Several Oakland police officers face disciplinary action following Instagram scandal

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Seven current and three former Oakland police officers are under fire for social media behavior that violated department policy.

"This is law enforcement. They have to be held to a high standard. They have weapons. They have the authority to put their hands on people to make arrests," said Judge LaDoris Cordell, who served as a police auditor for the city of San Jose.

It all started in January, following the discovery of an Instagram account created by a former officer.

RELATED: OPD launches investigation into employees' alleged 'offensive' social media posts

That account contained racist and misogynistic content that often times mocked efforts to curb incidents of police brutality.

Following an investigation, Mayor Libby Schaaf's office said in a statement that the officers in question will face disciplinary action ranging from three to 25 days of unpaid suspension.

"But my questions is, why are they still there? Why are they even in the department if they have these kinds of attitudes and these kinds of views?" Judge Cordell said.

VIDEO: Retired Oakland cop attended US Capitol riot, OPD internal affairs investigation underway

Former Oakland police officer Jurell Snyder tells ABC7's I-Team FBI agents interviewed him about attending last week's Trump rally that led to the assault on the Capitol, and about his social media posts promoting conspiracy theories.

OPD has laid out new rules as a result of the investigation, including one where officers will have to reveal all their social media accounts and passwords to the department's inspector general.

But many in the community say the consequences amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

"You have to understand that we're already unnerved by law enforcement's presence in our communities. We're already giving our children the talk about how to survive encounters with law enforcement," said Cat Brooks, the co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project.

This isn't the first time OPD has come under fire.

The department has been under federal oversight for years because of past scandals.

But with the supervision possibly set to end in the near future, activists say this just proves that it's still needed and that more work needs to be done.