California IN BRIEF : ALAMEDA : Officers Won’t Be Fired in Race Case

Six Alameda police officers who sent racist messages on department computers will not be fired, but they face disciplinary measures, Mayor Bill Withrow said. Withrow said firing the officers would have been difficult to uphold in court and that suspensions or other disciplinary actions would be sufficient. But officials at the American Civil Liberties Union said the larger issue of racism in the department is still being ignored. “This needs to trigger a much deeper investigation,” said John Crew of the ACLU. A recent internal audit of police computer messages found that officers sent messages to each other about dressing up as Ku Klux Klan members and made references to killing blacks.