Lieutenant sues Torrance police chief, alleging retaliation after internal affairs probe

A veteran Torrance police officer has accused the city’s police chief of interfering in an internal investigation and retaliating against the officer by denying him a promotion, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit.

Lt. Hector Bermudez, a 22-year member of the Torrance Police Department, accused Chief Mark Matsuda of ordering him to halt a widening probe into possible criminal conduct by other members of the department.

The allegations are the latest controversy for Matsuda, who was temporarily suspended from his post in the South Bay city earlier this year after an internal investigation. Matsuda could not be reached for comment, but deputy City Atty. Tatia Strader said the city would not comment because of the pending litigation.

Bermudez’s suit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, traces the alleged retaliation to 2014, when he was overseeing the internal affairs unit. He began looking into unlawful use of a state law enforcement database that includes criminal histories.

During the inquiry, Bermudez learned that others may have committed violations or have information about alleged misconduct, but he says a police captain told him not to pursue those leads, citing Matsuda’s orders, according to the lawsuit.

The same captain also bypassed Bermudez to solicit information about his investigation from underlings, according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges that the possible misuse of law enforcement databases was connected to officers’ off-duty work with a private security company for professional athletes.

Bermudez said he complained about the captain to department leadership, and the next year, he was passed over for two of the open captain positions.

“Lt. Bermudez was denied the captain promotion by Chief Mark Matsuda because he spoke up against a captain trying to interfere with a law enforcement investigation,” one of his attorneys, Bijan Darvish, said in an email.

The outcome of Bermudez’s internal investigation is not clear, and none of the other police officers was identified in the lawsuit.

In February, Matsuda was suspended amid allegations that he made inflammatory comments about Muslims, gay people, blacks and women, the Daily Breeze reported at the time.

In a statement issued while he was on leave, Matsuda said the city had an “outside, independent third party” investigate the allegations. He described the discipline as a testament to fairness.

“The city policies, including disciplinary policies, apply to the highest offices and personnel in the Torrance Police Department, including myself,” Matsuda said in a February email to The Times. “I am committed to leading by example and demonstrating that strong relationships with the community start from strong relationships internally.”

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

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