Analysis: Outrage over Times' journalism exposes LAPD's ignorance of a free press, experts say
LOS ANGELES -- In a routine act of journalism Saturday, two Times reporters went to the home of a Los Angeles police officer to see if she wanted to comment for a forthcoming news article. The article, they told her, would publicly name her for the first time as one of the LAPD bomb squad technicians whose botched fireworks detonation blew up a residential block in South L.A. in 2021.
Their reporting was significant because the explosion — which damaged dozens of buildings, injured 17 people and cost taxpayers millions of dollars — fueled deep anger in the community and complaints about a lack of transparency around the responsible officers.
When Sgt. Stefanie Alcocer asked the reporters to leave her property, they did.
Still, reporters Libor Jany and Brittny Mejia were accused of crossing an ethical line by LAPD Chief Michel Moore and the board of the police union. The LAPD has steadfastly withheld the technicians' names for the last two years. Moore called the reporters and Times executive editor Kevin Merida to complain directly.
The reporters were also accused of "stalking" officers by the city's police union, which sent an inaccurate account of Saturday's interaction to its entire membership Monday.
"Random people knocking on our doors, following us, or stalking us until we get home is wrong," the email read in part.
The incident heightened growing tensions between local L.A. media and one of the city's most powerful public institutions. Media representatives have accused the LAPD of . The city is suing a photojournalist — in part at the union's urging — to that the city itself released to him.
