Calexico Police Department Under Fire And Under Investigation

Source: KPBS

Calexico, California, population of 39,000, is bordered on three sides by lettuce and alfalfa fields, and on the fourth by the fence dividing the U.S. from Mexico. It’s the kind of town where everybody knows everybody — and everybody’s business. But many locals said they were surprised when the FBI paid a visit to the police department in late October. Agents took files and computers. Four cops were put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. One of them was fired shortly before Christmas.

FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth said the agency is looking into alleged on-duty criminal conduct, but he won’t comment further on the investigation. Calexico’s new police chief, on the other hand, has been quite vocal about problems he’s found at the department since he took over in October. “It’s so embarrassing and humiliating; the crap that my cops have been up to,” Bostic said in an interview in December. He said leaders of the Calexico Police Officers Association — the police union — were “acting like the mob.” He said they intimidated good cops and threatened residents who presented complaints about officers.

Calexico’s former police chief was fired, and Bostic appointed, just two weeks before the FBI showed up. Bostic is a former assistant chief from the Los Angeles Police Department who’s made a name for himself doing internal cleanups after police scandals, namely, the Rodney King beating, and the Rampart corruption scandal.

Bostic said when he got to the Calexico Police Department, he found almost no real police work going on. “I have an investigation unit, the former investigation unit, that was investigating no crimes,” he said. “They were also responsible for the internal affairs investigations and they didn’t know where any of those were.”

Read more: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jan/06/calexico-police-department-under-fire-alleged-crim/