By Elaine Magliaro
Timothy Williams (New York Times) reported on Friday that Greg Suhr, San Francisco’s police chief, said that “he had moved to dismiss seven officers who sent or received text messages that spoke of lynching African-Americans and burning crosses. Ruhr said that the texts, sent by the officers in 2011 and 2012, “are of such despicable thinking that those responsible clearly fall below the minimum standards required to be a police officer.”
Williams:
The messages — which included one that said, simply, “White Power,” as well as others with denigrating comments about homosexuals, Mexicans and Filipinos — were sent or received by as many as 14 officers in the department, the police said.
Williams said that officials had acknowledged that the texts had “shaken confidence in the Police Department, which is responsible for public safety in a city that has long prided itself on inclusiveness and open-mindedness, has a large gay and lesbian population, and is among the most racially diverse cities in the country.” He added that lawyers for the officers involved in sending the offensive texts said that they “did not represent their clients’ opinions and were little more than naïve banter meant to blow off steam in their high-stress jobs.”
Williams noted that San Francisco’s district attorney and the public defender’s offices had “each begun investigations into cases involving the officers dating back 10 years to ensure that the officers did not act out of animus toward racial minorities or gays.”
Jeff Adachi, San Francisco’s public defender, said there were at least 1,000 cases that needed to be reviewed. He added, “The characterization of these hateful statements as innocent banter is dead wrong. This casual dehumanization leads to real-life suffering and injustice. It foments a toxic environment in which citizens fear and distrust the police, brutality reigns, and good officers are less effective.”
Jon Swartz (USA Today) reported that two officers who had sent “inflammatory texts were reassigned and will have their cases considered by the police commission, which can hand down penalties up to termination.”
Swartz:
District Attorney George Gascon said his office will review all cases going back 10 years that were linked to the officers either by writing a report, submitting evidence or testifying in court.
The officers embroiled in the scandal have been on the force as long as 23 years. Several worked in minority neighborhoods.
City leaders have raised concern that any prejudice by the officers could have led to unfair treatment, particularly in cases involving black defendants.
In a statement, Police Chief Suhr said, “The officers responsible for the reprehensible texts should be separated from the SFPD as soon as practical. The fine, right-minded men and women of the SFPD that are of the impeccable character required of a… police officer expect no less.”
Joseph Serna (Los Angeles Times) said that “Suhr’s recommendation followed a revelation that at least 14 officers and department employees had been messaging each other with racist and homophobic comments and jokes about citizens and coworkers.” According to Serna, the “texts were exposed in a court filing during the trial of former SFPD Officer Ian Furminger, who was convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison for corruption pending an appeal.”
SOURCES
San Francisco Police Officers to Be Dismissed Over Racist Texts (New York Times)
7 San Francisco officers suspended over racist texts (USA Today)
S.F. police chief: Officers should be fired for ‘hateful’ text messages (Los Angeles Times)
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Flowers For Socrates 
One would have thought that this was something that never would have happened in San Francisco of all cities. I think the reality though is that many bigots are drawn to the profession of policing…..anywhere.
Good riddance
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/ferguson-racist-emails_n_7026568.html “Mary Ann Twitty, the former top clerk in Ferguson, Missouri’s municipal court who was fired for sending racist emails revealed by a Justice Department report, said this week that she was far from the only Ferguson government official who traded racist jokes.
“They would have had to shut the doors [if everyone involved was fired] because they went through the whole station, trust me,” Twitty said in an interview with St. Louis’ KMOV. “It went on all the time.”
Twitty described herself as “the sacrificial lamb” to be fired after the Justice Department’s investigation into Ferguson’s police department and municipal court. She said she felt like she’d been “raped” and “thrown under the bus.” She also said that she had received emails that she considered too offensive and that she did not forward those to her colleagues.”
swarthmoremom,
Thanks for the link to that article.
Elaine M. I got a racist email once. It was forwarded to me from someone I did not know that well. I took care of it and thankfully never received another email from the woman.