California Attorney General’s Office Targets CHP In Weaponized Prosecution

According to court records, California’s Attorney General is prosecuting 54 decorated Highway Patrolmen to cover up terminations, investigations, and overtime practices at the California Departments of Transportation and Highway Patrol.

The National Association of Attorneys General defines the role of its members as chief legal officers of the states, to serve “as a representative of the public interest.” So while crime in California reaches record levels, one would think that the attorney general – who has sweeping law enforcement powers – would be directing public resources to help protect his constituents. In California, this assumption is amplified by the fact that in particular, the attorney general has been a high-profile political stepping stone to national office. Kamala Harris, for example, ascended to the Senate and then vice president, and Xavier Becerra now serving as President Biden’s Secretary for Health and Human Services. 

However, amid rare recall efforts against the district attorneys in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as record crime increases in at least four of the state’s large cities; Attorney General Rob Bonta has focused taxpayer dollars on the prosecution of 54 (that’s right, 54) California Highway Patrolmen for alleged overtime abuses ending over four years ago. This, coupled with Bonta’s high-profile investigation into insensitive private text messages between Torrance police officers, is sending a message that Bonta is more concerned with being tough on police and less concerned with the dire public safety needs of his constituents. 

More importantly, in examining court records relating to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) prosecution, the case appears to be a cover-up for a massive civil rights violation conducted by rogue CHP commanders; that is also wasting millions in taxpayer funds.

Inheriting a Corrupt Case

Before resigning to join the Biden cabinet, Bonta’s predecessor Xavier Becerra was referred to a case by the California Highway Patrol regarding alleged overtime abuses at the East Los Angeles Station. In 2018, the California Highway Patrol conducted an investigation resulting in their termination of the 54 officers for, as the LA Times puts it, “fraudulently receiving hundreds of hours of overtime pay“. How? By allegedly exaggerating hours worked protecting California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) roadwork crews, receiving the pre-scheduled eight-hour overtime shift if CalTrans crews left after only four to six hours on site. Like in most states, CalTrans pre-paid the CHP for overtime to protect their crews; but finished work early on many occasions. Court documents reveal, pursuant to a 2012 CHP Standard Operating Procedure, the officers in question are required to have CalTrans supervisors sign paperwork indicating when their crews left the scene, and the Officer assigned is required to stay on call in their district in case the road crew needed them within the remaining hours of the shift.

Put simply, if you paid a contractor for eight hours of work, but you only needed three hours to finish the job, you still have to pay for the hours you scheduled them for. This is why the CalTrans inspector general cited deficiencies with CalTrans policies in managing these details, noting that the CHP cited their own “investigation” that had supposedly been completed two years prior, for not assisting the Office of Inspector General (OIG) with their report. 

Regardless, court records show the CHP used millions in taxpayer dollars to terminate the now-charged 54 officers, nearly half of the 115 officers serving the high-crime East L.A. station, for the supposed waste of $226,556 in pre-scheduled overtime funds, which averages only $4,195.48 per defendant. 

“Attorney General Bonta may not have originally bought this but if he does nothing to rectify it becomes his.” said Joe Weimortz, a former deputy district attorney for Ventura County and Los Angeles County who is now defending the CHP officers in their criminal case “He and us top criminal law advisors should address this immediately if not they are part and parcel of an unprecedented miscarriage of Justice of epic proportion.”

If not they are aiding and abetting in harming dozens of law enforcement families and furthering baseless retaliation by some in CHP management.

Aside from the misplaced priorities related to this case, stunning conflicts of interest and civil rights abuses have emerged in the CHP investigation fueling Bonta’s prosecution. This may have been why the case had not been prosecuted for the last four years by both former Attorney General Becerra and former L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. This is largely because the CHP investigation was conducted by traffic officers and area supervisors, as opposed to assigning such a large-scale case to an Internal Affairs division or Office of the Inspector General – presenting clear conflicts of interest.

“I spent 40 years as a prosecutor, 27 as a deputy D.A. and 12 as the D.A..” said Steve Cooley, who served as Los Angeles County district attorney from 2000 to 20012 and is now on the legal team defending

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