Four police officers in East Haven, Connecticut, a suburb of New Haven, were arrested today by the FBI on charges that they harassed and intimidated local Latinos, particularly focusing on abusing undocumented immigrants.
The indictment says that others were involved in the campaign of harassment. The unindicted co-conspirators are believed to be the East Haven police commissioner and two leaders of the police union. As many as nine additional officers may be charged with civil rights violations.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, police assaulted immigrants, raided their businesses, and harassed them. Some immigrants were arrested on trumped up charges and advocates for the undocumented were targeted, as well.
Last month, the Justice Department announced that it had found a pattern of discrimination against Latinos in the East Haven Police Department.
In a separate but thematically similar investigation, the Justice Department is also looking into discriminatory policing in Suffolk County, and sent a preliminary findings letter to then-County Executive Steve Levy in September.
