Traffic Officer Fired for 'Making Porn' Loses Appeal

LOS ANGELES—You have to feel for John Dancler, the 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Bureau of Parking Enforcement who lost his job in July of last year after appearing for less than a minute in an unplanned and unscripted scene from a porn video shot on a San Fernando street years ago. Since his firing, Dancler has been trying to get his job back, but today, the Los Angeles Board of Civil Service Commissioners voted 4-0 to deny his appeal. He will not be permitted to return to work. As AVN has previously reported, Dancler appeared for only about 15 seconds in the video, but his actions during that time sealed his fate. Approached without warning by performer Kylee Reese, who was shooting a 47-minute video titled Back to the Streets, which was subsequently featured on a Brazzers website in 2008, Dancler allowed himself to be talked into slapping her on the butt once and fondling her exposed breast for maybe one second. That's really all it took. Never mind that his attorney, Bobby Samini, was probably correct when he said last year that his client was a "convenient scapegoat" for those looking to fix what was perceived to be a very permissive culture at Parking Enforcement. Dancler would not be the only "scapegoat." In the wake of a relentless campaign by NBC4 to "out" the bureau for not disciplining problem officers, two deputy chiefs were forced to resign, another was reassigned from parking enforcement, 20 traffic officers have been disciplined (with four fired for misconduct), and in January the city hired former Hermosa Beach Police Chief Gregory Savelli to replace Jimmy Price, the beleagured head of the Bureau of Parking Enforcement who was forced to reasign in June 2011.