MONMOUTH, NJ – After a police-involved crash, exposed cell phone data of several police officers revealed text messages containing racial slurs; however, only one of the four officers received punishment for the offense.
According to The Root, “Eyewitness News ABC 7 originally reported one officer from Marlboro Police Department used the N-word when referring to a Black person.”
The text message reads: “Next I’ll be cleaning the floors or some sh*t like I’m the f***ing hired n***er or something,” according to The Root.
The Root adds, “In a different message, a racist remark was made about an Asian person.”
The texts, reported by The Root, also revealed alleged racial slurs about the Black community made by another officer from Freehold Township.
“A separate officer from the same department texted: ‘I’m not racist. I hate everyone. If anything, Jews is (sic) one “race” I hate. I don’t have a problem with Black people. They make their own problems and names,’” according to The Root.
“Only one Marlboro officer involved was fired for the text he made,” according to The Root. Still, the other officers involved have no record of receiving “any formal disciplinary actions.”
President of the NAACP in Hunterdon County and a veteran law enforcement officer, Harrison Dillard, charged police need “to be thoroughly evaluated to ensure that this behavior isn’t happening,” according to The Root.
Raymond Santiago, Monmouth County Prosecutor, stated, “I can confirm that when this Office is confronted with evidence of racism displayed by police officers, such allegations are taken extremely seriously and investigated in a thorough manner.”
Santiago added, said The Root, “This Office is dedicated to ensuring that those who reside in, or visit Monmouth County, are policed only by law enforcement officers who treat everyone they encounter in a fair, unbiased and impartial manner.”
