Apparently, Pokemon Go is still costing people their jobs as two LAPD officers have failed to get their jobs back after failing to respond to a robbery in 2017.
Robbery or A Snorlax? Decisions, Decisions…
In April 2017, LAPD officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were chilling in their police cruiser when a call for backup came in. There was a robbery at a Macy’s in the Crenshaw Mall but instead of providing backup, the two headed elsewhere. When that happens, you could chalk it up to a more severe or dangerous situation that also required backup or something of that gravity.
Two Former LAPD Officers Lose Reinstatement Appeal After Skipping Robbery to Play Pokemon Go in 2017
Captain Darnell Davenport—patrol commanding officer—was also near the scene and could see both the mall and the duo’s police car which was in an alley close to the scene, according to documents. He figured the two were a different unit or on another frequency. When he decided to respond to the call, he noticed Lozano and Mitchell’s car heading elsewhere.
They were interviewed by Watch Commander Sgt. Jose Gomez later that evening about why they didn’t respond to the call. Both officers said that it was a noisy area and that they couldn’t hear the radio well. Sgt. Gomez admitted that the area was noisy and that the police couldn’t control the noise level of the PA system.
The Call of Pokemon Go Outranked the Call of Duty That Time
He reminded them to pay attention to their radios and move to a less noisy area. However, something caused him to check the records to see what happened that day. He found that not only were in the immediate area but that it was their car that Cpt. Davenport spotted.
Not only that but the audio showed the two mulling over if they should respond to the call or not. It was decided that not only would they not respond to the call, but they also weren’t showing up at the scene. A detective reviewing the recording also heard the duo discussing going elsewhere—during the call—to catch Pokemon in the Pokemon Go mobile game after a Snorlax had turned up.
As the recording went on, they could be heard catching more Pokemon. In all, they took about 20 minutes to play the game on the clock. The two filed a recent appeal stating that the LAPD violated their privacy as they were having a private conversation—during a robbery at a mall they were close to and while they were on the city’s time. Of course, the judge threw their claim out with authority.
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