More than a year after the top cop in Calexico compared his own department and city officials to the New York mafia, the U.S. Department of Justice has released the results of its audit.
Among their findings: Officers were choosing where they would patrol instead of being assigned, there were no cameras or logbook controlling the department's evidence locker and there was no clear policy on use of force options.
Former Calexico Police Chief Mike Bostic was moved to tears in December 2014 when he publicly accused councilmembers and the police union of corruption.
“Exactly like the Mafioso in New York. That’s exactly how they are operating,” the chief said.
After he was on the job for three or four days, Bostic discovered the investigations unit was not working any active cases. The same was true with the narcotics and internal affairs units.
Bostic called in the FBI just two weeks after he took the office in the small border town east of San Diego.
The report prepared by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) identified several key findings:
- Instability in leadership
- A lack of supervision and accountability
- Absence of community policing practices
- Poorly functioning Internal Affairs
- No early intervention practices
- Patrol operations lack resources and coordination
- No crime analysis and information sharing internally or externally
COPS made 169 recommendations to help the community reestablish trust with its residents.
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"The number and severity of the findings in this assessment reflect the need for the Calexico Police Department to overhaul its core operational systems," said COPS Office Director Ronald Davis.