Recently some news has surfaced about police officers committing acts that blatantly contradict their missions of enforcing security. There was the shocking footage of a police officer shooting a pet dog, and the disturbing video of the police officer who forced a lesbian out of the woman's bathroom. Yesterday the San Francisco Police Department released the transcripts of racist and homophobic texts that were allegedly exchanged between police officers.
After coming under pressure for the alleged texts, San Francisco Police Chief Greg Surh released the transcripts on Friday. The police department felt mounting pressure to do so after a woman accused one of the officers involved of raping her, the SF Gate reports.
The messages contain homophobic and transphobic slurs, racist stereotypes, and other types of threatening content. One of the messages reads, "Is that a Ferguson turkey?" in response to a picture of a blackened turkey, a clear reference to the widespread protests that occurred in 2014 after an unarmed black man was shot by police.
The release of the text transcripts comes two days after former a former lieutenant was charged with obstructing the rape investigation of an ex-officer. "I wanted the public to know that we heard loud and clear that you wanted it all. We decided that with the charging of former Lt. Liu and the end of that criminal investigation, now is the time to just put it out there. And we have nothing to hide," Suhr said at the news conference.
