Photo courtesy BPD Twitter — Deputy Chief Tom Angel and Chief Scott LaChasse at Angel’s farewell event in Burbank June 23, 2015
Tom Angel got quite a send off from Burbank Police and city officials last June, when he made the move from Deputy Chief back to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department where he retired six years ago. Angel took over as Chief of Staff at LASD. Back in 2010, Angel joined the Burbank PD, at the request of Chief LaChasse. During the June shindig, Scott LaChasse is quoted, on Myburbank, as praising Angel saying “a truly noble decision for (DC Angel) to come here in Burbank’s time of need.” In the same article, Angel said of the BPD:”We need to ensure the citizens know we are on their side.” In light of a bombshell of an article on the Los Angeles Times website today, those words of both LaChasse and Angel are going to be scrutinized.
The L.A. Times is reporting it got a hold of some emails then Deputy Chief Angel forwarded from his Burbank PD account. The Times says the emails are filled with “jokes containing derogatory stereotypes of Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women and others.” The emails were sent in 2012 and 2013. As you might remember, Angel was hired as part of LaChasse’s team, that was supposed to clean up the Burbank PD reeling from a scandal and allegations of police brutality, discrimination, racism, and harassment.
When asked about the emails, Angel said: “I apologize if I offended anybody, but the intent was not for the public to have seen these jokes.” LaChasse’s response in the Times condemned the jokes, but defended Angel: “They were not right, not to be condoned,” LaChasse said.”There’s nobody more contrite about it than Tom Angel. That’s not a part of his DNA.”
Even though Angel no longer works for the Burbank PD, his email jokes create new problems for the force and the city. LaChasse has repeatedly assured city officials and the public the old tainted culture of the Burbank PD has been purged. He frequently declares the department’s commitment to transparency. You gotta wonder if that is true. City council members need to call the chief in “on the carpet” and ask some tough questions.
