LAPD Officers Decided To Play Pokemon GO Instead Of Responding To A Robbery

We get that sometimes on the job, there can be moments of downtime where you don’t have anything to do. Some might frown upon playing games during working hours, but we reckon as long as you can prioritize your time and know when it’s time to work and when it’s time to play, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal, right?

Unfortunately for a couple of LAPD officers, they decided that trying to catch Snorlax and playing Pokemon GO was a better use of their time instead of responding to a robbery in progress. This took place back in 2017 where an in-car vehicle system recorded the conversations of both the officers ignoring attempts to reach them over the radio.

This is contrary to what the officers said when they initially told their supervisor that they did not hear the call asking for backup at a mall. However, according to the recording, it revealed that both officers simply ignored the attempts to reach them, with one of them saying, “Aw, screw it.” It was also discovered that instead of going towards the robbery, the officers moved backwards through an alley and turned away from the mall where the robbery was taking place.

The officers also denied that they were playing Pokemon GO, instead claiming that they were having a conversation about the game, and that they were receiving text messages from a Pokemon GO player group. Ultimately, both officers were fired and tried to appeal it, but the latest reports reveal that the California appeals court had upheld the initial firings.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Legal, Pokémon GO