Commission calls for updates on EPD probe
Eureka Chief of Police Steve Watson fielded questions Thursday evening from the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission regarding the ongoing probe of demeaning text messages sent among a Eureka police squad. Commissioners agreed to receive monthly updates from Watson as the investigation progresses.
After learning of the series of obscene, violent and degrading text messages shared between a squad of six Eureka police officers, published by the Sacramento Bee, commission chair Jim Glover said he felt it was necessary for the commission to respond to the allegations.
“In what way, I have no idea,” Glover said. “Yesterday, (Chief Watson) reached out to the commission to share a few points that he thought might be important in any discussion that we had.”
The commission noted that its intention was not to put Watson on the spot but to get more information on what’s occurring within the Eureka Police Department.
Watson, noting that he was parked along the side of the highway “to set a good example by not texting and driving,” told the commission he shares the community’s concerns.
“We have an obligation to the community to be accountable and to earn and continue to refresh the public’s trust in us,” Watson said. “The actions of a couple of officers, based on the reports that we all received at the same time from the Sac Bee, do not live up to the standards and expectations of the community… I hear and understand the community’s concerns and people have every right to be angry and to demand answers.”
The city of Eureka has retained the San Francisco Bay Area law firm Sacks, Ricketts & Case LLP to conduct an independent, third-party investigation into the text messages.
“it is important that the process be fair and thorough in fact-finding,” Watson said. “As much as we can be transparent to the community we intend to be, I think the community understands that there are certain privacy obligations per law that we have to hold to.”
Because the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act provides California police officers with “specific rights to ensure a fair and complete investigation prior to the issuance of any discipline,” the accused officers cannot be summarily fired no matter how damning the information appears to be.
Two of the officers in the squad, Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez and Officer Mark Meftah, were put on paid administrative leave immediately after the news of the texts broke on March 17.
“There have been some understandable questions from people as to why are these officers on paid versus unpaid leave? Or why have you not terminated them already? Again … it’s a matter of California state law, as well as the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights,” Watson said.
Commissioner Byrd Lochtie asked how EPD holds its officers accountable to the values of the department.
Watson said officers go through an extensive background check, a psychological medical examination and a polygraph test before they are hired.
“When you were sworn in, you swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the state of California,” Watson said. “We also have a very lengthy policy and procedures manual that spells out standards of conduct. The city also has a larger master policy.”
Watson reiterated that he had no knowledge of the obscene messages being shared between the sixperson squad until he was contacted by a Sacramento Bee reporter the day before the story broke.
“This is very painful,” he said. “There are a lot of upset people in our department that are very frustrated that this happened because they’re looking at how hard they worked over the last few years for our department to go in a different direction and to restore trust in our community. We’ve made a lot of progress…this really is a slap in the face.”
Watson said he wants to take a “deep look at what happened and what else is potentially going on” in an effort to fix any latent issues that still exist.
Lochtie asked about the timeline investigation and when the community can expect some answers.
Watson said he would be happy to report back to the commission at any time but his information may be limited to protect the integrity of the investigation.
“(The investigation) can take multiple months to be as thorough as it needs to, so I really can’t give you a timeline,” Watson said. “The swifter the better in my mind as long as it is completely thorough, fair, objective and goes as deep as it needs to to get the answers that, that the community in this department in the city need.”
The commission agreed to add an update from Watson to its monthly agenda until the investigation is complete.
The Humboldt Human Rights Commission’s meeting can be found at accesshumboldt.net.