.@ChiefPGPD: "If we find wrongdoing, we will address it." Says 1st meeting of independent panel took place today @WTOP pic.twitter.com/atLIN2ty26
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) February 9, 2017
WASHINGTON — Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said he is “deeply concerned” by accusations of discrimination within the department, but said some photos that appear to show such actions are outdated or depict an element of the department’s training process.
On Thursday, Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski released several photos that are part of an October complaint sent to the Department of Justice.
Last week, the Justice Department confirmed receipt of a letter of complaint from a group of minority officers, who claim “rampant discrimination” inside the police department. One of the groups that filed the complaint, the Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association, says 90 officers have now signed on to it.
One of the photos shows a training dummy inside a police training facility with arrows and writing calling attention to an afro and a picture of a black man’s face taped to it. Stawinski said the photo depicts a training aid used before 2015 and doesn’t point out a white man’s face that is also able to be taped onto the dummy.
“I want to assure the public that the investigation into this goes on, but all four of those items of training materials have been discarded,” Stawinski said of the items in the photo.
The afro was brought in by an African-American member of the training staff and used, along with the other items, to help officers train for specific response situations, Stawinski said. The photos were brought to his attention early last month, he added.
Another photo shows a vulgar, anti-President-Obama license plate on a sergeant’s vehicle, which Stawinski said he had removed from the vehicle within 72 hours of learning of it in April 2016.
Stawinski said despite the sergeant’s First Amendment right to have the license plate on his personal vehicle, he found it “repulsive” and wouldn’t have it on police property.
“It does not signal to our community the values we hold dear,” he said, adding that the license plate has not been on department property for months.
The department is still actively investigating an image that shows a marking on a locker for the ceremonial squad — the “Color Guard” — where “color” was marked out with “African-American” written in its place. The markings were discovered about 72 hours before the Thursday afternoon news conference, Stawinski said.
Stawinski said an independent panel is looking into allegations of racism and retribution within the department. The panel, which met for the first time Thursday, is focusing on practices, promotions and discipline in the department.
“I will not preside over an agency where anybody feels they aren’t valued, where anybody feels that our policies or practices would lead to a place where they are demeaned, where anybody feels they are in an offensive environment,” Stawinski said. “I worked in that place, and I won’t tolerate it.”
Stawinski said last week he had not been provided with enough specifics about the allegations contained in the complaint filed with the Justice Department.
