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LBPD officer suspended for allegedly making ‘biased and prejudiced remarks’
| Photo courtesy of Long Beach Police Department
BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
A
Long Beach Police Department officer has been suspended for allegedly making “biased and prejudiced remarks,” and authorities are reviewing his past use of force incidents and arrest reports, police said Friday. Officer Maxwell Schroeder, a five-year veteran of the department, was suspended on Thursday and was most recently assigned to Field Support, according to the LBPD. “On August 19, the Long Beach Police Department was notified that one of our
officers had made biased and prejudiced remarks in electronic communications with a non-LBPD employee,” the LBPD said in a statement released on Friday morning. “The Department immediately launched an internal administrative investigation and re-assigned the officer to a desk assignment. “In the weeks since, the Department has acquired additional evidence and, yesterday, internal affairs investigators interviewed the officer as part of the internal administrative investigation,” police said. The police department cited the serious nature
of the allegations against Schroeder and based its decision to suspend him on a preliminary review of the evidence and investigation. The suspension is pending a final determination of the administrative investigation. “The Long Beach Police Department holds all its employees to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism -- and we have zero tolerance for all forms of prejudice,” police said. The investigation is expected to be completed in the coming weeks and the police department said
it is reviewing the previous use of force incidents and arrests reports made by Schroeder. Details of the remarks allegedly made by Schroeder were not released. “This department does not tolerate biased or prejudicial behavior by any employee -- this officer’s actions do not reflect the morals held by our officers who engage with our diverse community,” said Long Beach Police Department Chief Robert Luna. “Every Long Beach resident deserves to be treated with equity and respect when they interact with our personnel.”
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Arcadia Unified holds its spot in the top 1% of Best School Districts in America Out of more than 10,700 school districts in the United States, Arcadia Unified continues to be a leader in the nation for public education, recently and once again earning a spot in the top 1% of Niche’s 2022 Best School Districts in America. Sharing its rankings for the 2022 Best School Districts just ahead of the new year, Niche, an influential school and neighborhood review website, has put Arcadia Unified on the “nice list,” giving Arcadia Unified an overall “A+” grade and an “A” report card for each school in the district. Arcadia Unified School District’s National Niche Distinctions included: - Arcadia Unified ranks in the Top 1% Best School Districts in America - Arcadia Unified ranks in the Top 1% Districts with the Best Teachers in America - Arcadia Unified ranks in the Top 1% Best Places to Teach in America “Though the world turned upside down nearly two years ago, the unwavering level of instruction, dedication, and care Arcadia Unified’s world-class staff has shown to our students and families well before and throughout the most difficult times we all have faced during this pandemic is the number one reason why we earn prominent recognition like this,” said Arcadia Unified Superintendent Dr. David Vannasdall when asked what it means to be named one of the best school districts in the country. In addition to a national breakdown, Niche segments its rankings into state and local levels. Arcadia Unified is at the top in each. Other
notable Niche nods find Arcadia Unified in the top 10 Best Places to Teach in California and the top two Best Places to Teach in the Los Angeles area. Correspondingly, of the more than 140 school districts in Los Angeles, Arcadia Unified made the top 10 list for Districts with the Best Teachers. According to its website, Niche undergoes a rigorous analysis of key statistics and data from thousands of schools, which includes information from the U.S. Department of Education and millions of reviews from students and parents to arrive to their rankings. “We like the school because of the excellent teachers and opportunities for students to grow,” wrote a parent in a review for Arcadia Unified. “Teachers like my son’s history teacher, Ms. Nakatsuka, are there and always helping the students. Overall, I think the staff and teachers are excellent.” Ms. [Karalee] Nakatuska, mentioned in the review above, was recently named as one of Time’s “Educators Who Saved a Pandemic School Year” and has also been celebrated as a California History Teacher of the Year in 2019. Nakatsuka is just one of several awardwinning Arcadia Unified teachers, some of whom include GRAMMY Museum 2019 Jane Ortner Education Award recipient, Heather Moore and EdTech Magazine’s Top 30 K-12 IT Influencers for 2021, Christine Pinto. In addition to making
See Arcadia Unified Page 5