Prosecutors in San Francisco have empaneled a team of three retired judges to review the work of 14 members of the police force after uncovering a string of racist and anti-gay text messages they are accused of regularly exchanging.

NBC reports as many as 3,000 cases involving the officers are expected to be reviewed in an effort to determine if "biases influenced arrest decisions, the decisions of prosecutors and potentially resulted in wrongful convictions."

The team of judges will also be seeking to ascertain if a systematic culture of unfairness exists within the department and what overall impact it could be having on area citizens.

Exchanged over a two-year period beginning in 2011, the texts reportedly included talk of lynching blacks, burning crosses and "white power." Several of the messages also targeted Mexicans, Filipinos and gays.

"If just one individual was wrongly imprisoned because of bias on the part of these officers -- that's one too many," San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said.

The recently launched review is also an expansion of an investigation that commenced in March during the federal prosecution of former Sgt. Ian Furminger, who was recently sentenced to 41 months in prison on a variety of corruption-related charges, including stealing money and other belongings from drug dealers.

The new probe is also part of an even larger investigation currently looking into allegations of faulty crime lab testing and accusations that deputies from the County Sheriff's office routinely forced inmates at the county jail to fight "gladiator-style."

The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year, but as of yet authorities have not publicly released the names of any of the officers alleged to be involved. Six other officers also received disciplinary actions, ranging from reassignment to possible termination. A seventh officer has already resigned.