Overview
- Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, that he will drop 16 felony eavesdropping counts against Officer Daniel Flores to 16 misdemeanors and that the case will likely be resolved through judicial diversion.
- Flores secretly recorded more than 100 conversations in the LAPD recruitment division that captured racist, sexist and homophobic remarks by fellow officers and then reported the conduct to the department’s oversight office.
- The DA said he reduced charges after widespread criticism from city leaders and community advocates who warned a felony prosecution could deter future whistleblowers and chill reporting of misconduct.
- Hochman previously filed a 27-page motion alleging Flores deceptively edited tapes and sought financial gain, but the downgrade removes state prison as a possible outcome and allows Flores to seek diversion for about one year.
- The criminal case now runs alongside an active LAPD internal investigation into the recorded officers and Flores’s separate civil lawsuit alleging retaliation, leaving institutional and civil accountability unresolved for now.