Fort Lauderdale's Police Chief said he was shocked over the scandal that saw four officers lose their jobs over racist text messages and video last week.
"I was just absolutely shocked, I just couldn't imagine someone who says 'I want to serve the public and be a public servant' would have those types of feelings," Chief Frank Adderley said in an exclusive interview with NBC 6. "Based on the investigation, it's confined to the four."
Adderley spoke Monday, as the Fraternal Order of Police reviews the racist video and texts and the officers decide whether to fight to get their jobs back.
Officers Jason Holding, James Wells and Christopher Sousa were fired following an extensive internal affairs investigation, Adderley announced Friday. A fourth officer, Alex Alvarez, resigned during the course of the investigation and would have been fired, Adderley said.
"I haven't had any contact with them," Adderley said of the officers. "My impression to take away from there, they really have a problem with race."
The officers have 10 days before deciding whether they want to appeal to get their jobs back.
"In a statement, they thought it was simply a joke on their behalf, they didn't feel that they were offensive," Adderley said. "I would say that they just made poor judgment, they pursued a career in law enforcement that probably wasn't the right fit for them."
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The FBI is also investigating what happened.
