‘A blunder that is just epic’: LAPD reels after release of undercover identities

After a records request, the LAPD released the names and photos of 9,000 cops, including undercover officers in dangerous assignments

The Los Angeles police department has made many mistakes during its tumultuous history, but few may compete with an administrative error its own union officials are calling “a blunder that is just epic”: the inadvertent exposure of dozens of officers working undercover to investigate national security breaches, drug cartels and other dangerous criminal enterprises.

The mistake arose when the city responded to a public records request by releasing the names, photographs and badge numbers of more than 9,000 officers – close to the entire force. An attorney for the city assured the journalist who had fought and won a legal battle to obtain the records that “images of officers working in an undercover capacity … are not included”.