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Ex-LAPD Cop On Dorner's Manifesto: 'Not Only Do I Believe It, But I Lived It'
Brian Bentley joined the LAPD in 1989 and was fired ten years later following the publication of "One Time: The Story of a South Central Los Angeles Police Officer," a book that detailed the misconduct and racism he witnessed at the LAPD.Though his tenure in the LAPD ended six years before Christopher Dorner joined in 2005, Bentley says that the LAPD that Dorner described in his "manifesto" sounds familiar. He told EUR web that he believed the allegations in the manifesto: "Not only do I believe it, but I lived it." (h/t Witness LA)
He said there was a difference in the way complaints of racial harassment and misconduct were dealt with when he worked there and when Dorner worked there, but worries it hasn't changed enough. Bentley said when he complained about racism, his captain responded: "I’ve been on the job for 35 years, you don’t think I know there’s racism. Who do you want me to bring it to? The deputy chief or the chief are just as racist."
Dorner's complaints were allowed to be filed, but the system to deal with them was flawed, he said. Bentley told EUR web, "Even though officers today can file personnel complaints—look at what happens. There are clearly flaws in the system and Dorner is just one example of something that African-American officers have been experiencing for decades in the LAPD."
Dorner filed a complaint against two recruits early in his tenure that was at least halfway validated, according to a review of LAPD records by The Los Angeles Daily News:
His troubles began as a Police Academy recruit in February 2006. It was then Dorner filed an official complaint, saying two other recruits had made "ethnic remarks," an investigator wrote. The department found one recruit made such a comment, but the other had not.
But his complaint that his training supervisor Teresa Evans kicked a suspect in the head ruined his career. The LAPD Board of Rights ruled that Dorner made up the complaint and Dorner was fired. Dorner defended his complaint he made against Evans in his manifesto.Bentley lost his job in a similar way: he was the subject of an investigation after making allegations of misconduct and racism in his book "One Time: The Story of a South Central Los Angeles Police Officer." He said the investigation was led by two officers profiled in his book that were later promoted and transferred to Internal Affairs. He said he was charged with misconduct for every incident of racism that he documented in his book that he hadn't initially reported. He was fired after the investigation.
Bentley noted that when he was an officer, there were bulletins posted on the walls at police stations warning of police officers who had been terminated and were believed to have vendettas.
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He said, "When the Department terminated you, they intentionally tried to ruin your life. That’s how they discredited you. Dorner isn’t the first ex-police officer to have a manifesto or some sort of hit list."
Related:
Ex-LAPD Cop Christopher Dorner Believed to Be on Killing Rampage Targeting Law Enforcement
Christopher Dorner's Manifesto, In Full [Content Graphic and Disturbing]
Social Media Cheers For Anti-Hero Christopher Dorner
Dorner Case: Charred Human Remains Found in Cabin at Site of Shootout
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