How private money helps bankroll the LAPD and gives boosters access to top officials

A $15,000 check from the LAPD Valley Bureau Foundation supported police-related activities in the San Fernando Valley. The nonprofit has donated sporadically, often funding holiday parties and smaller morale-boosting events, and it recently helped upgrade a sound system at an LAPD training facility. Despite limited giving, the foundation’s founder, Larry Stearn, has gained unusual access to LAPD upper leadership, including invitations to recruit graduations as a guest. Stearn hosts high-ranking officials at his home for Super Bowl parties and fundraising events. When a board member’s daughter had a vehicle crash, a foundation board member contacted a senior LAPD commander instead of using standard reporting procedures, leading an officer to be dispatched to take a report.

"The funds came last year from the LAPD Valley Bureau Foundation, a nonprofit that supports police causes in the San Fernando Valley. The organization has donated sporadically in recent years, according to Police Commission records, mostly bankrolling holiday parties and other smaller events aimed at boosting officer morale. Recently, the foundation chipped in to help upgrade the sound system at an LAPD training facility."

"The modest track record of giving has seemingly enabled the organization's founder to gain extraordinary access to the LAPD's upper echelons, according to two LAPD sources familiar with the Valley Bureau Foundation who, like several others interviewed for this article, requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Founder Larry Stearn, 71, is a longtime LAPD booster and the owner of a Porter Ranch mortgage company who regularly hosts LAPD chiefs and other high-ranking officials at his Thousand Oaks home for annual Super Bowl parties and fundraising events, according to the sources and photos from the occasions."

"Stearn, the sources said, has grown especially close with command staff in the Valley, who have invited him to attend police recruit graduations as their guest. When the daughter of one of the foundation's board members had a vehicle crash at her property last fall, rather than go through the normal process of reporting the incident, someone from the foundation's board called a senior LAPD commander for help, according to three police sources."

"The commander, John Shah, asked one of his community service officers to go out to the scene to take a report - an unusual request given the minor nature of the incident and the department's officer shortage, the sources said. Shah did not respond to a request for comment. Stearn declined an interview when reached by phone. He replied to a follow-up email"

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