Court upholds firing of LAPD officers who ignored robbery to play 'Pokémon Go'

The officers gave various excuses for their actions, according to the court records, including that the captain who had responded to the robbery had not requested backup. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

LOS ANGELES: A California appeals court has upheld the firing of two Los Angeles police officers who were caught playing Pokémon Go instead of responding to a robbery at the Crenshaw Mall in 2017, court records show.

The California Court of Appeal in its ruling Friday affirmed an earlier decision by a lower court that the Los Angeles Police Department’s decision to fire the two officers was justified. In doing so, it rejected a claim by the officers that the department had improperly used a digital in-car video recording of their private conversations in order to prove their misconduct, and another that they were improperly subjected to questioning about their actions by a supervisor without legal or labour representation present.