Pemerintah menyatakan bahwa ledakan yang menewaskan deputi LA County terkait pelanggaran keselamatan yang serius

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sebuah penyelidikan negara bagian menemukan bahwa kematian tiga deputi Sheriff Kabupaten Los Angeles dalam ledakan granat tahun lalu melibatkan “kesengajaan” dan pelanggaran keselamatan yang serius di departemen tersebut, termasuk kegagalan memberikan pelatihan yang efektif dan membiarkan bahan peledak tanpa pengawasan.

Divisi Keselamatan Kerja dan Kesehatan California menerbitkan delapan surat tilang yang menghasilkan sekitar $350,000 dalam denda pada Januari. Kantor sheriff sedang mengajukan banding atas surat tilang tersebut, menurut pihak negara. Hasil penyelidikan pertama kali dilaporkan oleh Los Angeles Times.

Ledakan Juli 2025 di tempat parkir fasilitas pelatihan menewaskan detektif Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, dan William Osborn dari tim penanggulangan kebakaran dan bahan peledak. Itu adalah salah satu kehilangan nyawa paling buruk departemen dalam satu insiden.

Sehari sebelumnya, tim tersebut telah menemukan kembali dua granat dari kompleks apartemen di Santa Monica. Sheriff Robert Luna mengatakan para detektif melakukan rontgen terhadap perangkat itu dan percaya bahwa perangkat tersebut “inert”, atau tidak aktif.

Setidaknya satu granat dibawa ke fasilitas pelatihan LASD, tempat granat tersebut meledak. Seminggu kemudian, Luna mengumumkan granat kedua hilang. Departemen masih menyelidiki apa yang terjadi.

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An LASD spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

In a statement, a sheriff’s spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times the department was complying with state investigators to the extent allowed under the law as other investigations remain ongoing.

According to the state’s investigation, the sheriff’s department failed to correct unsafe working conditions and practices related to handling explosives, and did not provide effective training. It did not ensure that employees used proper protective equipment when handling explosives, properly document training, or identify and evaluate the hazards of transporting and storing explosive materials.

Explosives materials were also left unattended and not stored properly or placed in “suitable containers” when transported manually, state Division of Occupational Safety and Health spokesperson Denisse Gómez said.

“This tragedy underscores the responsibility employers have to anticipate hazards and take meaningful steps to protect workers, especially in high-risk operations involving explosive materials,” Gómez said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Division also sued the LASD in January for not complying with the investigation and providing subpoenaed documents.

When the state first requested training records, dispatch logs and incident reports related to the grenades, and safety inspection records, the LASD responded with “only a limited number of documents,” one of which was almost entirely redacted, according to the lawsuit.

The state then issued a subpoena for additional documents, but the LASD “produced a limited set of documents responsive to only two of the nineteen categories requested in the subpoena,” the lawsuit said.

In a response, the sheriff’s department said in a court document that the state waited months to request documents, giving them little time to fulfill the request. It also said the bomb squad used FBI training materials that could not be disclosed without “jeopardizing public safety and national security” and that they would need to be requested from the FBI directly, according to court documents.