The Los Angeles Police Department is in for quite the PR nightmare after a department spokesman accidentally leaked an internal email to NBC4 Southern California.
The email came after the TV station requested statistics about how many arrests have been made for illegal animal trafficking.
And when the department released the data, it included an internal memo sent by LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith that shows just how sensitive the department is to public sentiment.
Smith asked Officer Tracy Fisher to "make a few arrests for illegal animal purchasing so we can avoid negative coverage."
Check out the full email Smith sent to Fisher, courtesy of NBC4 Southern California:
When asked about the embarrassing email, Smith said he wasn't "policing for the cameras," as NBC4 called it, but rather just encouraging the department's officers.
"I want them to go out and make a few arrests," Smith told the TV station. "Not just because there’s going to be stories on it, but because it’s time to start making arrests. This is a gentle nudge to those officers to say, 'Hey it’s been on the books, we done fliers. Time to start going out and making arrests.'"
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