SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Police Department recently released multiple documents related to internal investigations and disciplinary actions taken against some officers as a part of an effort to comply with new state laws.
According to an NBC 7 investigative report, there have been multiple findings of discriminatory behavior by San Diego Police officers, including several supervisors, since 2014. In at least one case, the internal affairs report did not accurately describe the excessive use of a force by an officer, when compared to the body camera video.
“There was a lot of untruthfulness in that one case, right,” said Sharmaine Moseley, the interim director for the City of San Diego’s Commission on Police Practices. “So that was disturbing to me, that there was untruthfulness.”
In many cases, San Diego Police officers were suspended for a week and received a letter of reprimand, which was placed in their files, but remained on the job despite some actions being considered racist and sexual misconduct.
“What you don’t see in the paperwork is that these disciplinary actions can have a huge, long-lasting impact on an officer’s career,” said Jared Wilson, President of the San Diego Police Officers Association.
Out of 63 officers named in these misconduct investigations since 2014, 34 are still on the force, while the rest are no longer with the department but it's unclear if they were fired or left on their own.
“There are some egregious violations that I just don’t think the officers that committed them should be trusted with a badge,” said San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe.
San Diego posts information on officer investigations here.
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