Connecticut State Police say they have arrested and charged a former Bridgeport police officer in connection with a racist letter conspiracy within his own department.

Officer 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.

Higgins turned himself in at the state police Troop I station in Bethany Wednesday morning, and was later released on a promise to appear in court for arraignment in two weeks.

State police say Lt. Lonnie Blackwell, the president of the minority police organization Black Guardians, was placed on administrative leave by Chief Joe Gaudett pending possible firing for his role in the letter-writing incident.

According to the arrest affidavit, Higgins told investigators that Blackwell, 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.

He retired from the police department in July.