Undercover officers file claims against Los Angeles PD, city

(NewsNation) — More than 300 undercover officers for the Los Angeles Police Department filed legal claims against the city and LAPD after their names and photographs were released to a watchdog group that posted them online.

Watchdog group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition posted more than 9,300 officers’ information and photographs last month in a searchable online database after a public records request by a reporter for progressive news outlet Knock LA.

LAPD detective Jamie McBride said this is still uncharted territory for officers.

Speaking to “Morning in America” Thursday, McBride said he wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to officers “down the road.”

“We want some answers, and we want to see people held accountable,” McBride said.

This includes the police administrator who sent the photos, Lizabeth Rhodes, as well as LAPD Chief Michel Moore.

“He needs to hold her hold her accountable and she needs to be terminated,” McBride told NewsNation’s Adrienne Bankert.

NewsNation has reached out to Rhodes for comment. The L.A. Times reports that Moore previously sent out a department-wide email about the disclosure in which she apologized.

“While I recognize that apology may be of little significance to you, each of you should be able to depend on me and this department to demonstrate the appropriate sensitivity in these types of situations,” Moore said in the email.

Attorney Matthew McNicholas said 321 undercover officers filed legal claims, the precursor to a lawsuit. However, his office anticipates more will come forward.

Claims filed allege negligence and seek unspecified damage. Plaintiffs said they cannot work as undercover officers, and in some cases as police altogether. Some, they say, were afraid for their safety.

McBride said he spoke to officers who felt they had to leave their homes, and others who are installing security cameras.

Officer Jeff Lee, a spokesperson for the department, told the Associated Press that the agency would not comment on the pending litigation.

Tuesday’s claims follow separate lawsuits filed last month by the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, which initially asked for the information, argue anyone could have requested it, and that they built the database for police accountability and transparency.

“The LAPD is notorious for not sharing their name, not sharing,” Stop LAPD Spying Coalition Organizer Hamid Khan said in a previous interview with NewsNation. “What this website does is brings that information together in service to the community.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.