Police discrimination trial
Tuesday’s testimony – a marathon volley between Hartinger and Pickett – traced the rapid devolution of relations in the department after Magnus’ January 2006 hiring, which brought him to Richmond from Fargo, N.D.
Although Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus is expected to be in court through March defending himself in a racial discrimination lawsuit, RPD leaders say it’s business as usual for the department.
On the sixth day of testimony Thursday, Sergeant James Jenkins, a plaintiff in the discrimination lawsuit against the city of Richmond, police Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter, testified that there was a buddy system in place when it came to picking candidates for the Richmond Police Department’s Investigative Services Division. In 2007, eight high-ranking African American police officers sued the city of Richmond, accusing Magnus and Ritter of racial discrimination through blocking the advancement of black…
In 2007, eight high-ranking African American police officers sued the city of Richmond, accusing police Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter of racial discrimination. The civil trial is now in its third week in Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez. The plaintiffs—one of whom has since retired from the department and dropped his name from the suit—sued in March 2007, just over a year after Magnus was hired from Fargo, North Dakota. The suit alleges that Magnus…
The City Council approved $900,000 Tuesday to continue to defend the city in two civil rights lawsuits filed by a group of high-ranking Richmond police officers, adding to a legal battle that has already gone on for five years and cost $3.4 million.