27-year veteran LAPD Gang and Narcotics detective charged with grand theft

LOS ANGELES | January 27, 2012

27-year veteran detective Ramon Alvarez of the Los Angeles Police Department Gang and Narcotics Division was arrested Friday and charged with grand theft upon him serving an arrest warrant at a suspected narcotics location when a fellow detective witnessed Alvarez take money from said site, according to a statement released by the LAPD.

The detective that witnessed Alvarez take money from the site immediately notified his supervisor, and Alvarez's official vehicle was searched. Money that was believed to belong to the narcotics suspect was found inside Alvarez's vehicle, according to the LAPD statement. LAPD's Internal Affairs Criminal Investigation Division then arrested Alvarez for grand theft.

"I am extremely disturbed and shocked by the arrest, but heartened by the actions of the detective who immediately reported what appeared to be criminal behavior," said Police Chief Charlie Beck in a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Bail was set at $20,000 and Alvarez was placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, as well as the outcome of an administrative investigation.

"The arrest of an LAPD officer and a classmate is shocking and very disappointing," said Tyler Izen, President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League in the Los Angeles Times report. "We expect law enforcement officers to hold themselves to the highest moral standards in their professional and personal lives, making the news doubly upsetting."