A former Bridgeport police officer asked for "accelerated rehabilitation" in court Tuesday following a racist letter scandal.

Clive Higgins reported finding racially charged letters in his mailbox at Bridgeport Police Headquarters in February. He had claimed that he was the target of the letters, but now faces a charge of reporting a false incident.

According to the arrest affidavit, Higgins told investigators that his superior told him to write a letter that would bring attention to the department with respect to ongoing racial complaints.

The letters were written on city letterhead, and began and ended with the words "white power."

The letters also complained that Higgins did not belong in the police department.

The incident came shortly after Higgins was acquitted of brutality in connection with a 2011 arrest in Beardsley Park that was caught on cellphone video.

Wayne Winston, the former vice president of the local NAACP chapter, says he still doesn't understand what Higgins was thinking in allegedly distributing such a letter.

"It muddies the water for people who really have that issue going forward," says Winston.

A police union officer had no comment on the case and said they would like to "move on from the actions of this past officer."

Higgins is due back in court Feb. 11.