The U.S. Department of Justice will begin examining hiring, training, and oversight matters as part of an in-depth review of the troubled Calexico Police Department. The review, which was announced Tuesday, had been requested by the city amid multiple claims of wrongdoing within the department and an ongoing FBI investigation into possible criminal misconduct.
"There was overtime abuse. There was nothing being done in investigations. The whole department was a wreck," said Mayor John Moreno. The mayor noted that at least 6 officers on a force of just 35 had already been fired.
The FBI investigation began last year, with agents seizing computer hard drives and documents from police department headquarters. Police Chief Mike Bostic, who took over shortly before the raid, said the department had been operating “exactly like the Mafioso in New York.”
The FBI investigation is separate from the DOJ probe. Similar reviews by the Department of Justice have been carried out in cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Spokane.
Read more about the review here.