All cops are bulbasaur. That's my general takeaway from this recent 404 Media investigation, in which journalist Jason Koebler uncovers bodycam footage of a bunch of LAPD officers who are so busy playing Pokémon Go that they can't be bothered to do the most basic parts of their job.
For the last several years I have been generally obsessed with this April 15, 2017 incident, which resulted in the firing of officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell. Now, more than six years later, we have video of the incident, which fills in some crucial details that were left out of a previous transcript and investigation report I obtained while I was working at Motherboard.
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The report more-or-less faithfully outlined the specifics of that day: Lozano and Mitchell were on patrol, got a call in through the radio about a robbery in progress at a local mall right next to where they were stationed at the time (a woman on the radio discusses suspects pushing through the "women's shoe section" of a department store).
Lozano and Mitchell scoff, proclaim to each other that they don't want to help, then ignore both the call for help as well as another cop directly asking them why they didn't respond.
The two then talk to a man on the street about whether or not he had been drinking in public, then zoom through the alleys and streets of Los Angeles in search of a high-level Snorlax and Togetic in their game of Pokémon Go.
Koebler shared both edited and unedited versions of the footage on the 404 Media website. He also makes sure to note what is perhaps the deepest, darkest part of the coverup: how the official report refuses to acknowledge the details of the deeply nerdy Pokémon-lore related conversation that the officers have instead in lieu of serving and protecting.
Video Reveals Crucial Details of LAPD Ignoring Robbery to Catch Togetic in Pokémon Go [Jason Koebler / 404 Media]
