The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that it was launching a review of the Calexico Police Department amid an FBI investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing by some officers.
Calexico Mayor John Moreno said the federal government was intervening at the city's request in an effort to restore public confidence in the city of 40,000 people about 120 miles east of San Diego. "It's one of many pieces of the puzzle that will put us on the right track," he said.
The Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services called the exercise a "collaborative reform process" in a statement that gave no details on the scope of the review. City and federal officials scheduled a joint news conference Tuesday.
The Justice Department unit last month completed a yearlong review of the San Diego Police Department — also done at the city's request — that found a lack of supervision and failure to hold officers accountable contributed to a rash of misconduct involving officers. It gave recommendations to improve recruiting, hiring, training and supervision aimed at more quickly identifying problem officers.
In Calexico, the FBI seized computer hard drives and documents from police department headquarters in October in what it said was an investigation involving several officers suspected of committing crimes while on duty. FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth said Monday that the investigation was open.
The FBI raid came shortly after Michael Bostic, a former assistant police chief in Los Angeles, was named to lead the department on an interim basis and promised a turnaround.
Bostic said last month that an internal review found "rampant abuse of overtime," complaints of threats and intimidation from officers and failure by officers to do required duties, according to the Imperial Valley Press. The chief said uses of force were being reviewed.
At least six officers on a force of about 35 have been fired, Moreno said.
