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It wasnt just one utterance of the N word over the police radio.

Dozens of African-American city cops gathered at the Amistad statue outside City Hall for a press conference Thursday evening to express outrage over a series of disturbing racially discriminatory incidents in their department beyond the recent utterance of the racial slur.

Three organizations representing black copsthe Silver Shields, the Guardians, and the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officersorganized the press conference.

None of the officers spoke at the event. Instead, they surrounded local civil-rights attorney John Williams as he read a lengthy statement on their behalf.

The statement began by referencing the post-midnight utterance by an identified person of the word nigger over the police radio on Dec. 30 (originally reported here). That incident sparked an immediate internal affairs investigation aided by the FBI.

It should be very clear the black officers are not just outraged over this once incident, the statement read. Over the past 18 months, under Chief [Dean] Essermans administration, there has been a series of disturbing racially discriminatory incidents that range from blatant officer misconduct to acts of intimidation.

Esserman said Thursday night that he has been reaching out to local clergy and the NAACP and reaching out to groups within the department in addition to meeting with the black police officers in order to tackle the issue.

Let me be unequivocably clear: Racist behavior in any form of expression will not be tolerated in the New Haven police department, neither to the citizens we serve nor amongst one another in the rank and file, Esserman decalred. As a New Haven police officer, I am offended and want to believe most New Haven police officers are offended by such behavior and words. Respect and integrity must be the bedrock of our profession.

The black officers statement details four incidents, along with assessments of how the department handled them:

The posting by a white police officer of racially inflammatory comments on his personal Facebook page, including a description of a high-ranking black female cop as Miss Butterworth (a slur). For his highly inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, he was promoted to detective and assigned [to] the Bureau of Investigation in charge of processing evidence vital to major investigations, the statement charged.

Link:
Black Cops Decry Serious Breach Of Trust