http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-biassuit1jun08,0,4153149.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines
By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
June 8, 2006
Town officials were surprised that seven Greenwich police officers sued the town for racial discrimination, the town's attorney said yesterday, as the town has been in talks with the officers and their lawyer about their allegations.
"We thought there would be more discussion," Town Attorney John Wayne Fox said.
The five black officers and two Latino officers sued the town in federal court for what they contend is a long standing pattern of racial discrimination against minority members of the force and the public.
Black and minority police officers, complainants, witnesses, and suspects are mocked and shown disrespect compared with their white counterparts, according to the complaint filed May 31 in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
"The Greenwich Police Department has a long history of being a hostile environment towards minorities," the suit said. "Its supervising officers have made racist comments on a systematic and continuous basis, and have tolerated such conduct and behavior from its officers."
The seven plaintiffs are Officers Terral Hardy, John Rodriguez, Scott Johnson, Carlos Franco, John Woodward, Robert Brown, and Vincent O'Banner.
The suit cites numerous examples of alleged discrimination. One is that all seven officers contend they were unfairly passed over for promotions or prestigious assignments in favor of white candidates.
The officers claim that last year, the police department deliberately delayed filling three open sergeant positions to avoid promoting Brown, who was second in line for the positions. Hardy and Rodriguez were among the top 10 officers eligible for the promotions.
None of the three sergeant jobs was filled until after their sergeant's exam qualification had expired, meaning they would have to take the exam again.
"As a result of the manipulation of the timing of the sergeant appointments by the ... the town of Greenwich, no officers of color were promoted to sergeant," the suit says.
That same type of discrimination is applied to the public, the suit contends, stating that Hardy was once criticized by his supervising lieutenant for not stopping three black people they saw walking around, explaining, "They do not belong here. You know they do not belong here."
"Plaintiffs and similarly situated officers of color have suffered emotional distress as a result of the systematic and continuous pattern and practice of racial profiling directed against persons of color," the suit states.
Black people, whether under arrest or seeking help, are mistreated and belittled by white officers, according to the suit.
"White police officers have a tendency to mock African-American complainants, witnesses, and arrestees, imitating their speech and mannerisms."
The suit cites a litany of instances dating to the late 1980s in which unnamed white officers used racial epithets, and minority officers witnessed offensive jokes and racial stereotypes about blacks Latinos, and other ethnic groups. Among them:
* White officers have commented to Latino officers that all Puerto Ricans carry knives.
* A black female officer was nicknamed "Buckwheat" after a black character on the 1930s comedy the Little Rascals. White officers also asked the same officer to have sex, saying they'd never had sex with a black woman.
* White officers joked, "How are Spanish people like cueballs? The harder you hit them, the more English you get out of them."
The officers' attorney, Lewis Chimes, of Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Chimes & Richardson in New Haven declined to comment when reached by telephone. O'Banner and Hardy also declined to speak about the suit yesterday, and the other officers could not be reached for comment.
The suit seeks damages for lost income and benefits as well as emotional harm and court oversight of the town's hiring procedures to assure that discrimination based on race is prevented.
Police Chief James Walters declined to address most of the suit but defended the department's promotional and assignment procedures.
"I will say all promotions and assignments within the police department are based on merit," Walters said.
Town Attorney Fox cautioned that the claims made in the suit are allegations, but that the town takes such claims seriously.
"If in fact they are true and have been established to be true I think we all would be offended," Fox said. "Any time there are these kinds of allegations we review them, we discuss them, and then deal with them."
Police Sgt. James Bonney, president of the Greenwich Silver Shield Association, the department's union, said that he has heard stories about racist behavior by officers but not witnessed any first hand.
Bonney said that he was aware that the group of officers had been trying to resolve their issues through the department for some time.
"I support all my members and whatever action they take," Bonney said. "I hope the town acts fairly in whatever they do but we've had a lot of trouble in the past making them follow the rules. Nothing surprises me."
The town is already facing a Commission of Human Rights and Opportunities investigation about a case in which a group of minority women have said they were discriminated against when they were denied entry to Greenwich Point Park.
And the police department is also fighting a lawsuit in which a lieutenant claims he was unfairly passed over for a captain's position. Lt. F. Gary Honulik got the highest score on the written test required for the job, but the man who scored two points behind him got the position. Both men in that case are white.
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.