NATIONAL CITY

NCPD Officer on Leave After Alleged Racist Texts Make Rounds on Social Media

A woman claiming to be the step daughter of a National City police officer posted screenshots of racists text messages allegedly sent by her step father

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A National City officer was placed on administrative leave Wednesday after alleged racially inappropriate text messages were exposed on social media and brought to the department 's attention.

The alleged comments were exchanged between the officer and a member of his family, according to the National City Police Department.

A Twitter thread posted by Miranda Dykes, 23, earlier in the day claims her step father is a NCPD officer and posted screen shots of racist messages he's allegedly sent to her and her family. She also recounted several alleged racially charged incidents and encounters involving her step father.

NCPD did not confirm the identify of the officer it was investigating, and said an Internal Affairs investigation was started after an officer's alleged "racially inappropriate" texts were posted on social media. The officer was placed on administrative leave and removed from police duties.

In Dykes' thread, she expressed how she doesn't feel safe knowing her step father is out on patrol. She provided more detail in an interview with NBC 7.

"My main goal is to make sure he's not protecting the citizens of National City, where my boyfriend [a Black man] works, where there are plenty of Black people," Dykes said. "I feel like they're not safe with him working."

Dykes said having a Black son also played a major role in her decision to expose her step father's alleged behavior. The final straw was a text mocking the death of George Floyd.

"You can't joke about that. You're a police officer," she said. "You're supposed to protect and be as angry as everybody is."

The screen shots and Dykes' recounts of her step father's alleged behavior were laced with derogatory slurs and brazen racism.

They drew plenty of attention online, but Dykes said that wasn't the case the times she's called the department to reported her step father anonymously.

"I've called three or four times in the past year," Dykes explained. "I've called three or four times saying, but I was anonymous, I was like I'm calling to let you know there were racists remarks said by the officer. But I never got calls back until this happened."

Dykes said her step father came into her life when she was in kindergarten and hasn't always remembered him as a racist.

"It wasn't until he joined the police department about 10 years ago give or take that I started seeing the way he was," she said. "Before that he had Black friends, he had friends of all races. He was in the Navy and he was around everybody. I would have never thought I would be here saying get rid of this cop, he's racist."

Dykes said her mother divorced her step father last year.

National City Chief of Police Jose Tellez issued a statement Wednesday, saying “Our department will not tolerate racist and unacceptable epithets made by any member of our organization. We are extremely disappointed that we have to conduct an investigation into one of our officer’s alleged misconduct. However, we want to assure the public and our community that there will be a comprehensive investigation into this matter.”

Mayor Sotelo-Solis said he fully supports the investigations and thanked Chief Tellez for taking action.

“I want the National City community to know that we cannot and will not tolerate this type of racial bias (or any bias for that matter) or behavior from our officers, City staff or elected officials,” a statement from Sotelo-Solis read in part.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

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