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Not a gory murder, just thought it belonged here.

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A slew of racist and homophobic text messages exchanged between San Francisco police in a fellow officer’s corruption case has forced prosecutors and defense attorneys to review an estimated 1,000 criminal convictions for potential bias, officials announced Tuesday.

The messages were revealed in a motion by the U.S. attorney’s office opposing bail for Ian Furminger, a former San Francisco police officer who was recently sentenced to 41 months in prison on various corruption-related charges and was scheduled to surrender next month pending an appeal.

The texts, sent between 2011 and 2012, allegedly involved four other officers and denigrated minorities and gays.

“We pride ourselves on being a progressive city, yet we have active officers who are engaging in not only racist banter, but they were talking about killing people, referring to an African American as a ‘savage,’” Adachi said. “A person does not become a racist overnight. These were officers who in some cases had over a decade of service. We need to look at all of them.”


Officers referred to minorities as “savages,” used the N-word to refer to African Americans and suggested they be spayed like animals, and used an epithet for homosexuals. Other text messages insulted Filipinos and Mexicans.

One text message attributed to Furminger simply said “White Power Family” and then listed his address. The FBI obtained the text messages from Furminger’s phone as part of its investigation into alleged corruption. Furminger, 48, was convicted of stealing from suspects, stealing federal dollars and splitting profits from drug sales with informants. He has filed an appeal.

San Francisco police Sgt. Yulanda Williams, president of Officers for Justice Peace Officers Assn., which represents African American officers as well as women and other minorities, called the revelations “disgraceful.”

“It’s disgusting that in 2015 in San Francisco we would have officers that engage in such hateful despicable text messages. ... No matter how big or small the number [of officers] is, this has managed to bring such hostilities and racism and Ku Klux Klan ideology up to the surface, to the point where all officers feel uncomfortable in our work environments now….They’re fearing the unknown.”

Williams, 59, who in June will have served a quarter century on the force, said the association has been fielding calls from minority as well as some white officers who “feel discomfort… They don’t want us to think they feel this way about those of color or those who don’t happen to look like them.”

Former Officer Harry Soulette, 56, the association officer manager, served 31 years before retiring two years ago. The department has made strides in cleaning house, he said, but more action is clearly needed.

“There aren’t that many of the old guard who back in the day were referred to as the blue coats. They’re history,” he said. “There’s a new guard. But there’s going to be that 1% that are no good, that in my opinion should be fired, should be let go. We work so hard to maintain a good image and these guys just mess it up for everybody else.”

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr has said the officers who sent the text messages should be fired, and Mayor Edwin Lee said he agrees. For now, the four officers – whom the department has not identified – have been reassigned to duties away from working with the community, said SFPD spokesman Albie Esparza.

But Adachi, the public defender, said firing the officers involved doesn’t go far enough. In a news conference Tuesday, he called for the department to institute a 10-point plan to wring out racist and homophobic biases in the department.

Adachi called for officers to receive 24 hours of training so they can be more aware of biases they hold without realizing it and for the department to assign more minority officers to work in their own communities.

“Police possess tremendous power – they decide who to stop, question and arrest and bring to jail,” Adachi said. “We have to look at these cases and how they were affected.”

Sample of texts and video at link: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-racist-police-text-messages-review-20150317-story.html
 
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Not a gory murder, just thought it belonged here.

It sure does. It may not be a "gory" crime, but in some ways it is far worse, because it is systemic and perpetrated by people who are in a position of authority and should be looking out for all law-abiding citizens.
 
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So far, 14 officers under investigation for wrongful arrest/prosecution in more than 3,000 arrest cases.

(CNN) —At least 3,000 arrests in the past decade are under review in San Francisco in a widening scandal over how police officers allegedly wrote racist and homophobic text messages.

San Francisco's top cop says he wants to fire seven of his officers and discipline six others over a string of racist and anti-gay text messages.

San Francisco's top prosecutor has impaneled a trio of retired, out-of-town judges to see if bias led to wrongful prosecution or conviction in thousands of cases investigated by a total of 14 officers.

Prosecutors have already dismissed charges in some cases involving the officers, District Attorney George Gascon said Thursday at a news conference.

The judges -- Cruz Reynoso, LaDoris Hazzard Cordell and Dickran Tevrizian Jr. -- will also investigate whether a "deeper culture of bias" exists within the department, Gascon said. The retired judges won't be paid, Gascon said.

San Francisco's police chief has proposed firing eight officers implicated in the scandal, including a police captain and a sergeant, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month. Three of the officers have resigned, the newspaper reported.

The panel of retired judges joins a task force in Gascon's office already investigating the city police department and the county sheriff's office after federal prosecutors revealed text messages among police officers including references to cross burnings and a suggestion that it would be OK to shoot a black person because it's "not against the law to put an animal down."

That task force is also investigating faulty testing at the DNA crime lab and prize-fighting of inmates in the county jail, Gascon said.

Even one wrongful prosecution is 'one too many'

The offensive text messages not only fly in the face of the image San Francisco likes to cultivate for itself -- that of a loving, inclusive community -- but also pose a broader danger to the community, the district attorney said.

"When a police officer engages in misconduct, there are significant implications for public safety and for the public trust, particularly in our minority communities," Gascon told reporters. "And we must do everything that we can to restore that trust."

More cases could come under review if the judges decide to widen the scope of their investigation, Gascon said.

"If just one individual was wrongly imprisoned because of bias on the part of these officers, that's one too many," Gascon added.

Prosecutors: Texts rife with racist terms

The scandal is playing out amid a nationwide debate over policing in the United States sparked by controversial police shootings and uses of force that have resulted in deaths in communities such as New York, Ferguson, Missouri, and, most recently, in Baltimore.

It has its roots in the 2014 indictments of six police officers after the city's public defender released videos apparently showing officers taking personal belongings of suspects after a 2009 drug search, according to the Chronicle.

One of the officers, Sgt. Ian Furminger, was convicted in U.S. District Court in December of honest services fraud, civil rights conspiracy and conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program.

He was sentenced to 41 months in prison, and sought bail pending his appeal.

In March, federal prosecutors included transcripts of text messages recovered from Furminger's personal cell phone in a motion arguing against Furminger's request to remain free pending his appeal, saying they offer insight into his character.

In one text, according to the government's motion, a correspondent asks Furminger if he celebrates Kwanzaa, the December holiday honoring African culture. He responds, "Yeah we burn the cross on the field! Then we celebrate Whitemas," according to the motion.

In another text, Furminger exchanged text messages with another San Franscisco police officer about a black man married to a friend of his wife. The couple was visiting their home at the time.

"Get ur pocket gun. Keep it available in case the monkey returns to his roots," the unnamed police officer texted Furminger, according to the government motion. "Its [sic] not against the law to put an animal down."

"Well said!" the government says Furminger replied.

Furminger also allegedly called another officer a "f-g," called a black officer a "f-----n n----r," according to CNN affiliate KPIX, and made derogatory comments about Mexicans and Filipinos.

While San Francisco has not seen the kind of widespread protest over police actions seen in other communities after controversial use-of-force cases, the text messages bring to light a "culture of sickness" within the Police Department, said the Rev. Amos Brown, a San Francisco pastor and national board member of the NAACP.

"We cannot claim with integrity and honesty that we are a first-class, inclusive, loving city," Brown said.

He said the community has "far too many times been mute, silent and indifferent in the face of injustice," citing statistics that blacks made up more than half those incarcerated in the city while only making up about 5% of the population.

Gascon said he hoped the judges would complete their investigation by the end of the year, but said they would be given as much time as they need to do their work.
 
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I hate this stupid-ass stereotype... if these racist asshole would use their gawd-damned brains for just a fucking second they would come to the startling conclusion that Jesus was a JEW and therefore, more than likely, about as "white" as coal! I hate those Renaissance era paintings of Jesus as a blond-haired, blue-eyed white guy... phew, that felt good... :angelic:


So far, these possible, changing "Faces of Jesus" are the best Forensic Anthropologists have come up with yet (article's a good, quick read, too):

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a234/1282186/
 
Furminger, 48, was convicted of stealing from suspects, stealing federal dollars and splitting profits from drug sales with informants

So, the same shit police dept.s throughout this country do routinely. Seizures are prevalent as shit, even from people who aren't criminals.

I'm thinking the big no no here was the federal dollars thing, that's all these depts. give a shit about, not the rights of the citizenry.

I don't mind him giving money to informants, whatever it takes to keep em talkin.

Referring to a coworker as a fag is unprofessional and offensive sure, but it doesn't necessarily show a bias against or even any beef whatsoever with homosexuals. Dudes commonly call eachotehr that either in jest or cuz they don't like the other. No big deal.

These cops are fucking idiots though, no dobut about it.
 
So, the same shit police dept.s throughout this country do routinely. Seizures are prevalent as shit, even from people who aren't criminals.

I'm thinking the big no no here was the federal dollars thing, that's all these depts. give a shit about, not the rights of the citizenry.

I don't mind him giving money to informants, whatever it takes to keep em talkin.

Referring to a coworker as a fag is unprofessional and offensive sure, but it doesn't necessarily show a bias against or even any beef whatsoever with homosexuals. Dudes commonly call eachotehr that either in jest or cuz they don't like the other. No big deal.

These cops are fucking idiots though, no dobut about it.

Each PD has their own in-house Codes of Conduct and/or Code of Ethics for police officers both on and off duty, but here's a quote from PoliceOne that explains the difference along with the rest of what's expected from all Police Officers as general SOP (excellent piece, worth the read):
Police officers are proud to claim there is no other profession like police work. This is true and you’ll get no argument here: cops are special. But with that comes responsibilities for conduct, on-duty and off, not placed on the average worker. The lens of the microscope under which officers work is intense.
http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/1743985-Codes-of-ethics-and-officer-discipline/


ETA: Just for clarity, the underline in the above quote is the author's, not mine.
 
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Update - Cop Claims Chief Knew & Claims Statute of Limitations

Copyrighted photo of Police Chief at link:
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Cop-in-bigoted-text-case-cites-statute-of-6259740.php
One of the San Francisco police officers whom the chief is seeking to fire for sending racist and homophobic text messages filed a claim against the city Monday, saying that the statute of limitations has run out for disciplinary action.

Officer Rain Daugherty said in the complaint that though the San Francisco Police Department knew of the text messages for two years, Chief Greg Suhr did not begin an investigation into the matter until January of this year.

Under the state’s Peace Officer Bill of Rights, a department has one year to investigate most misconduct allegations and file disciplinary charges.

“In correspondence dated April 10, 2015, the Department acknowledged: ‘All of the text messages were in our possession by December 2012,’” the claim states, “and that Internal Affairs purposefully and knowingly waited until December 2014 before referring the text messages to the administrative bureau.”
 

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