The investigation, conducted by The California Newsroom and UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, identified 148 California law enforcement officers between 2014 and 2024 whose agencies sustained allegations involving explicit bias. The cases included officers using slurs, ridiculing transgender people, making derogatory remarks about immigrants or people who do not speak English, and sharing racist or homophobic comments involving members of the public, co-workers and incarcerated people.

Only about 12% of those officers were fired as a result of the conduct, according to the review. More than 40% of the officers identified — not including correctional officers — continued to work in California law enforcement.

Among the cases was that of Rafael Silva, a former Delano Police Department officer in Kern County. In April 2023, the FBI found that Silva had posted violent threats against transgender people on TikTok under a pseudonym, according to investigative records. The posts included threats involving firearms and comments suggesting transgender people would be killed.

Silva was allowed to resign from Delano rather than be terminated. He later worked for police departments in Avenal and Wasco. The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, known as POST, declined to revoke his certification. The city of Wasco confirmed that Silva remained employed as one of its police officers as of June 24, 2026. Silva did not respond to requests for comment. Delano police confirmed he worked for the department until 2023 but declined to discuss the matter further.

The findings were based on thousands of pages of internal affairs records, disciplinary files and court documents obtained from nearly 500 law enforcement and oversight agencies across California. The records show a wide range of discipline, from reprimand letters and training orders to suspensions, demotions, pay reductions and firings.

POST has the authority to decertify officers, which prevents them from working as peace officers in California. But investigations and discipline are generally handled by the officers’ own agencies or local oversight bodies.

The issue reaches into Southern California agencies as well.

In 2022, Orange County District Attorney’s Office investigator Eric Franke referred to a security guard who had asked him to leave a building as an “angry Black lady,” according to records. In another incident, he made a remark that Mexican people drink excessively. Franke received a written reprimand and remained employed by the district attorney’s office.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said it takes biased conduct seriously and noted that Franke was disciplined. Franke did not comment.

In separate cases, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Armando Magana and San Diego Police Department Officer Alan Dyemartin mocked people for not speaking English. Magana’s case occurred in 2015, and Dyemartin’s in 2018. Both officers received reprimand letters and kept their jobs. The LAPD declined to comment on Magana’s case. A San Diego police spokesperson said the department takes prejudiced behavior seriously and disciplined the employee involved. Magana declined to comment, and Dyemartin did not respond to requests for comment.

Legal scholars, police officials and civil rights advocates said sustained findings of explicit bias can damage public confidence, raise questions about an officer’s credibility in court and harm efforts to recruit and retain a diverse workforce.

Vida Johnson, a Georgetown University law professor who has testified before Congress on white supremacy and policing, said officers who show clear bias should not remain in the profession.

“With such an important job, if someone is exhibiting any type of bias against a member of their community, I just don’t think they should have that job,” Johnson said.

Experts said biased behavior by officers can discourage residents from seeking help from law enforcement. Stefan Vogler, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said marginalized communities may feel both heavily policed and inadequately protected — a dynamic researchers describe as the “overpolicing, underprotection” paradox.

“They’re not getting the services that they’re promised by the state,” Vogler said.

Bias findings can also affect criminal cases. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brady v. Maryland decision, prosecutors must disclose evidence that could undermine the credibility of law enforcement witnesses. Former Los Angeles police commissioner Richard Drooyan said documented bias can make it difficult to rely on an officer’s testimony without supporting evidence.

Reporters requested information from district attorneys’ offices in counties where officers in the investigation had been disciplined for biased conduct, seeking to determine whether the officers appeared on so-called Brady lists. The Madera County District Attorney’s Office said it does not maintain such a list. Several offices said they could not locate Brady material involving the officers in question, while most declined to say whether the officers were on their lists, citing disclosure exemptions.

The investigation also found dozens of cases involving anti-Black bias, including 23 officers disciplined for using the n-word. Some officers shared or made comments mocking George Floyd after he was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020.

Ben Grunwald, a Duke University law professor, said the stakes are especially high because police officers have the power to detain, arrest and use force.

“The idea that these decisions that are really high stakes might be influenced by things like racism, sexism, homophobia — those should raise really serious concerns for everyone,” he said.

Bias also appeared in correctional settings. Of 61 correctional officers identified in the review, more than half were still employed at the end of 2024, according to state controller data. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which employs more law enforcement officers than any other state agency, would not confirm whether those officers remain employed today.

In two cases at Pelican Bay State Prison, officers made casual remarks about killing or shooting Black people and received reprimands. At California Men’s Colony, an officer mocked a transgender inmate by telling the person to put on lipstick before going to the yard; that officer received a temporary salary reduction.

In response to the investigation, a CDCR spokesperson said the department takes corrective and disciplinary action when warranted and has adopted new staff misconduct rules intended to reduce bias, improve transparency and strengthen accountability.

James King, program director for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and a formerly incarcerated person, said biased language from correctional officers carries particular weight because incarcerated people depend on staff for safety, basic needs and access to rehabilitative programs.

“It becomes much deeper than mere words because there’s so much power and authority behind those words,” King said.

Most of the cases reviewed — 79% — involved conduct directed at or made in the presence of other people in the justice system, including fellow officers, court employees, civilian staff and, in one case, a judge during court proceedings.

In Orange, a Black police officer reported seeking work at another law enforcement agency because of racist jokes and homophobic slurs used in the workplace by Orange Police Sgt. Darrin Hall between 2020 and 2022, records show. Hall received notice that he would be demoted and retired later that month. The Orange Police Department declined to comment, citing personnel confidentiality.

Drooyan said bias among officers can damage morale and create safety concerns, particularly when officers must depend on one another in dangerous situations.

“When they get into a tough situation, if they can’t trust each other, I think it becomes problematic,” he said.

Grunwald said the findings also present a challenge for departments working to diversify their ranks and retain officers of color.

The review found that 39% of the 148 officers identified were suspended, demoted or had their pay reduced. About 20% received reprimand letters or were ordered to complete training — measures that may not remain permanently in personnel files.

Experts cautioned that the cases likely represent only a small portion of biased conduct in policing.

Johnson pointed to fear of retaliation, difficulty filing complaints and the long-standing culture of silence in law enforcement as reasons many incidents may never be reported.

State data show that more than 19,600 complaints alleging prejudiced behavior by California law enforcement officers were filed between 2016 and 2024. Agencies sustained 349 of those complaints. The figures do not include complaints involving racially biased traffic stops.

The review was limited to records available under California public records laws, meaning reporters could only examine certain sustained misconduct cases.

King said the findings should not be dismissed as isolated misconduct by a few officers. He argued that law enforcement agencies can develop workplace cultures that are difficult to change through training or hiring alone.

Sheryl Victorian, police chief in Waco, Texas, said agencies must respond promptly and appropriately when biased conduct occurs, whether through reprimands, retraining or more serious discipline.

“If nobody actually addresses the behavior when it occurs, then they continue to talk that way, and that behavior becomes acceptable,” she said.

Some officers successfully appealed discipline, with penalties reduced in at least 38 cases. Others resigned before disciplinary proceedings were completed.

The investigation relied on records collected through the Police Records Access Project, which obtains misconduct files from law enforcement and oversight agencies throughout California. Reporters searched files and summaries for terms associated with prejudice and slurs, then reviewed cases to determine whether agencies had sustained allegations involving explicit bias against protected groups. Certification and employment records from POST and the state controller’s office were used to assess whether officers remained employed in law enforcement.

Original source: CalMatters

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