Chronicle reporter Demian Bulwa talks with KQED about the lawsuit against Richmond’s Police Chief Chris Magnus for racial discrimination. The city is supporting the chief, whose accusers are high-ranking African American police and command staff.
Richmond Police Department
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This year, to date, has not been a kind year to Bay Area police departments. As if budget cuts and shrinking ranks weren’t enough to contend with, a series of high-profile scandals involving law enforcement from San Francisco to Contra Costa County have burst into public view.
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi’s series of videos documenting alleged misconduct by SFPD officers in the South of Market and Richmond Districts have led to more than 70 cases being dropped by the District Attorney’s office and the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Berkeley Police Department officers were accused of pepper-spraying non-violent student protesters during a March 3rd protest. The head of Contra Costa County’s narcotics task force was accused of selling seized drugs for profit as well as trafficking in weapons. And just yesterday, two former participants in Richmond’s police “Explorer” program accused officers of illegally arming them and requiring them to patrol local housing projects, which has prompted yet another FBI investigation.