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U.S.|California Police Department Agrees to Reforms After Federal Inquiry
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/us/california-antioch-police-department-racism.html
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The Antioch Police Department was under investigation by the Justice Department after racist text messages between its officers were released in 2023.
Jan. 5, 2025, 11:59 a.m. ET
The police department in the Northern California city of Antioch has agreed to be monitored by federal officials for five years after reports of racist and sexist texts by officers drew outrage and led to a civil rights investigation.
As part of the agreement, announced by the Justice Department on Friday, a law enforcement consulting firm will review and update the Bay Area police department’s policies on hiring and training, use of force, community policing and other areas.
“A police department that discriminates based on race and other protected classes undermines both public safety and public confidence,” Ismail J. Ramsey, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said in a news release. “Today’s agreement will help ensure that policing in Antioch is done constitutionally and will help restore public trust.”
In a statement on Friday, the Antioch Police Department acknowledged the settlement and said its cooperation with the Justice Department “underscores our dedication to fostering trust, transparency and accountability.”
The department also said it was cooperating with state officials in a separate civil rights inquiry.
In April 2023, the district attorney in Contra Costa County released text messages obtained during an F.B.I. investigation into the police in Antioch and Pittsburg, another Bay Area city, that were shared between officers in group chats and direct exchanges dating to 2019.
In the messages, officers used racist slurs to describe Black people, bragged about the use of force and, during the protests in 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, used slurs against Mr. Floyd and mocked the public outrage against racism in law enforcement.
