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, reports the New York Times. “A police department that discriminates based on race and other protected classes undermines both public safety and public confidence,” said U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey. “Today’s agreement will help ensure that policing in Antioch is done constitutionally and will help restore public trust.” The Antioch Police Department acknowledged the settlement and said its cooperation with DOJ “underscores our dedication to fostering trust, transparency and accountability.” The department 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 FBI. 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 Floyd and mocked the public outrage against racism in law enforcement. In one message, an officer talked about potentially shooting Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, Antioch’s former mayor, who is Black, with a firearm that uses rubber or other less-lethal bullets. The investigation that uncovered the messages also led to four federal indictments, involving 10 Antioch and Pittsburg police officers, for a slew of crimes, including the illegal distribution of drugs, faking records to get pay raises and improperly siccing dogs on unarmed residents. Six officers, including two from Antioch, have been convicted of falsifying records to get raises.