Police discrimination trial
The man who conducted an investigation into alleged discrimination in the Richmond Police Department testified Thursday that he was inundated with complaints from both sides of the issue in mid-2007. Ray Marshall, a Harvard-educated attorney whose firm was paid more than $300,000 by the city for his fact-finding mission, testified that bickering on both sides prolonged his work and impaired the performance of the department. Seven high-ranking African American police officials are suing Police Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief…
As police command staff officials began peppering his hand-picked police chief with complaints of discrimination, Richmond’s most powerful executive official did all he felt he should do: Initiate an independent investigation, pass the complaints on to his Human Resources manager and issue a department-wide letter reiterating conduct policies. “I felt like I was doing exactly what I should have done,” Lindsay said in response to questions from Jonathan Matthews, the attorney for one of the seven plaintiffs in the discrimination…
The plaintiffs in the discrimination suit against Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter and the city aren’t suing for a specific dollar amount. But Wednesday’s testimony for the first time hinted at the costs they may have incurred from allegedly discriminatory promotion processes. According to an economist’s testimony, the total amount that five of the seven plaintiffs may have lost in total lifetime earnings and pension payments by not being promoted by Magnus ranges into the…
In recent years, the Richmond Police Department has been riven with discord between sworn and civilian employees, mediation meetings undertaken in bad faith and at least one internal dispute over whether to count a dead body in Richmond as part of the city’s homicide total, according to two witnesses’ testimony Friday. Human Relations Manager Leslie Knight concluded her third day of testimony in the discrimination lawsuit filed by seven African American officers against Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief Lori…
Hours after court recessed Wednesday, attorney Stephen Jaffe was still miffed. That morning, defense attorneys filed a motion seeking sanctions against Jaffe—who is representing six of the seven African American police officers who are suing the city of Richmond and its chief of police for racial discrimination—for allegedly berating and making racist comments to a member of their staff.
Lt. Johan Simon, a decorated member of the Richmond Police Department who some thought of as a potential candidate for chief of police, instead gained a more dubious distinction during the divisive early period of Chief Chris Magnus’ tenure atop the organization. He was the first officer ever to be put on a “threat assessment,” a city labor safety practice aimed at quashing workplace violence, according to testimony Wednesday in a Martinez courtroom. Why Simon, then a 26-year veteran of…
These graphs display data showing the gender and racial demographics of all the promotions made to the positions of deputy chief, captain, sergeant, and lieutenant positions under Chief of Police Chris Magnus in Richmond since January, 2006 through January, 2012.
A Richmond Police lieutenant on Thursday testified that systemic failures within the department were to blame for a botched investigation into serious crimes in the city. Lt. Charles “Chuck” Whitney testified he is friends with the seven high-ranking African American officers who are suing the city, Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter, and that he was concerned about retaliation for his testimony. Whitney was called to the stand by the plaintiffs’ attorneys. The discrimination case, which has…
During her second day of testimony in the discrimination lawsuit against herself, Police Chief Chris Magnus and the city of Richmond, former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter testified that she wanted more diversity in the department’s upper ranks. “When I was deputy chief, the command staff was African American men and myself,” Ritter said. “I wanted to see more gender diversity.” Ritter’s response was to a question from defense attorney Jeffrey Spellberg, who represents Ritter, Magnus and the city. Attorneys for…