FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Three Fort Lauderdale Police officers have been fired and another has resigned after an internal affairs investigation uncovered an extensive exchange of racially-insensitive material among the law enforcers.
Addressing reporters Friday afternoon, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley said the investigation revealed 31-year-old Officer Jason Holding, 25-year-old Officer Christopher Sousa and 29-year-old Officer James Wells have been terminated. A fourth officer, 22-year-old Alex Alvarez, has tendered his resignation of his own accord.
Adderley said the officers engaged in "sustained department misconduct and ... conduct unbecoming of a police officer" which "involved racist text message exchange among themselves."
"I am very disappointed, disgusted and shocked by this incident," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler. "The inappropriate, racist behavior exhibited by those involved is unacceptable and reprehensible. It violates the trust we place in our law enforcement officers."
"The four officers' conduct was inexcusable, and there is zero tolerance for this type of behavior in the Fort Lauderdale Police Department," Adderley continued.
Adderley added Alvarez was responsible for a video that he described as "racially biased." The iMovie, which according to authorities, Alvarez edited to make it seem like a trailer for a fictitious movie called "The Hoods," came to light in October 2014 and triggered the internal affairs investigation.
When asked to elaborate about the content of the video, Adderley said, "There is someone with hood, KKK, in the video." The clip includes other racially charged images, including a doctored photo of President Barack Obama with grills over his teeth. "I don't think anyone can say that they would not be disappointed who has seen this video," said Adderley. "I think it's a bad video ... and its attempt was to damage the image of this agency."
"When I observed the video, I was disgusted," said Seiler, adding the content in the video was "extremely disrespectful."
The investigation also yielded many pages of test messages between the four officers that are also racially biased and homophobic. One reads, "Jimmy, what would Big Dad do to that [expletive]?"
The reply: "Get that [expletive] from under the wagon and that [expletive] lover in the wagon."
WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miami Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, DecoEven though Alvarez resigned prior to the firing of the other three officers, Seiler said, "I can promise you, if the other one hadn't resigned, he would have been terminated," said Seiler.
4 Fort Lauderdale Police officers ousted after alleged racist vi - WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miami Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco
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