A Porter Ranch mortgage company owner is at the center of a growing controversy over how private donors gain access to top LAPD command staff, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation published Thursday.
Porter Ranch mortgage company owner Larry Stearn is at the center of a Los Angeles Times investigation into how private donors gain access to top LAPD officials. A planned $500 Porsche rally with LAPD command staff was canceled after three board members quit over concerns about using taxpayer-funded officers for a donor event.
A Porter Ranch mortgage company owner is at the center of a growing controversy over how private donors gain access to top LAPD command staff, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation published Thursday.
Larry Stearn, 71, founded the LAPD Valley Bureau Foundation, a nonprofit that supports police causes in the San Fernando Valley. The Times reported that Stearn has hosted LAPD chiefs and other high-ranking officials at his Thousand Oaks home for annual Super Bowl parties and fundraising events. Photos from the occasions show Stearn mingling with department leadership.
"He has supported the LAPD since 1985 as a sponsor, non-profit board member, and donor in both in-kind and financial contributions," Stearn wrote in an email response to the Times.
Stearn declined an on-the-record interview.
Minutes from a September 11, 2025 Valley Bureau Foundation meeting show Stearn's organization planned a $500-per-person event where donors could cruise in a Porsche alongside LAPD command staff. Two deputy chiefs and an assistant chief were lined up to ride in the lead cars.
The plan called for deploying roughly 20 motorcycle officers to clear traffic along a route from a Porsche dealership in Santa Clarita to another in Woodland Hills.
Department officials pushed back. Two LAPD sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Times that some officials were uncomfortable with using taxpayer money to pay officers to work the event, especially during the city's ongoing financial crisis.
Before the rally was set to take place, three Valley Bureau Foundation board members quit within a single week. At least one told colleagues he was opposed to using on-duty officers for the event, the sources said. The event was officially canceled with no public explanation.
The Times reported that Stearn's modest track record of charitable giving has enabled extraordinary access to LAPD leadership. According to two anonymous LAPD sources, Valley Bureau command staff have invited Stearn to attend police recruit graduations as their guest.
In one incident last fall, the daughter of a Valley Bureau Foundation board member had a vehicle crash at her property. Rather than report it through normal channels, someone from the foundation's board called a senior LAPD commander for help, according to three police sources.
Commander John Shah asked one of his community service officers to respond to the scene and take a report. The sources called the request unusual given the minor nature of the incident and the department's ongoing officer shortage. Shah did not respond to a request for comment from the Times.
Minutes from one Valley Bureau Foundation meeting last year show Stearn claimed to have raised more than $100,000 for the LAPD. That figure far exceeds what is listed in Police Commission records, according to the Times.
The foundation's documented donations have been sporadic. Police Commission records show the organization has mostly funded holiday parties and smaller morale-boosting events. The foundation recently contributed $15,000 to help upgrade the sound system at an LAPD training facility.
The LAPD has long relied on private boosters to supplement its multibillion-dollar annual budget. The Los Angeles Police Foundation, the largest LAPD-focused charity, raised roughly 92% of the $10 million in total donations tracked in 2025.
According to anonymous LAPD sources, some Police Foundation members have received realistic-looking honorary badges over the last four years. Others had their concealed-carry permit applications fast-tracked. One donor was given his own office at LAPD headquarters.
Randy Lippert, a professor at the University of Windsor in Canada who has studied police foundations, told the Times there are at least 400 such organizations nationwide.
"If you're concerned about accountability, that flow of dark money into police services, that's kind of problematic," Lippert said.
Deputy Chief Marla Cuiffetelli, the highest-ranking police official in the Valley, defended the foundation's work in a statement to the Times.
"It's not unusual for LAPD officials to work closely with foundation members to craft fundraising campaigns," Cuiffetelli said.
She said Stearn's organization 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. The foundation also donated food and water to officers working the Palisades fire and last summer's protests, she said.
Cuiffetelli said the Porsche rally 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."
Department officials have told the Times in previous years that they follow strict ethical standards and deny that donors or boosters receive special treatment.
All donations to the LAPD must be approved publicly by the Police Commission. Larger contributions must also go before the City Council. The people and corporations behind the funding are rarely disclosed during that process, the Times reported.
All LAPD charities are required by law to register with the commission, but officials have said they do not have enough staff to monitor them all.
This article was generated with AI assistance.