The check was relatively small — just $15,000 — but within the Los Angeles Police Department it seemed to go a long way.
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 by writing that he has supported the LAPD since 1985 “as a sponsor, non-profit board member, and donor in both in-kind and financial contributions.”
Like other big-city police forces, the LAPD has long turned to wealthy boosters to supplement its multibillion-dollar annual budget, which mainly goes toward salaries and other payroll costs. Modernizing the department’s aging computer systems, outfitting officers with body cameras and purchases of new drones were all paid for through charitable donations in recent decades.
The influx of private money has prompted concerns from some within the LAPD, and from experts who say similar contributions are being made to police departments around the country.
Randy Lippert, a professor at University of Windsor in Canada who has studied police foundations, said they gained influence as cities have dealt with economic challenges. He estimates there are at least 400 of the organizations nationwide in the U.S. While some of what they raise goes toward fostering community relations and morale-boosting efforts — such as the LAPD training facility sound system that Stearn’s foundation helped purchase — Lippert said other private police funding is paying for militarized equipment, “everything from K9 units to armored vehicles.”
“If you’re concerned about accountability, that flow of dark money into police services, that’s kind of problematic,” he said.
Most neighborhood police stations now have their own dedicated booster organizations. Other charitable funds help maintain the department’s fleet of helicopters, support the spouses and children of slain officers and promote the official police department band that performs at graduations, funerals and other functions.
The best-known and largest LAPD-focused charity is the Los Angeles Police Foundation, responsible for raising roughly 92% of the $10 million in total donations tracked in 2025.
Police boosters have enjoyed special perks, according to the LAPD sources who requested anonymity. Within the last four years, some Police Foundation members received realistic-looking honorary badges. In the same time period, others had their applications for concealed-carry permits fast-tracked. One was even given his own office at LAPD headquarters, where he once caused a stir by bringing in his dog and taking pictures of it posing in the office of a deputy chief.
Minutes from one Valley Bureau Foundation meeting last year show Stearn claimed to have raised more than $100,000 for the LAPD, an amount that far exceeds what is listed in Police Commission records.
Last year, Stearn’s organization got LAPD leadership to sign off on an event that was billed as a rare opportunity for Angelenos who support the badge: $500 to cruise around in a Porsche with members of the department’s command staff.
According to minutes for a Sept. 11, 2025, Valley Bureau Foundation meeting, organizers lined up an impressive list of senior police officials to ride in the lead cars, including two deputy chiefs and an assistant chief. The records showed plans for deploying roughly 20 motorcycle officers to clear traffic along the proposed route from one Porsche dealership in Santa Clarita to another in Woodland Hills.
Things started to come apart when some department officials began pushing back on Stearn’s request for a police escort, telling colleagues they were uncomfortable with the idea of using taxpayer money to pay for officers to work the event — especially in light of the city’s dire financial straits — according to two of the police sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Before the car rally was to take place, three of the Valley Bureau Foundation’s board members quit in the span of a week. At least one told colleagues that he was uncomfortable with the idea of using on-duty officers for the event, the two LAPD sources said. With the pressure mounting, the event was officially canceled. No public explanation was given.
Deputy Chief Marla Cuiffetelli, the highest-ranking police official in the Valley, told The Times in a statement that it’s not unusual for LAPD officials to work closely with foundation members to craft fundraising campaigns.
Stearn’s organization, Cuiffetelli said, has been “a great assistance” to the LAPD over the years, helping pay for laptops, monitors, wireless printers and other equipment for the bureau’s command post — all of which reduces the burden on taxpayers. The foundation also donated food and water to officers pushed to the limit by working the Palisades fire and last summer’s protests, she said.
Ultimately, she said, the car event was called off after LAPD officials decided it was important to be “judicious in the use of any other Department related resources that would be utilized at the event.”
Stearn did not address the fundraiser in response to emailed questions from The Times. He expressed his admiration for police, and recounted being bullied as a child, describing how an LAPD patrol officer once intervened against two “offenders who had beaten me to the ground.”
“This was definitely instilled as a life-long memory of which I promised myself from that day forward that my adulthood would include all I could give of myself in gratitude of that day to the Los Angeles Police Department,” he wrote.
Department officials have told The Times in years past that they follow strict ethical standards and all applicable nonprofit laws, and deny that either donors or boosters receive special treatment.
All donations to the LAPD must be approved publicly by the Police Commission and larger contributions must also go before the City Council, although the people and corporations behind the funding are rarely disclosed during that process.
All LAPD charities are required by law to register with the commission, but oversight is limited. Officials have said they don’t have enough staff to monitor them all. A spokesperson for the commission issued a statement to The Times that called for more self-policing.
“There is an onus on charitable organizations to comply with applicable City regulations,” the statement said. “We encourage all organizations that wish to solicit charitable donations within the City of Los Angeles to complete an info card and seek compliance.”
The Times used public records to identify around 100 nonprofits, foundations and other organizations that have operated in support of the LAPD’s broader mission. Some date back as far as the 1970s, though many have sprung up over the past two decades. Stearn created the Valley Bureau Foundation in 2018. Its last major fundraiser was the next year, an event dubbed “Bowling with the Brass,” at a bowling alley owned by a foundation board member.
At least 17 groups have had their nonprofit status revoked by the California secretary of state’s office and another 31 have been suspended by the agency that oversees the state’s tax system. Suspended groups “cannot legally operate, solicit donations, or enter contracts,” according to the California Franchise Tax Board.
The state board’s records show the Valley Bureau Foundation fell out of compliance in 2022 for “failure to file” a tax return.
Stearn said he was unaware of the suspended status until The Times notified him about it, and noted that it appeared the state agency had the wrong address on file for the foundation. Records show the foundation has since gotten back into good standing with the board.
Former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks said he helped launch the main Police Foundation in 1998, modeling it after similar organizations in New York and New Orleans. Parks, who later served on the City Council, said he was leery of any arrangements that left the department indebted — even if only in appearance — to rich donors.
“That’s very dangerous,” he said.
Times staff writer Stacy Perman and assistant data and graphics editor Vanessa Martinez contributed to this report.
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