City council in California to audit Antioch Police Department after racist texts spark protests

A California city council voted Tuesday to conduct three audits of its police department after a district attorney's office report revealed racist, homophobic and sexually explicit text messages sent by officers.

The report has prompted community protests and spurred the Antioch City Council to unanimously approve audits of the department's internal affairs process, its hiring and promotional practices, as well as an "equity audit."

Contra Costa County District Attorney's officials released two redacted reports last week detailing derogatory messages sent and received by more than a dozen members of the department.

Mayor Lamar Thorpe, who is mentioned  in the messages, told USA TODAY on Thursday that the city plans to launch an independent investigation into the texts. A federal investigation into officers with the Antioch and nearby Pittsburg police departments is ongoing.

"I'm disappointed, I'm angry, I'm frustrated," Thorpe said Thursday. "It's just a lot, but there's also a feeling of vindication because for the last two years, I've been attacked. Myself and the other two African American council members have been attacked as a result of the reforms that we've instituted at the police department.

What do the messages say?

Officers repeatedly use racial slurs and share images of gorillas in messages quoted in the reports. In some instances, the report says the photos and slurs are sent in reference to the arrest or detention of people who are not named.

In one exchange, officers appear to agree to target specific areas with traffic citations. In another, an Antioch officer appears to admit to fabricating evidence.

“Since we don’t have video I sometimes just say people gave me a full confession when they didn’t, get filed easier," an officer said in an April 2020 message

In another example, an officer offered a steak dinner in June 2020 to anyone who could "40" Thorpe at a protest, a reference to a ".40mm less lethal launcher," according to the report.

The second report includes conversations between officers regarding an investigation into  two suspects in March 2021. After deploying a 40mm weapon against the two men and kicking one in the head, an officer sent photos of their injuries to his coworkers and joked about the incidents.

How the messages were uncovered

The messages were discovered during a joint investigation launched last year by the district attorney's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into "crimes of moral turpitude and criminal offenses" involving members of the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments, the report said.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered the district attorney's office to share the messages with defense attorneys in an ongoing felony case involving some of the officers. The reports did not identify the races of the officers who sent the text messages, and none have yet been charged with a crime.

Prosecutors are working to identify cases that could be compromised by the messages and will review them for potential dismissal or resentencing, the district attorney's office said in a statement.

Community demands transparency

Officials have named 17 officers involved in the message exchanges, but Ellen McDonnell, the county's chief public defender, said at the city council meeting Tuesday more than 45 of the department's 100 officers were included in the text chains. McDonnell urged the district attorney to identify all officers that involved in the text messages or the criminal investigation, in a letter last week.

"The community and our clients have been sounding the alarm about your police department for years and years and years, and we need immediate and full disclosure and transparency," McDonnell said Tuesday. "And we can't downplay this issue. This isn't a few officers."

Activist Shagoofa Khan, who is mentioned in the messages, also demanded "accountability and transparency," at the city council meeting Tuesday.

"In addition to the full investigation, the community demands that those officers are fired and never ever able to become police officers, ever again," Khan said.

Police chief condemns 'racially abhorrent' content

Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford condemned "the racially abhorrent content and incomprehensible behavior being attributed to members of the Antioch Police Department in media reports," in a statement last week.

The department has created a hotline and email address and will be hosting listening sessions so community members can offer feedback, police said in a statement on Facebook.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California city to audit Antioch Police Department after racist texts