Termination Of Officers Hits Roadblock

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SAN FRANCISCO—The efforts of San Francisco Chief of Police Greg Suhr to discipline the group of 14 officers accused of exchanging racist and homophobic text messages have hit a potential roadblock, one that may exempt the accused from dismissal.

Termination
Greg Suhr has reccommended eight of the officers in question for immediate termination.

When the text messages sent in 2012, were initially discovered by a San Francisco police bureau, a choice was made to delay the report of the texts. The measure, taken to protect the officers in question, allowed for the one-year deadline for officer discipline to pass, a which may allow the 14 officers to continue their police work.

The text messages in question, both racist and homophobic in nature, make reference to black people as monkeys, among other slurs.

“Get ur pocket gun,” one message read. “Keep it available in case the monkey returns to his roots. It’s not against the law to put an animal down. You may have to kill the half-breeds too. Don’t worry. Their an abomination of nature anyway.”

Following the January discovery of the hidden messages, Suhr suspended all of the officers and recommended eight of them for immediate termination. If the San Francisco Police Commission accepts the appeal to respect the one-year statute of limitations, termination would be deemed unlawful.

Though the officers may keep their jobs, two of them have already resigned from the force.

The text messaging scandal comes at a time when tensions regarding police brutality and racism are at a near peak. Suhr’s stance on the accused officers has been viewed by some as an attempt to limit the backlash of an already embattled department. Given this newest roadblock in his efforts, the chief’s efforts may not yield desired results.