CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — On a federal holiday that honors one of the country’s leading civil rights movants, two black police officers remain on leave in a city that is being sued for racial discrimination.
While Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day across the country, black officers — who the Guardian is not naming — with the Chillicothe Police Department remain on leave after undergoing an internal affairs investigation last month, while others say it’s an attack on the race of the officers.
In an investigation by the city last year, it was alleged that one of the officers took a police report from another officer’s wife, all in an attempt to skew a custody arrangement. The city contends the two black officers conspired together to create a police report, while lawyers who represent the officers claim the city is targeting blacks and going after them because of the pending lawsuit.
During the city’s internal investigation, polygraph examinations were given to both officers, where one of them was told he lied about his name, his address, and the name of his children, according to the firm representing the officer. Last year, the officer filed a federal lawsuit against the city and Mayor Luke Feeney, alleging that the officer has been denied promotions and training based on the color of his skin. Earlier this month, seven defendants, including all of the police department’s administration were personally named in the lawsuit in a modified filing. The lawyers fighting for the officer say that the internal affairs investigation and paid leave are retaliation for the lawsuit.
“The city immediately targeted the officer once the suit was filed,” said NAACP member Brittany Smith. “They looked for reasons to go after him, and now, they are preparing to fire two black men, which account for half of the city’s black police force all in retaliation for the lawsuit, while the city disguises it as an internal affairs investigation into alleged wrongdoing. Mayor Luke Feeney is a racist, his henchmen who run the safety director’s office and the police department are, as well. What you are seeing unfold is a modern-day lynching right before your very eyes and it is appalling. Feeney, his number two Jeff Carman — who is violating the law by holding his job and living outside of the city — must go, and the people must take note that it is an election year.”
According to federal filings, depositions in the civil rights lawsuit begin later this month, while the officers remain on leave.
