POST revokes certification of Torrance officer Blake Williams after review of discriminatory messages

The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training voted March 6, 2025, to revoke the POST certificate of former Torrance Police Department officer Blake Williams, adopting the advisory board’s recommendation.

Laura Lynn Kong, a law enforcement consultant assigned to the Los Angeles Professional Conduct Bureau, presented the division’s findings and said the division found reasonable grounds that Williams “sent and/or responded to six text messages” between July 2018 and March 2019 that displayed prejudice on the basis of race, religion and sexual orientation. Kong said the messages included blackface imagery, a photograph of an apparent lynching and other messages the division described as racist, homophobic and antisemitic. The division recommended revocation under the statutory/regulatory standard that a reasonable person would conclude the officer would not fairly and impartially perform law‑enforcement duties.

Kong told commissioners the investigation relied on department administrative findings and the division’s review of message content and context; the Torrance Police Department had already terminated Williams on March 15, 2023, for policy violations related to discriminatory messaging and other issues, she said.

Corey Glaive, counsel for Williams, argued the conduct alleged in 2018–19 predated the current regulatory guidance and said the messages were presented as summaries rather than original message files. Glaive asserted due‑process and equal‑protection concerns, contending that many officers were part of the same chat but only two were being decertified; he also described some messages as internal humor and disputed that the division had established that Williams acted with bias in his official duties.

Several commissioners responded that the content the division presented was deeply offensive and that the presence of images such as a lynching and demeaning racial or religious language went beyond internal joking. Commissioner Gordon said categorizing the material as “inappropriate humor” was “insulting to me and to our profession.” Commissioner Barcelona described the imagery as “appalling” and said it would not be tolerated.

Public comment included statements from civil‑rights advocates who urged the commission to decertify Williams and to take SB 2 enforcement seriously. After discussion, a motion was made to adopt the advisory board recommendation to revoke Williams’ POST certification; the motion was seconded and the roll call vote recorded unanimous approval.