The Calexico City Council is scheduled Tuesday night to discuss keeping its interim police chief, Michael Bostic, who has drawn controversy with his assertions that members of the city’s police officers union were acting “like the mob.”
Since Bostic's appointment in October, seven Calexico police officers have been fired.
Those fired officers, a current officer and a Calexico police commissioner filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against Bostic and the city, claiming city leaders conspired to violate the officers’ civil rights in retaliation for the police union's political activities. The Imperial Valley Press was the first to report about the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also names City Councilwoman Martiza Hurtado. The officers accuse Hurtado of retaliating against them because the Calexico Police Officers Association opposed her re-election last year. The suit also accuses city officials of union-busting, defamation and witness tampering.
The suit was filed on the same day the U.S. Department of Justice held a listening session for the community as part of a reform effort requested by Bostic.
The Imperial Valley Press reported that Bostic's only reaction to the lawsuit was an observation that it caps two weeks of well-planned events all aimed at derailing the department’s internal investigations of possible officer corruption.
