Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant called out the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who were involved in leaking graphic photos of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe, their 13-year-old daughetr Gianna "Gigi" Bryant and seven others, as she took it to Instagram to post a statement written by her Attorney, Gary C. Robb.
On the statement, Robb indicated that Vanessa is "absolutely devastated" by reports that the deputies from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Lost Hills Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department took photos of the crash scene which were irrelevant to the investigation and passed the photos around the department. He further added that first responders should be trustworthy and that it is inexcusable that the deputies entrusted to protect and serve the public would break this trust and that deputies from the aforementioned departments would breach their duties just for photographs.
On top of this, the letter also talked about how the action of the deputies was an "unspeakable violation of human decency" and a violation of the victims' and their families' rights to privacy. Thus, Vanessa's party demanded that all those who are responsible for the alleged taking and distribution of photos be given the "harshest possible" disciplinary action and that they would be identified in order to prevent further leakage and dissemination of the sensitive photos.
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Furthermore, Vanessa and Robb are requesting the department's Internal Affairs to look into the nature of the alleged incident.
Last Friday, Los Angeles Times published the news that first responders on the Calabasas crash sire has been sharing photos of the accident outside of official business which outraged fans and families of the victims. Adding more fuel to the fire was when TMZ reported that a deputy trainee even shared the photos at a bar just to try and "impress a girl." This incident was allegedly overheard by a bartender who filed a complaint to the LA County Sheriff's department out of disgust for the actions of the trainee. I was further noted in reports that the department tried to keep the matter under wraps and ordered the deputies to delete any pictures they have of the crash.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, there are allegedly eight deputies that are involved in the sharing of the inappropriate photos from the site of the helicopter accident that killed the NBA star and eight others in January. He also said that the photos have now been deleted and that the deputies are already under investigation and will possibly face disciplinary action. However, the degree and nature of the disciplinary action were not yet specified.
On top of this, Villanueva also noted that every police department struggles with the same thing such as people taking photos which are not for use of evidence, especially in high profile cases like Kobe's. He said that it is still a practice that they need to make sure that there are no other photos that are taken except for the purpose of the investigation.
In view of this, Vanessa's attorney also revealed in their statement that Kobe's widow even went to the sheriff's office after the crash on January 26, to request that the area be designated as a "no-fly zone" and by guarded against photographers.
Related news: Kobe Bryant Graphic Photos from Helicopter Crash Leakage Devastates Widow Vanessa
