Matthew Berdyck Triggers Inspector General Investigation Into LAPD Internal Affairs Group
Los Angeles - The Los Angeles Police Department Inspector General has opened a formal investigation into the LAPD Internal Affairs Group (IAG) after investigators allegedly created fraudulent records stating the IAG had investigated a video Berdyck captured which showed LAPD officers allegedly inciting rioting against Black Lives Matter protesters.
Berdyck said, “I was in downtown LA during the BLM protests when I witnessed a group of officers aggressively racing their patrol car into a crowd of lawfully gathered, peaceful protesters, trying to rile up the crowd and incite a rioting incident. I warned the officers to stop but they didn’t. They did it again and it created the infamous news footage of BLM protesters attacking a police car in Pershing Square. The footage was then used to generate anti-BLM sentiment and brand all protestors as violent.”
In August of 2020, Berdyck reported the matter to the LAPD Internal Affairs Group. Investigators told the activist and founder of ToxicWasteSites.org, that they would look into the matter.
Berdyck said “Two years goes by. I hear nothing about the matter. In fact, I’d actually forgotten the entire thing happened. Out of nowhere, I get a letter from the Internal Affairs Group that says they’d investigated my video and found my allegations to be demonstratively false and did not happen, but I’d never released the video. I didn’t even know IAG was investigating. They never called me. They never asked for a full statement. They never saw the video but here they were, claiming the IAG conducted a two year, multi-level investigation, while I’m holding a piece of footage no one had ever seen.”
After receiving the letter, the activist released the video and sent it to the LAPD Police Commission. Richard Tefank, the director of the commission, sent the video and a copy of the letter the the LAPD Inspector General and ordered them to open an investigation into the Internal Affairs Group investigation..
Berdyck said, “Now they’re investigating the investigation. The LAPD is a massive, malfuncting, poorly formed and failing organizational structure that has multiple levels of ineffective oversight; Internal Affairs Group, Inspector General, Police Commission, and Civilian Oversight Committee. That’s four levels of oversight that all have very little power to change anything. Some people blame funding, others blame willful corruption, but I blame the structure of the overall organization. Virtually no one has any control over officer conduct or enforcement of operating procedures. The LAPD just falsely arrested a woman and detained her for 13 days even though she was the wrong person. No one ever checked her ID. In the end, no one will ever be held accountable.”
The LAPD faced waves of public criticism for its handling of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, including allegations of excessive use of force. Some protesters demanded the resignation of Chief Michael Moore, while others fought to defund the police and divert the funds to social services.
Berdyck said, ”In the end, what I think is the most staggering fact is that all that chaos and madness resulted in no reform. It’s as if the LAPD learned nothing from everything that happened. Funding isn’t the issue. One could throw a billion dollars at the LAPD and it would be pointless as long as no one invests in reform of the underlying structure of the police department, that holds it together and guides how the agency functions as a whole.”
In 2018, after traveling to over 2,800 cities, investing over $900,000 of his own money, attempting to trigger reform at the US EPA and cause the clean up of over 43,000 toxic waste sites on the EPA’s Superfund toxic waste site list, Berdyck quit activism and says he became a regular guy. The activist downsized his life, built a van life vehicle and began traveling and exploring national forests.
Berdyck said, “I just became a grandfather a few months ago, at age 45. Today, I’m a blue collar guy, nothing special at all. I live a simple, humble life and try to keep to myself and not get involved. There’s no point. We’re all just as doomed as the characters in the movie Don’t Look Up, which was more like a documentary about my own life than a fictional film. But this matter with the LAPD saying my video didn’t exist, I was on fire angry. It’s like The Godfather, right when I get out, they drag me right back in!”
The LAPD Inspector General stated the investigation of the Internal Affairs Group could take up to one year. If misconduct is discovered, all involved parties will receive a reprimand.
