An officer with the National City Police Department was under investigation Wednesday for allegedly making racist statements in a private text-message exchange that wound up becoming public.
According to the NCPD, the officer will be on administrative leave pending the results of an in-house probe into the purported inappropriate communications, which were made to a member of his family before being posted on social media by an undisclosed party.
The suspended officer's name and details on the nature and contents of the statements in question were withheld.
It was unclear when the allegedly racist comments came to light. Department spokesman Sgt. Thomas Wilkins did not immediately return a call seeking elaboration about the episode.
In a prepared statement, National City police Chief Jose Tellez asserted that he would not "tolerate racist and unacceptable epithets made by any member of our organization."
"We are extremely disappointed that we have to conduct an investigation into one of our officers' alleged misconduct," Tellez said. "However, we want to assure the public and our community that there will be a comprehensive investigation into this matter."
Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis thanked the police chief for his "swift action" in addressing the controversy and said she wanted her constituents to know that "we cannot and will not tolerate this type of racial bias — or any bias for that matter — or (racially insensitive) behavior from our officers, city staff or elected officials."
"As public servants, we must be above reproach, and I fully support the investigation that has been prompted by these social-media posts," Sotelo- Solis added.
