Advisory board votes to decertify two LAPD officers over 2021 fatal shooting

The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board voted to recommend decertification of two Los Angeles Police Department officers after staff said the division found clear and convincing evidence of serious misconduct in a Dec. 18, 2021 officer‑involved shooting.

Law enforcement consultant Dave Seaver told the board the division reviewed LAPD investigations, multiple body‑worn video perspectives, personnel files and medical and coroner reports and concluded officers Jose Zavala and Julio Quintanilla used excessive force inconsistent with statutory standards. "The division's assessment is supported by the following findings," Seaver said, summarizing that the victim was contained at a distance and posed primarily a danger to himself and that officers initiated deadly force before exhausting available less‑lethal options.

Leslie Wilcox, panel attorney for the Los Angeles Police Protective League representing both officers, disputed that the division had met POST's higher standard. "Their fear of the imminent threat was reasonable based on their training and experience and the circumstances that they were presented with," Wilcox said, citing Graham v. Connor and arguing the officers' perceptions should be judged from a similarly trained officer's viewpoint.

Family members and community advocates told the board the video showed an unarmed man in mental‑health crisis who did not present an imminent threat to others. Arlena Nance, who said she lost sons to police shootings in Martinez, told the board: "Impacted families deserve to know whether this process is working." Several callers urged decertification and pointed to the distance between officers and the victim and the nearly simultaneous use of less‑lethal and lethal force.

POST staff described the incident timeline and said body‑worn video showed the 40‑millimeter less‑lethal round was fired and, within a third of a second, Zavala began firing, followed almost immediately by Quintanilla. The Los Angeles County coroner reported three gunshot wounds; the family later settled a wrongful‑death suit for up to $8 million, and the county district attorney had not announced criminal charges as of the hearing.

After deliberating in closed session, the board voted by roll call to recommend decertification of Jose Zavala and, separately, Julio Quintanilla. Board members recorded their votes individually with Clavo, Crawford, Doyle, Johnson, Lara and Pena recorded as voting in favor of the motions.

The advisory board's recommendations will go to the commission for final action; POST staff said the commission may schedule an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the division's factual presentation can be proven at a later adjudicative proceeding. The board noted that its initial determinations are not final findings of guilt but recommendations under the statutes and regulations governing POST.