Pokémon Go is a game that’s caused trouble for many people, but perhaps nowhere near as much as it did for two police officers who threw their jobs away just to catch a wild Snorlax.
You may have heard this story before, but two LAPD officers were fired five years ago after choosing to ignore a call for a robbery to instead play Niantic’s AR game. Now, the dashcam footage has surfaced showcasing this negligence.
The LAPD has released three hours of footage from the incident pertaining to the firing of former officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell. This footage was taken from inside the car on the day of the incident back in 2017. If you’re not looking to spend three hours watching this mess, then you can check out the highlights, courtesy of Fox 11.
You can hear the pair choose to ignore the calls for assistance, instead driving around for about 20 minutes catching Pokémon. At one point the officers are searching hard for a Snorlax that seemingly appeared on the Pokémon Go map.
The officers tried to deny playing Pokémon Go rather than responding to the call, even going as far as to argue that it wasn’t a game at all, instead just a Pokémon tracker. They also attempted to appeal the charges against them saying that the footage from the car which we have not seen should not be used in the court hearing.
It doesn’t take a genius to see how the actions of these officers would have been a problem, and despite their appeals, both officers were charged with misconduct. You might be thinking that these two could have been officers new to the job, but no—the pair had a combined 25 years of experience between them.
The moral of the story here is that you should never let Pokémon Go get in the way of your daily life, especially if you’re a member of law enforcement.
Published: Oct 9, 2023 10:20 pm