California cops torch comedian John Oliver after HBO surveillance broadside: ‘Did not accurately reflect’ reality

Comedian John Oliver took a swing at a Southern California police department on HBO — and the cops wasted little time responding.

The Rialto Police Department blasted the “Last Week Tonight” host after he criticized the agency’s use of privately owned security cameras, accusing him of painting a misleading picture of how the technology is actually used.

The department said Oliver’s segment “did not accurately reflect how the Rialto Police Department utilizes this technology or the safeguards that govern its use.”

Oliver devoted part of Sunday’s show to Fusus, a platform that allows law enforcement to access participating private security cameras during investigations and emergencies.

During the segment, Oliver claimed Rialto effectively pressures new businesses into giving police access to their cameras in exchange for permits, joking that business owners have to decide whether opening a nail salon is “worth being a narc on passers-by.”

Police say that’s flat-out wrong.

Capt. Lamont Quarker, a department spokesman, said no business has ever been denied permission to open because it chose not to participate in the program.

Instead, Quarker said officers walk business owners through how the technology works, explain what police can and cannot access, and outline the privacy protections in place before owners decide whether they want to opt in.

“Our experience has been that once business owners better understand the program, many choose to participate because they recognize the public safety benefits,” Quarker said, adding the city is considering changing its policy so businesses would only be required to discuss the program with police, while participation would remain voluntary.

Quarker defended Fusus as a modern extension of long-standing partnerships between police and local businesses.

“This technology has helped officers identify suspects, locate fleeing offenders, recover evidence, and respond more effectively to incidents involving violent crime and threats to public safety,” he told the Pasadena Star-News. “Access to real-time information can reduce response times, improve officer safety and better protect victims and the community.”

He pointed to one armed robbery in which officers arrested fleeing suspects just 15 minutes after they took off from a gas station, a response he credited to camera feeds that were already available to police.

Oliver also mocked the department after his show requested Fusus records and received a 30,413-page paper printout instead of a searchable digital file, wheeling six boxes of documents onto the stage for laughs.

Quarker acknowledged the paper production was a mistake.

“While that intention was well-meaning, it was not the appropriate response,” he said. “There was no attempt to conceal, alter or withhold data.”

After converting the records into a searchable database, Oliver said the logs showed police accessing cameras inside fast-food restaurants, including employee-only areas, and at a Rialto Days Inn, including one overlooking the pool.

“And if you worked at the Chick-Fil-A there, just know that on one Tuesday afternoon, Rialto had five of your interior cameras open for two hours straight,” Oliver said. “Which feels a little weird to me.”

He also joked that “getting secretly watched in your swimsuit is not supposed to be one of the perks of staying at a Days Inn.”

But Quarker said Oliver’s conclusion was based on a misunderstanding of the logs.

According to the captain, the records reflected camera feeds that were simply available on department monitors, not officers actively watching them for hours at a time.

“The reason we maintain this passive monitoring is straightforward: during an emergency, seconds matter,” Quarker said, explaining officers can lose up to 90 seconds locating the right camera during a fast-moving emergency.

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