Transcript explains LAPD firings after cops caught playing Pokemon Go on the job
NianticA full transcript of two former Los Angeles Police Department officers playing Pokemon Go while on the job has been released to the public.
The document details the event that led to the LAPD officers being fired for ignoring an active robbery while trying to catch a Snorlax.
This has been a somewhat ongoing story ever since court documents made their way online in early January 2022. A viral Twitter thread boosted the story to the general public, showing the now-former police officers denied playing Pokemon Go at all following their termination in 2018.
The officers were adamant that the pair were not actively playing, and were simply “capturing [an] image” via a tracking application. However, the recorded evidence against the pair is all but crystal clear, especially for players who know much about how playing Pokemon Go works.
Niantic / The Pokemon CompanyFull Transcript of officers playing Pokemon Go Released
The full transcript, labeled “dishonesty.pdf” was obtained by the publication Motherboard, detailing the two LAPD officer’s conversations surrounding the event in full.
It begins with officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell’s now infamous discovery of the Snorlax that sparked the incident.
Throughout their conversation, the officers discuss the fastest route they can take to catch the Snorlax, even noting that a Togetic popped up not too far away. Mitchell and Lozano even bring up the numbers “1876” and “1567,” which can only be referring to Togetic’s CP level given the context.
Lozano and Gomez discussed the appearance of Snorlax and Togetic in Pokemon Go.Eventually, Mitchell finally finds the Snorlax, saying, “Holy crap man. This thing is fighting the crap out of me. Do I have good stats at least? Decent defense blown away by stats.” Before the officers finally pull away from the location of the Snorlax, Mitchell claims “the guys are going to be so jealous” of his new catch.
Sergeant Jose Gomez of the LAPD radioed the two officers while they were out on patrol regarding an ongoing robbery at a nearby mall.
However, the pair neglected to return the radio call, and, when Gomez accessed the video footage from inside the officer’s vehicle found that the two were previously located across the street from the robbery.
This will likely bring the ongoing coverage of this story to a close, as Lozano and Mitchell were recently denied a court review regarding their termination.
