The chief spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Division has resigned amid accusations from the area’s prime federal prosecutor that her workplace was leaking data, in accordance with three sources conversant in the matter however not cleared to talk publicly.
Jennifer Forkish, the LAPD’s public data director, mentioned she left the division Thursday on the request of Chief Jim McDonnell however vehemently denied making any unauthorized disclosures.
“Any suggestion that I’ve ever shared or leaked data to the media is categorically false,” she mentioned in a press release. “Nobody within the Division, together with the Chief has ever raised or mentioned this baseless allegation with me, as a result of it merely by no means occurred. Anybody claiming in any other case is mendacity.”
The three regulation enforcement sources mentioned the chief’s considerations about Forkish’s general efficiency had been mounting, and that strain Tuesday from performing U.S. Atty. Invoice Essayli might have prompted her ouster.
The drama started Tuesday night after a Occasions reporter reached out to an official on the U.S. lawyer’s workplace to inquire about plans to schedule a information convention associated to the Palisades hearth.
Flanked by McDonnell and different regulation enforcement leaders, Essayli introduced at a briefing on Wednesday that authorities had arrested and charged a 29-year-old Uber driver with deliberately sparking one of the crucial damaging fires in California historical past.
Earlier than the media occasion, in accordance with the three sources who had been briefed on the matter, Essayli referred to as LAPD senior workers and demanded to know who within the division had tipped the paper off to the information convention, which had not but been formally scheduled when The Occasions requested about it.
It wasn’t instantly clear why Forkish was suspected of unveiling particulars concerning the information convention, which federal authorities introduced to members of the media through e-mail at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Forkish had already left work that afternoon when McDonnell summoned her again to his workplace at LAPD headquarters for a gathering with him and Assistant Chief Dominic Choi, she instructed The Occasions. McDonnell didn’t reference a name with Essayli through the assembly, telling Forkish solely that he didn’t share her long-term imaginative and prescient for the division’s public relations technique, she mentioned.
She mentioned the dialog revolved across the distinction of opinion concerning the division’s general media technique, including that “there has by no means been any dialog with me relating to the potential for a leak with anybody from the LAPD.”
Choi wouldn’t handle any telephone dialog between LAPD management and Essayli. He instructed The Occasions he couldn’t talk about Forkish’s case as a result of confidentiality round personnel issues however confirmed she submitted her letter of resignation on Thursday morning.
“We don’t want any unwell will or something for her,” he mentioned in a short phone interview. “We thank her for her service and every thing she’s accomplished and for her time with the division.”
McDonnell didn’t reply to a telephone name and e-mail looking for touch upon Thursday. Inquiries to the U.S. lawyer’s workplace and Mayor Karen Bass additionally went unreturned.
Forkish expressed gratitude for her time with the LAPD.
“After a lot thought, I’ve determined to step down from my function to pursue new alternatives,” she wrote in a press release. “I achieve this with immense pleasure in what my group and I completed collectively. We instructed the onerous tales with honesty and steadiness, supported our officers and our metropolis in moments of disaster, and constructed a basis of professionalism that I’ll at all times be pleased with.”
For months, phrase has circulated within the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Los Angeles that Essayli — a Trump appointee — is attempting to root out leaks to the media. The LAPD has itself routinely opened investigations into workers who communicate with journalists with out authorization, and confronted lawsuits from workers who claimed they have been falsely accused of leaks.
Forkish started her profession working for former Los Angeles Metropolis Councilman Dennis Zine, who labored as an LAPD cop for greater than three a long time earlier than going into politics. She later had stints at PR corporations round city, together with GCG Rose & Kindel. On the lobbying and disaster communication agency EKA, she labored with Celine Cordero, the longer term mayor’s deputy chief of workers.
After working as a vice chairman of company communications for on line casino large Caesars Leisure Corp. in Las Vegas, Forkish served as a spokesperson for former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón for a number of months in 2024.
Eric Rose, a associate at EKA, the place he was as soon as Forkish’s boss, mentioned she has made a constructive mark at each cease of her profession.
“Jennifer is an completed public affairs skilled with deep and numerous experience, having labored with elected officers on the native, state and federal ranges for greater than twenty years,” he mentioned.
However Forkish’s appointment to the LAPD job was not with out controversy. A number of division sources not licensed to talk publicly mentioned a dispute over Forkish’s wage calls for created pressure earlier than she began on the job. Then, the sources mentioned, there was a disagreement over technique between Forkish and her predecessor, Capt. Kelly Muniz, which ended with Muniz’s switch to a different unit.
Some press advocates say McDonnell’s tenure has been marked by battle with the native media. The division faces lawsuits for aggressive conduct by officers towards journalists who lined protests towards the Trump administration over the summer time, and a federal decide has barred police from concentrating on reporters with less-lethal projectiles throughout demonstrations.
Adam Rose, a deputy director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Basis, mentioned the division has in current months been frustratingly unresponsive when confronted with stories of abuses by officers.
“Whereas I usually vehemently disagreed with previous PIOs and previous division management, a minimum of they have been responsive,” Rose mentioned. “The truth that McDonnell and his workers are so recalcitrant — and are so reluctant — to do their jobs is shameful.”
In her assertion, Forkish mentioned she is pleased with her time on the LAPD.
“I’ve at all times approached this work with transparency, respect, and accountability, and that can by no means change,” she mentioned.
Occasions workers writers James Queally and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
