, the shotguns are good enough. Cut all that range ammo, these guy are good killers as it is. Take away half the cruisers, and replace them with bikes. I see too many cops driving around talking to each other, and on their cellphones. Cut all the useless thing they do, TEST ALL THE RAPE KITS sitting around... i bet most are the Grim Sleepers and that's another scandal they are holding back. This department needs a DEEP purge, fire all those useless cops that run an office as slow as possible, if you see the pace these clowns work at.. it's laughable. They run red lights, park illegally to get lunch ect. This is proof of L.A.P.D's gross abuse of power. All the reward money, all those cops. I bet the bill is over $2,000,000.00 dollars. Sue the cop?? Sue Beck.. and who ever ordered the overkill response, and they held back all other city investigations over one cop, who LIVED! The police will NEVER set off a 10 hour search for a suspect if any of us die, nor put up rewards so fast. Fire Beck..
Posted by: Montana Gold- | January 29, 2011 at 10:58 AM
LAPD and LASPD are two different police departments...
BATZ just sounds bitter because he couldn't get hired.
Posted by: Angelino | January 29, 2011 at 10:59 AM
As a police officer myself, my theory is the guy was depressed, saw all the attention being directed toward the deputy shot in East LA, and decided he knew a victimless way to get himself some of that. Law enforcement and community leaders did their job by responding appropriately and massively at the time and have continued to do their jobs by investigating the situation and reporting on the results and their actions publicly. Nobody can claim anything has been swept under the carpet and the LAPD and law enforcement in general will be better off for this transparency.
As a member of law enforcement, that's my theory. And it's my theory this happened because the dude was depressed and wanted some attention. And I don't care. He's kicked out of the community, he's going to be destroyed in virtually all aspects of his life, and that's simply the way it needs to be given the crimes and abuse of trust he committed.
Posted by: Andrew | January 29, 2011 at 11:01 AM
the people of LA county need to sue the police for what they did to the CHILDREN,the police are paid to protect the people and the children,the children should come 1st,what has happen who protect the children,the people NOT THE POLICE
Posted by: frankie | February 04, 2011 at 10:24 PM
They voted to sue the cops, about time, YES!, means history might change to make man kind a better place from those scum bags. Eventually, people will have to stick up to the system itself to correct wrong to right.
Posted by: anonymous | February 27, 2011 at 03:00 PM