Antioch Police scandal: Burris asks DOJ for federal oversight of department
ANTIOCH – Nearly half of Antioch's police officers are currently on leave, caught up in a scandal over racist text messages. Now, civil rights attorney John Burris has asked the federal government to step in.
Burris wants an independent monitor to take control of the stricken department just as was done in Oakland 20 years ago.
The racist texts, uncovered by accident by the FBI in a federal drug case, sound like something from the Jim Crow South, with officers happily bragging about injuring Black residents and openly referring to them as the "n-word" in group text lines.
"It's the attitudes they had for the people they were serving," Burris told KPIX. "If you called, a woman might be called a 'water buffalo,' or something. Or the Chief and others were called 'black gorillas.' Aside from the 'n-word,' which was routine...one officer said, 'we say that routinely, and no one cares!'"
But Burris cares. The Oakland-based civil rights attorney is representing a number of people in legal action against the city and has now taken it a step further.
He sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking them to investigate and recommend the imposition of federal oversight over the operation of the Antioch Police Department.
"My effort here, aside from the lawsuit itself, is to take control of this department, revamp it, reorganize it, and essentially provide a new direction for the department. The community deserves it," Burris said.
In the early 2000s, a group of cops known as "The Riders" were terrorizing the Black community in Oakland. They were all acquitted of criminal charges, but Burris' civil lawsuit in that case paved the way for federal oversight of OPD that exists to this day.
Burris said as bad as The Riders were, even they weren't as openly racist as what has been going on in Antioch.
"We did have racial profiling...but even that didn't have the name calling, the verbal-ness that went along with it," Burris said. "So, in this instance, it's much more horrific in Antioch in terms of its impact and its relationship with the community itself."
A new police chief, Steven Ford, was named in November, vowing to reform the department.
"When any organization finds itself in this seat, there's two things that are apparent: there's been some neglect and there's been a serious lack of accountability," he told KPIX at the time.
Unfortunately, Ford retired just six months after being given the job.
"I don't know what he felt, but he certainly acted like it was hopeless," said Burris. "I mean, he did leave in the midst of it all. And he didn't stay long, so he never really grabbed hold of it in a way to try to correct it."
Burris agrees that what's needed is accountability, but he doesn't think that can come from within. He believes it will take an outside influence to begin the tough process of changing the culture of the department. And he doesn't think they should wait to do it in a lawsuit settlement.
"Whatever the Justice Department can do, private lawyers can do it as well," he said. "Like me, we can do it as well. The problem is, it's easier if you have the power of the federal government behind you, as opposed to...me."
No officers have been fired yet. Some are accused of simply receiving the texts without reporting them.
Burris said those who actively participated should be fired, but because the law grants officers such strong protections, others will likely remain.
Under current law, if officers quit voluntarily, they are free to work for another department. And Burris points out that, 20 years ago, every one of The Riders easily found new jobs in other departments.
He said, now, those who stay in Antioch will have to accept more accountability if the culture is to ever change.
KPIX has reached out to the Antioch Police Department for reaction to Burris' letter but has not heard back as of Monday afternoon.