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Accusers won't join city investigation of racism

Credit: Karl Fischer And John Geluardi

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A group of black Richmond police supervisors who have accused Chief Chris Magnus of fostering racism in the department will refuse to participate in the city's investigation of their claims unless ordered to do so.

The eight officers on Jan. 9 filed a formal claim with the city, the last step before filing a lawsuit against Richmond. Each complainant seeks $1 million plus further damages to be awarded by jury trial.

"My clients did not want to hand over a list of witnesses and a timeline or other information so the city could begin the process of covering their butts in anticipation of a lawsuit," said attorney Christopher Dolan.

The group, which includes nearly half of the department's command staff, last month publicly accused Magnus of ignoring their suggestions about improving race relations within the department and making racist comments. Magnus repeatedly has denied those allegations.

The city responded by hiring an attorney to investigate the allegations, which are further documented in the Jan. 9 claim submitted to City Hall. The investigator, attorney Raymond Marshall, could not be reached Tuesday.

Dolan said officers will not willingly cooperate with the investigation unless the results are publicly released.

"My clients feel it's very important the public get to the bottom of the allegations," Dolan said.

The state Peace Officers Bill of Rights creates privacy protections for Magnus and Deputy Chief Lori Ritter, also accused of discrimination in the claim, that allow the city to keep the results of its investigation confidential.

Magnus initially agreed to waive his privacy protection but later retracted the offer at the city's request.

"It would be really too bad if the officers did not cooperate with the investigation, now that they have made such serious charges," said attorney Louise Renne, chairwoman of the San Francisco Police Commission, one of several attorneys representing Richmond.

Christine Maloney, another attorney working for the city, said rank-and-file officers might not speak freely with the investigator if they know their comments could be made public. She said officers may fear retaliation from complainants, all of whom are managers.

Dolan said he has asked the city to reject his claim and clear the way for the lawsuit.
The claim states that Magnus and other city officials ignored the complainants' concerns about racial discrimination by not taking their advice about how to resolve the perceived problem.

One concern was the promotion of Ritter in April.

"The officers expressed concern to the chief that Deputy Chief Ritter harbored ... feelings of racism, and that she was unsuitable for promotion without those issues being squarely addressed," Dolan wrote in the claim.

He contends that, prior to her promotion, Ritter asked a black captain to tap dance at a social function attended by police managers from other agencies.

Ritter, the highest-ranking female officer in department history, weathered similar attacks in 2004, when retired Lt. Tommie Phillips filed a federal discrimination suit claiming former Chief Joseph Samuels Jr. unfairly passed him over by promoting Ritter to the rank of captain. A federal jury found in favor of the city in 2005.

The claim also alleges:

• That Magnus posted a progression of photographs of Ritter in the office after her promotion to deputy chief, one of which had the caption "Master of the Universe," which black officers interpreted as a racial dig;

• That in April, Magnus told "a high-ranking officer" to picture Ritter wearing leather boots, cracking a whip and saying, "Dance, jigaboo, dance."

• That in April, while discussing crowd-control plans for the city's annual Cinco de Mayo street celebrations, Magnus asked if Juneteenth was "a holiday for shooting people."

• That in the fall, Magnus changed the process for screening applicants to the investigations bureau to prevent blacks from entering, referring to the high number of black officers applying as a "black out."

Magnus has denied all the allegations, suggesting in previous interviews that the claims had more to do with major changes he made early in his tenure that discomfited some of his command staff and pre-existing animus between individual officers.

"I am very disappointed by these allegations, and I absolutely deny making the remarks attributed to me. I have never discriminated against anyone in the department, or anyone else," Magnus said Tuesday. "I know that a thorough, independent investigation will bear this out."

Complainants include Capts. Cleveland Brown, Alec Griffin and Eugene McBride; Lts. Michael Booker, Shawn Pickett, Johan Simon and Arnold Threets; and Sgt. Jim Jenkins, president of the Guardians of Justice, a black officers organization. All are black men.

Magnus promoted Griffin and Booker to their current ranks during the same series of promotions. Ten of the 16 officers now holding the rank of lieutenant and higher are black men, and seven of those officers are complainants.

The internal rancor sharply contrasts with Magnus' general positive image in the community, where public officials and neighborhood leaders have repeatedly praised him for restoring community-oriented policing principles to his department's patrol division.