Known across the Los Angeles Police Department as “Capt. Hollywood,” Cory Palka played the part.
Tall and telegenic, the previous police commander scored bit parts in Amazon Prime Video’s detective drama “Bosch.” He was a daily at Hollywood Boulevard star dedication ceremonies, where he mingled with such celebrities as Jack Black, Seth MacFarlane and Lynda Carter. He was once honored as a “Hero of Hollywood” by the Chamber of Commerce and picked up a lucrative off-duty project as a bodyguard for CBS’ former chief, Leslie Moonves.
His actions now are under scrutiny after Latest York Atty. Gen. Letitia James recently revealed that five years ago, Palka tipped off CBS executives to the existence of a confidential grievance alleging Moonves sexually assaulted a co-worker within the Eighties. Palka, then captain of the LAPD’s Hollywood station, worked closely with CBS to contain the allegations they knew could destroy Moonves’ profession.
Moonves resigned from CBS under pressure in 2018 amid the widening sex scandal. That week, Palka sent the disgraced mogul a note: “I’ll all the time stand with, by and pledge my allegiance to you,” in line with the attorney general’s report.
“This appears like a throwback to the Nineteen Thirties when LAPD covered up Hollywood’s dirty deeds,” said Walter Katz, vice chairman of criminal justice at Arnold Ventures, a top policing oversight expert.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore this month opened an internal investigation to find out whether anyone still working for the department helped Palka conceal the 2017 police report about Moonves and if another criminal investigations were tainted.
Last week, the Los Angeles Police Commission asked its independent watchdog to oversee the investigation. LAPD Inspector General Mark Smith told the civilian police commission that he would examine the “department’s practices” for handling sexual misconduct cases and take an in depth take a look at its guidelines for off-duty bodyguard work by officers.
Dist. Atty. George Gascon said he’ll weigh whether the outcomes of the LAPD investigation merit prosecution. His office is checking to see if Palka was key to other cases.
The fallout continues to reverberate as former CBS sitcom star Leah Remini called on the department to dig into Palka’s dealings with the Church of Scientology, which maintains a base, and its Celebrity Centre, in the guts of Hollywood.
Remini said she is troubled that Palka tried to shield Moonves and wonders if other reports were concealed to guard powerful friends.
“The police are there to guard and to serve the general public,” she told The Times. “And you can’t be doing the work for the general public if you end up within the pocket of any organization.”
Karin Pouw, a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, said in a press release Remini had no credibility and has been “making a living attacking Scientology.”
Palka, who didn’t reply to requests for comment, retired from the department in early 2021 after a 34-year profession.
Until this month, his tenure was punctuated by a scene that went viral on social media in 2020. Because the LAPD struggled to manage unruly protests and vandalism sparked by George Floyd’s murder by a police officer in Minneapolis, Palka sought to calm a crowd gathered on the Sunset Strip by “taking a knee” in solidarity with protesters.
No police or protesters were injured in that area that night.
Just a few days later, Palka recounted the fiery protests during an LAPD podcast. He described it because the “most intense, chaotic, crisis moment of my profession” but said he was proud to serve his beloved community.
“I’m the primary to confess that I’m a flawed and broken man,” Palka said in the course of the department’s podcast. “I struggle like everybody else, but I show as much as work daily to provide it the most effective I can with a warm heart, common sense and a guide to point out respect for all.”
But his role within the Moonves matter has some observers likening the cover-up to a scene from “L.A. Confidential,” the James Ellroy novel about corrupt cops that inspired the 1997 Kevin Spacey movie.
The incident shines a harsh light on the sometimes cozy relationships that develop between officers and high-profile community members, a few of whom hire off-duty officers for bodyguards.
Palka was a part of Moonves’ security detail for the music industry’s Grammy Awards from 2008 to 2014, in line with the attorney general’s report.
“Cops engage in secondary employment all across the country, but in Los Angeles it’s a selected flavor which you don’t get anywhere else,” Katz said. “We’ve got LAPD cops who hang around with entertainment industry moguls.”
The LAPD was unaware of James’ office’s investigation until last week, in line with people accustomed to the matter who weren’t authorized to comment.
James’ report got here five years after Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, then 81, walked into the Hollywood station to report that Moonves had sexually assaulted her within the mid-Eighties. She was inspired by the #MeToo movement, which reached a peak within the autumn of 2017 after the Latest York Times and Latest Yorker magazine published accounts of abuse by former film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Tawdry allegations surfaced about CBS’ morning news anchor, Charlie Rose, and Moonves and CBS News executives shoved the legendary newsman out the door. At NBC, former “Today” show anchor Matt Lauer was toppled by allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior within the workplace.
Golden-Gottlieb, who died this yr, in 2018 told The Times about her encounters with Moonves and her decision to report the incidents to police. She lived within the Park La Brea community, so the Hollywood station was nearby. A watch commander on the station told Palka about Golden-Gottlieb’s grievance that day, said an individual accustomed to the situation.
That night, Palka left a voicemail for his contact at CBS, Ian Metrose, who was the network’s senior vice chairman for talent relations. The next day, directed by his boss, Metrose asked Palka for a duplicate of the confidential grievance. Palka obliged, sending an unredacted version that contained Golden-Gottlieb’s name, address and other identifying information, the AG’s report said.
Moonves pressed for a huddle with the police captain.
“Would [he] meet me for a cup of coffee?” Moonves asked Metrose, in line with the report, which outlined a $30.5-million settlement agreement reached by CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, Moonves and James, the Latest York attorney general.
“It’s uncomfortable, I understand. I just want clarity,” Moonves added. “I’ll meet him today near where he lives …”
The trio — Palka, Moonves and Metrose — met at a restaurant and vineyard in Westlake Village.
The Los Angeles police sexual crimes detective handling the investigation knew nothing of his actions, sources said. But Palka promised to maintain Moonves apprised of the victim’s interactions with the LAPD and the district attorney’s office.
Palka then worked to maintain Golden-Gottlieb quiet, in line with the AG’s report, even telling Moonves’ attorney, Blair Berk, and Metrose that the officer investigating the incident would “admonish the accuser tomorrow about refraining from going to the media and maintaining ‘her’ confidentiality … and honoring the integrity of the investigation.”
Due to Moonves’ VIP status, the case was handled by the LAPD’s elite Robbery Homicide Division sex crimes section. Palka told the CBS team that he reached out to his contact within the division and made sure (Moonves’ lawyer) was “the primary and only point of contact regarding the investigation,” the AG’s report said.
Inside days, Palka texted Metrose that the case was “a definite REJECT” and wouldn’t result in prosecution.
“This can be a complete and utter ethical lapse,” said Ed Obayashi, a Northern California deputy and police lawyer who teaches police ethics classes for the state. “That is as bad because it gets from a law enforcement ethical duty. … It is difficult for corruption to worsen than this.”
Obayashi added: “You’ve got a possible obstruction of justice, you’ve got witness intimidation and tampering possibly occurring. It seems he was undermining the basic investigation of the police department.”
Police Commission President William Briggs this last week called the incident “a surprising example of what some confer with as old-school cronyism.”
“It goes to the guts of corruption,” Briggs said. “This positively puts our city, this department, in a foul light nationally, that nowadays that sort of corrupt abuse of power continues to be happening and it revictimizes” the victim.
Through a spokesperson, Moonves declined an interview request. Moonves has previously denied mistreating women, saying his relationships were consensual.
Palka was considered one of nine children, raised in Mar Vista Gardens, an L.A. housing project. His father had moved the family from Latest York to Los Angeles partly to pursue an acting profession, but he ended up supporting the family by working as a janitor at a Catholic School when Palka was young.
His mother was a homemaker, Palka said within the podcast, adding that he was an altar boy who attended Venice High School.
His father eventually landed a profession in Hollywood — as a grip — and worked on shows akin to “Star Trek Generations,” a Paramount production.
“My parents raised us with the values of respect with a core value system of treating your neighbor as yourself and of working hard to make a difference on this world and to to provide back,” Palka said within the podcast. “I’m so proud that I actually have given my heart, my soul for 34 years to this incredible city.”
Palka joined the LAPD in 1986 and worked his way up the ranks, serving as patrol officer and a vice officer in Hollywood.
The self-described fan of the Dodgers and musicians Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen became the deputy captain on the Hollywood station in 2013. He was transferred to South L.A. the next yr but returned to Hollywood in 2016 to run the station.
As Hollywood captain, he often appeared on the red carpets as latest plaques were unveiled along Hollywood Boulevard. He stays an honorary member of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board, in line with its website.
After letting the Amazon LAPD detective series “Bosch” film in parts of the Hollywood station, Palka even appeared in an episode as himself.
Book creator Michael Connelly, who created the fictional Bosch character, said in a tweet this month: “Commander Palka is Cory the true commander of Hollywood Division. Retired now, he opened loads of doors to our production. Good guy #BoschAmazon.”
Colleagues say he quickly tried to ingratiate himself with the most important players in the world, including the Church of Scientology, which had long been a financial supporter of the division’s Police Activities League.
“The church does indeed work with law enforcement throughout this country and in foreign countries around the globe,” Pouw said. “Around our churches, we assist police in investigating crime. A number of the lowest crime areas within the country are those within the circumference of the Churches of Scientology.”
Remini was raised a Scientologist but has had a long-running battle with the church since her departure in 2013. In an interview with The Times, she recalled an encounter with Palka about eight years ago. Remini said she had gone to the brick station on Wilcox Avenue a few missing individuals report she filed in an effort to locate Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, whom she hadn’t seen in years.
“On his desk, I see a letter from Celebrity Centre,” Remini said, adding that Palka acknowledged the letter contained a present certificate for the church’s Renaissance restaurant. Remini said she demanded to know why he related to the church.
The reply she received, Remini said, was that the church was supportive of the department’s youth programs.
“I said, ‘I’ll double the cash immediately for you to not work with them,’” Remini said. “There are loads of individuals who would donate to the Police Activities League for kids. But he just laughed.”
Late Friday, the LAPD said in a press release that detectives in 2014 “went to Shelly Miscavige’s location and personally made contact together with her and her attorney. Detectives found her to be alive and secure, and subsequently closed the missing individuals investigation.”
Pouw labeled Remini’s missing individuals report “a despicable publicity stunt.”
She accused the actress of attempting to advance a “false narrative” in regards to the church during her trial testimony on behalf of Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis. Last week, a jury found Haggis liable for a 2013 rape of an industry publicist and ordered him to pay the girl $7.5 million. “Remini has now been exposed as having no credibility,” Pouw added.
Remini and others have expressed deep misgivings in regards to the handling of allegations of rape by Scientologist Danny Masterson, an actor from “That ‘70s Show” who currently is on trial in Los Angeles. He has been charged with raping three church members within the early 2000s, and the ladies allege the church had initially discouraged them from bringing their allegations to police.
The Church of Scientology declined to comment on the pending criminal matter but has previously said the faith has no policy against reporting crimes committed by Scientologists to law enforcement. Masterson has said his encounters with the ladies were consensual.
In 2017, when news outlets reported that the LAPD was investigating Masterson, Palka sent an email, which was viewed by The Times, to then-Hollywood Lt. Richard Gabaldon, asking if the case was “ours?”
Sources accustomed to the Masterson investigation said the Robbery Homicide Division went to lengths to maintain the knowledge under wraps — and away from officers on the Hollywood station — due to concern their investigation is likely to be compromised.
Remini produced an A&E docuseries, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” that prompted threats of violence on the church.
A church executive reached out to Palka, who promised to offer the church with “an officer, who is obtainable to you directly that may document these incidents,” in line with an email unearthed in a public records request filed by a gaggle of L.A. government activists.
A Scientology Media Productions executive thanked Palka: “We’re 1000% in your team all the time :)”
There was one other Scientology controversy around that point. In 2018, the church was allowed to put in a big electronic kiosk with a video screen, interactive touch panel and free publications promoting Scientology within the lobby of the Hollywood station when Palka was in charge.
The display was removed after the American Atheists group complained to the Police Commission, saying the department’s promotion of spiritual materials violated 1st Amendment protections that prevent state-sponsored religion. American Atheists requested LAPD records in regards to the Scientology display but was told there have been no records, in line with the organization’s blog post in regards to the incident.
Times staff author Libor Jany contributed to this report.