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It appears that officers of the East Contra Costa police force conspired to get themselves awarded fraudulent degrees in order to secure pay raises, and then they moved on to, "Premeditated civil rights violations, falsifying reports, using and distributing steroids, using cocaine, and accepting bribes while on patrol."

As I have noted before, the culture of impunity among law enforcement is out of control in the United States, so no amount of training will fix this, only investigation, prosecution, and incarceration of corrupt officers, and those who looked the other way, will solve this problem:

The FBI and state criminal investigation of East Contra Costa police officers began with allegations of cops conspiring to fraudulently obtain college degrees to collect pay bumps, this news organization has learned.

What started out as suspected salary fraud quickly snowballed. On cell phones seized by authorities, investigators uncovered evidence of other potential crimes — and more officers to look into.

Now, with indictments expected by year’s end, the probe has swelled to encompass at least a dozen Antioch and Pittsburg [California] police officers, and a growing list of crimes including premeditated civil rights violations, falsifying reports, using and distributing steroids, using cocaine, and accepting bribes while on patrol.

………

It is the most shocking set of allegations against Bay Area police officers in at least a decade. Already, one Pittsburg officer, Armando Montalvo, has been charged by the Contra Costa District Attorney with possessing and selling assault weapons, while dozens of criminal cases tainted by the participation of rogue police have been thrown out of court. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is weighing criminal charges against implicated officers, according to the law enforcement sources.

When announcing the joint investigation in March, the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said it involved “crimes of moral turpitude,” a broadly defined legal term that can mean any crime involving dishonesty or depravity.

But the scheme to defraud city governments by getting higher-education degrees — along with details of some other alleged crimes, and the connections among accused officers — has not been publicly disclosed until now.

………


Antioch officers receive a 2.5 percent pay increase for an associate’s degree and 5 percent for a bachelor’s, under the police union contract; the current Pittsburg police agreement includes 5 percent and 10 percent raises for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, as well as tuition reimbursement.

After receiving a tip about the college degree scheme, investigators snatched cell phones belonging to several officers. On the devices, they discovered text messages among officers that widened the probe to include additional officers suspected of other crimes, including premeditated civil rights violations involving car stops and officers’ use of force, sources said.

I'm having a tough time distinguishing between the local constabulary in East Contra Costa and groups more generally categorized as criminal gangs.