Essential California: Texting scandal rocks police department

The Eureka Police Department has been engulfed in controversy after private text messages among officers were published by the Sacramento Bee. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] [Essential California Newsletter] PRESENTED BY ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY FROM AMAZON PRIME VIDEO* June 10, 2021 [View in browser]( Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California [newsletter](. It’s Thursday, June 10. I’m Justin Ray. The Eureka Police Department in Northern California has been engulfed in controversy after private text messages among officers were published by the Sacramento Bee in two reports: [one released in March]( and [another two days ago](. Since the first story broke, a top supervisor has been placed on leave and other officers have left or are looking to leave the department, according to the Bee. “What’s really interesting about this whole story is the fact that it’s really rare for reporters and the public to get a look under the hood of how police departments operate, especially in the unvarnished kind of way,” Bee investigative reporter Jason Pohl told The Times. The text messages made public by Pohl show officers advocating for violence and degrading homeless people as “trogs” — short for troglodytes, a term meaning a person who lives in a cave. At the time of the first Sacramento Bee report, Eureka Police Department Chief Steve Watson told the paper he was unaware of the messages until he was contacted for comment. “The public’s trust is our lifeblood. It’s not something, genuinely, that we take lightly,” Watson said then. “We need to investigate it, look into it and take appropriate action just to make sure that the values of this department to our community are projected in everything that we do.” In a [Facebook post]( the Eureka Police Officers Assn. said, “The alleged statements in the article reflect extremely egregious behavior.” However, a Sacramento Bee public records request revealed that at the time of that statement, the president of the association sent an email to an officer: “I am so so sorry for all that you are going through… Please let me know if you need anything.” Referring to the text messages, “experts we talked to who study law enforcement culture and people inside of the department who are aware of the conduct from some of these officers, they agreed that this is deeply problematic because it portrays a deeply hostile, degrading culture,” Pohl told The Times. Soon after the Bee’s first report was released, the city hired a Bay Area law office to review the text messages, the Sacramento paper reported. When asked what accountability might look like, Pohl told The Times: “That’s a big question.” “In California, police officers are afforded a lot of protections both in terms of what discipline can be handed down, and what we and the public can find out about. Because personnel records, we don’t get to see those,” Pohl says. [Pohl’s latest story about the case]( provides more information about the culture within the police department. And now, here’s what’s happening across California: Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. 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