A Porter Ranch mortgage company owner who founded a nonprofit that donates to the LAPD is at the center of a growing controversy over how private money shapes access to top police officials.
A Porter Ranch man who founded the LAPD Valley Bureau Foundation is at the center of a Los Angeles Times investigation into how private donors gain access to top police officials, after a Porsche rally for LAPD command staff collapsed and board members quit.
A Porter Ranch mortgage company owner who founded a nonprofit that donates to the LAPD is at the center of a growing controversy over how private money shapes access to top police officials.
Larry Stearn, 71, is the founder of the LAPD Valley Bureau Foundation, a charitable organization that supports police causes across the San Fernando Valley. According to a Los Angeles Times investigation published Thursday, Stearn has used the foundation to build close relationships with LAPD command staff, including hosting department chiefs at his Thousand Oaks home for annual Super Bowl parties and fundraising events.
"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."
Those are the words of two LAPD sources familiar with the foundation who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The controversy came to a head over a planned car rally that was supposed to let donors cruise in a Porsche alongside LAPD command staff.
According to minutes from a September 11, 2025 Valley Bureau Foundation meeting, organizers planned the event with the following details:
Department officials pushed back on the request for a police escort. Two LAPD sources told the Times that some officials were uncomfortable using taxpayer money to pay for officers to work the event, especially given the city's financial situation.
Three of the foundation's board members quit within a week before the event was scheduled to take place. At least one told colleagues he was uncomfortable with the idea of using on-duty officers, according to the same two LAPD sources.
The event was officially canceled. No public explanation was given.
The Times report includes additional allegations about special access for foundation members.
When the daughter of one board member had a vehicle crash at her property last fall, someone from the foundation's board called a senior LAPD commander for help instead of reporting the incident through normal channels, according to three police sources.
The commander, John Shah, asked one of his community service officers to go to the scene to take a report. The sources described the request as unusual given the minor nature of the incident and the department's officer shortage. Shah did not respond to a request for comment.
The report also noted that within the last four years, some members of the broader Los Angeles Police Foundation received honorary badges, had concealed-carry permit applications fast-tracked, and one was even given his own office at LAPD headquarters.
Stearn declined an interview when reached by phone. He responded to a follow-up email with a statement about his history of supporting the LAPD.
"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."
Stearn recounted being bullied as a child and described how an LAPD patrol officer once intervened against two people who had beaten him to the ground. He did not address the Porsche rally or the allegations of special treatment in his written response.
Stearn also claimed to have raised more than $100,000 for the LAPD, according to minutes from one Valley Bureau Foundation meeting last year. That figure far exceeds what is listed in Police Commission records, the Times reported.
Deputy Chief Marla Cuiffetelli, the highest-ranking police official in the Valley, told the Times that it is not unusual for LAPD officials to work closely with foundation members on fundraising campaigns.
Cuiffetelli said Stearn's organization has been "a great assistance" to the LAPD over the years. She noted the foundation helped pay for laptops, monitors, wireless printers, and other equipment for the bureau's command post, which reduces the burden on taxpayers.
The foundation also donated food and water to officers 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."
The LAPD has long turned to private donors to supplement its multibillion-dollar annual budget, which mainly covers salaries and payroll costs. The Los Angeles Police Foundation, the largest LAPD-focused charity, raised roughly 92% of the $10 million in total donations tracked in 2025.
Randy Lippert, a professor at the University of Windsor in Canada who has studied police foundations, told the Times that these organizations gained influence as cities faced economic challenges.
"If you're concerned about accountability, that flow of dark money into police services, that's kind of problematic," Lippert said.
Lippert estimates there are at least 400 police booster organizations nationwide. He said some private funding goes toward community relations and morale efforts. Other contributions pay for militarized equipment, including K9 units and armored vehicles.
All donations to the LAPD must be approved publicly by the Police Commission, and larger contributions must also go before the City Council. The people and corporations behind the funding are rarely disclosed during that process, according to the report.
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.