21 Md. Police Officers File Lawsuit

[Rose Siding]

BALTIMORE -- Twenty-one black current and former city police officers filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city, alleging that nooses were hung in their lockers, dog feces was placed on their desks and zebra stripes were painted on pictures of their mixed-race children.

The federal class-action lawsuit filed Monday accuses the department of condoning a hostile workplace, blocking black officers from promotion, levying uneven discipline and retaliating against officers who spoke out against discrimination.

It also alleges that racism led to the firing last month of former police Commissioner Kevin P. Clark. Mayor Martin O'Malley said domestic abuse allegations against the commissioner, though unsubstantiated, had eroded his leadership ability.
...........
City Solicitor Ralph S. Tyler called the allegations "untrue" and said many claims are barred by statutes of limitations.

"People who have serious issues to raise come in to present them, they don't issue press releases," he said..........

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-black-police-officers,0,809858.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[el_gato]

1. cops and racism go hand in hand

look up slave patrols and see what they eventually morphed into

[Sara Beverley]

2. The tone is set at the top (WH). It's ok to show your racism again.

We're too busy with "homeland security" to worry about the safety and security of the people. I'm not so sure those 40 homes burned in MD were ecoterrorist either. A number of those who had already moved in were minorities. One mixed race. The days of peace and love and justice are over. We are in a classic meltdown of great civilization. The Romans couldn't handle it either.

[Anakin Skywalker]

3. Great analogy, Sara.