California’s attorney general has launched an independent review of a Los Angeles County police department after "deeply concerning allegations of excessive force, racist text messages, and other discriminatory misconduct" were brought to light.
In a press release on Wednesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta's office said the review into the Torrance Police Department would be conducted by the California Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section with the assistance of the DOJ’s Division of Law Enforcement, NBC reports.
Bonta said that Torrance Police Chief Jay Hart had requested that the attorney general and the state’s DOJ investigate the issue.
“As police chief of the Torrance Police Department, I am committed to accountability, and I will not tolerate any form of bigotry, racism, hate, or misconduct,” Hart said in a statement.
More than 1,800 cases spanning over a decade in Los Angeles County are now under review, due to more than a dozen Torrance Police Department officers who worked the cases having been placed under investigation for racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic messages, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Greg Risling, the assistant chief of media relations for District Attorney George Gascon, wrote to CNN that to date, approximately 40 felony cases have been dismissed. Risling wrote that the cases under review include juvenile cases. He said the office is prioritizing pending cases as well as post-conviction cases where people remain in custody.
