A Santa Ana councilman requested that the California Department of Justice launch an investigation into the city's police union over allegations of financial misconduct.

The Santa Ana Police Officers Association vehemently denied the allegations, describing them in a statement as "simply untrue and distorted."

Councilman Benjamin Vazquez, who serves as Santa Ana's mayor pro tem, said an audit from 2023 into the SAPOA's health benefits account found that the city overpaid the union by at least $3 million in a single year. However, the union reported a nearly $609,000 deficit for its health benefit account.

In a letter to the California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Vazquez wrote that "the presence of both large overpayments and a deficit raises serious concerns about financial mismanagemen

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