DOJ Reaches Agreement With Antioch Police Department After Racist Text Message Scandal
Protesters rally at Antioch police headquarters in Antioch, Calif., on April 18, 2023. | Source: MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images / Getty
Somehow, the American justice system has gotten it into its head that it can train the racism out of racist police officers — and it’s betting Black lives on it.
In April 2023, a Contra Costa County judge released the names of 17 Antioch, California, police officers accused of trading racist text messages that included free use of racial slurs, racist jokes, memes mocking the death of George Floyd, and a conversation between two officers conspiring to target Black people with traffic citations. Since then, the Antioch Police Department has faced an audit of its officers, one of the officers accused of sending the texts resigned, and it was revealed that three other officers had been charged with federal civil rights violations because they weren’t just talking about being brutal and unabashedly racist cops in a group chat; they were allegedly in the streets using excessive force via K9s and non-lethal projectiles. The indicted officers are also accused of taking pictures and videos of themselves abusing citizens and bragging about their actions to other officers. According to CNN, “The trial for those officers is scheduled to begin in February, federal court records show – though one of the officers has already been convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud in a related case.”
Anyway, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a news release Friday that it has reached an agreement with the police department, resolving the investigation into the racist texts. But if advocates for police reform are hoping to see some assurance that the Antioch Police Department will rid itself of its Klan-ish cops involved in the text exchanges — which reportedly includes the president of the Antioch police union — they might be disappointed. Instead, the agreement reads like a standard, oft-regurgitated statement promising officers will receive diversity training and including a hollow declaration that “racism has no place” in the justice system.
From CNN:
Under the agreement, the department will hire a consultant to review and update its policies, procedures and training on non-discriminatory policing and use of force, among other topics, the Justice Department said in a news release Friday. It also outlines commitments by the police department to ensure fair, non-discriminatory policing, as well as systems to report and investigate misconduct.
“In working with the Justice Department to institute policing reform, Antioch Police Department sends a strong message that the discrimination and misconduct that prompted this investigation will not be tolerated,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release.
“The agreement we have secured,” Clarke added, “will ensure that Antioch’s policing practices are free from discrimination in the road ahead – the community deserves nothing less.”
The Antioch Police Department said in a statement Friday the “actions that led to this investigation were unacceptable and represent significant failures,” adding it was “fully committed to ensuring that such incidents never happen again.”
Truthfully, it’s patronizing to Black people for any police department to suggest it is taking action that will ensure “policing practices are free from discrimination in the road ahead.” It might read like a statement of hope, but it’s arguably just passive denial of how deeply racism is embedded in the fabric of policing in America. A better message would have been sent by announcing the outright termination of every cop involved in the racist text exchange, and the assurance that any other cops caught expressing their clear bigotry and racism would share the same fate.
The investigation, which was conducted by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office in conjunction with the FBI, revealed that some cops involved in the text exchange not only made racist remarks, they also frequently boasted about committing acts of police brutality. One officer was caught bragging to another citizen that he “field goal kicked” the head of a person in custody and “tried to knock him unconscious.”
It’s not just “a few bad apples.” The American system of policing is a rotten orchard.
SEE ALSO:
Three Ft. Lauderdale Cops Fired After Racist Texts And Violent Video Revealed