Police Officers’ Texts at the Center of California Task Force
Homophobic and racially charged texts between police officers in San Francisco will be the focus of a new Task Force investigation according to District Attorney George Gascon. The task force has no deadline but the D.A. stated that the investigation may be finished by the end of the year. The texts came to light during the U.S. Attorney’s corruption prosecution of a San Francisco police officer. The texts were used in an argument to deny bail to the accused man. Other texts have surfaced showing a bias against homosexuals and minorities. The D.A. is charging the task force with reviewing over 3,000 cases that the fourteen officers now involved in the probe were working.
The task force will be looking for any indication that any of these cases were the result of these officers possibly falsely accusing people and other actions that could dismiss pending cases and possibly having some convictions overturned. The D.A.is a former police chief of the city and has said even one innocent person behind bars in this case is too many. The San Francisco area has been the scene of many recent charges being made against law officers. This current task force has been borne out of these troubles. In the case that brought the texts to light the accused officer was sentenced to almost four years in prison for the corruption charges the prosecution was able to prove.
If you or a family member has been involved in one of these cases or charged with another crime a California defense attorney must be retained to insure your rights are not violated. An experienced attorney can look into this group of cases and at any other case and find mistakes or bad activity involving arresting officers. Contact an attorney as soon as you are charged to get the best defense possible.
At the Law Offices of Arash Hashemi, we provide clients with passionate and experienced representation. If you have been charged with a crime and would like to schedule an initial consultation with a lawyer at our firm, contact us by phone at (310) 448-1529 or contact us online. We promptly return phone calls and emails. Our office is conveniently located in the Westside Towers in West Los Angeles, within minutes of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Westwood. We have flexible and weekend office hours, and we will visit you in jail to discuss your case.
Photo: San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr in 2013. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
