There are discrepancies among reports of whether it was seven or eight officers involved in these reprehensible acts.
Chief of Police Greg Suhr is calling for an immediate termination of the unidentified officers. He announced at a press conference that he has urged the oversight committee to approve the firing of the officers.
Authorities say that the violent messages are of deplorable hateful speech and targeted African-Americans, Mexicans, Filipinos, and gay men. One text read “All n**gers must f***ing hang." Another: “Cross burning lowers blood pressure! I did the test myself!”
Chief Suhr is sickened by the content of these texts, saying in a statement he gave to Time, that they “are of such despicable thinking that those responsible clearly fall below the minimum standards required to be a police officer.”
In light of the case, San Francisco leaders have voiced their concern that the officers’ prejudicial views may have contributed to mistreatment and racially biased actions that lack validity.
District Attorney George Gascon announced that his office will review all cases dating back ten years regarding cases where policemen wrote reports, submitted evidence or testified in court.
Another county prosecutor, San Francisco’s public defender Jeff Adachi stated that he believes authorities need to re-examine some 1,000 cases involving those officers.
He went on to say at the press conference that, “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.”
