Oakland police

Oakland PD to Suspend Two Officers in Racist Texting Probe

Two Oakland police officers will be suspended for their involvement in the exchange of racially offensive texts in 2014, a city spokeswoman said Wednesday.

After an internal investigation, the city concluded the officers, who were not named, violated departmental policy. The suspensions will be subject to due process and grievance procedure, city spokeswoman Karen Boyd said.

The controversial texts, one of the issues at the center of former Chief Sean Whent's departure in June, depicted images of the Ku Klux Klan and used the N-word.

Mayor Libby Schaaf has called the text messages "unacceptable hate speech," and said both sending and receiving, but saying nothing, are serious offenses.

Boyd said since several officers appeared to be unclear of their obligation to report the misconduct, the city also will conduct department-wide refresher training on the city’s anti-discrimination/non-harassment policy and complaint procedure policy.

Boyd said the city could not provide further details about the officers' discipline because it is a personnel matter.

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