SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco is joining numerous other cities including Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, in investigating police officers engaging in racial and anti-gay biases.
San Francisco’s investigation is a continuation of an indictment of ex-officer, Ian Furminger, who is now serving 41 months in prison on corruption charges. An exposition of Furminger’s personal text messages not only exposed his individual prejudices, but led prosecutors to expand their investigation to 14 other officers.
Three retired judges, Cruz Reynoso, LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, and Dickran Tevrizian Jr., are assigned from outside the Bay Area and are reviewing over 3,000 arrest cases for racial profiling and anti-gay sentiment that could have led to wrongful convictions.
The judge’s core evidence will be officer text messages, where officials will be looking for inappropriate language that suggests personal bias that influenced their on-duty actions. To ensure complete impartiality of the reviewers, they are intentionally non-bay area residents and are serving on an unpaid basis.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón stated that this investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year, but there is no distinct time limit.
