By Christopher Rhodes
(Source: Blavity)
A North Carolina police department is under fire after numerous officers were discovered using racist language against Black residents and even discussing a competition to see who could stop the most Black drivers. While a number of officers involved in the racism scandal have been removed or are set to be fired, concerned members of the community are calling for further investigation into their past conduct and significant changes to be made for the future.
Racial slurs and a contest to stop Black drivers
As WBTV first reported Monday, more than half a dozen officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) have either resigned or been recommended for termination after they were discovered to have exchanged racist text messages. The offensive messages included multiple uses of the n-word, including in the context of discussions about use of force against Black people. The messages also indicated that officers apparently engaged in a competition among themselves to see who could stop the most Black motorists. At one point, one of the officers commented in a message, “our texts sound like a clan rally.” The messages were discovered during an investigation against Officer Seth Elliott, who resigned from the police force and faces a criminal charge over allegations that he illegally used Flock cameras to assist someone involved in a drug investigation. A review of text messages from Elliott’s phone revealed the racist exchanges that led to disciplinary actions against other officers.
What happens next in the CMPD racism scandal?
Elliott was initially placed on administrative leave due to the allegations of misusing Flock technology and has since resigned from the police force. Concerning the other officers involved in the racist text messages, whose names have not been publicly released, CMPD Chief Estella Patterson announced Thursday that three of them have resigned and that the department was seeking to terminate the employment of three more. “The allegations against them are serious, they’re deeply troubling, and frankly, I’m disappointed that we’re even having to talk about this,” Patterson said during a briefing. “As a Black woman who began my career here in this very department, it’s especially painful and disheartening to hear concerns from our community about racism coming from within the ranks of this organization,” she added.
Calls for broader investigations of officer conduct, greater reforms of CMPD
The remaining officers involved in the scandal were unanimously recommended for termination by an independent chain-of-command board hearing. Their cases will now go before the Civil Service Board, which has the power to fire them. “I hope they will not be an officer anywhere in this country,” Patterson said of the officers accused of sending the messages. Beyond eliminating these officers, prominent voices are calling for greater changes to the CMPD. Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg branch of the NAACP, has called for Chief Patterson to implement stricter vetting criteria for officers. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, argue that past cases involving the officers should be reopened in light of the racial bias expressed by the officers and larger disparities in how often Black motorists are stopped and searched by police. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted WBTV’s coverage of the story. “A badge should NEVER be a license for discrimination!” Crump wrote. “These allegations call into question traffic stops and use-of-force incidents involving these officers!”
It is too early to tell what larger changes will ultimately be made to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Patterson has said the department’s review of arrests, traffic stops and body-camera footage has so far not shown anything that specifically targets Black drivers, according to WBTV. But as she seeks to remove the remaining officers involved in the current racism scandal, the messages have left critics questioning how far the problem goes.
