Two Ferguson police officers resign over racist emails uncovered in federal report

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Two Ferguson police officers resign over racist emails uncovered in federal report

Captain Rick Henke and Sergeant William Mudd step down as Eric Holder says Justice Department is prepared to close down entire police force if necessary

Jon Swaine in New York
@jonswaine
Friday 6 March 2015 18.26 EST

The second-highest ranking commander in the beleaguered police department of Ferguson, Missouri, was one of two veteran officers to resign on Friday over racist emails uncovered by federal investigators.

Captain Rick Henke stepped down from his job together with Sergeant William Mudd, a fellow long-serving officer who was awarded the Medal of Valor more than 20 years ago, a spokesperson for the city confirmed on Friday.

Their departures came as Eric Holder, the US attorney general, said he was prepared to demand the dismantling of Ferguson’s entire police department if required for reforms ordered by his department this week in a scathing report on the city’s criminal justice system.

Speaking to a pool reporter at Andrews air force base in Maryland on Friday, Holder said an “entirely new structure” was needed in Ferguson. Asked whether that included closing the police force, he said: “If that’s what’s necessary, we’re prepared to do that.”

The police resignations also followed Wednesday’s firing of Mary Ann Twitty, Ferguson’s municipal court clerk, after she, too, was ensnared in the racist email scandal. Justice Department investigators detailed seven examples of offensive messages they found during searches of tens of thousands of official documents.







Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/06/ferguson-police-officers-resign-racist-emails

[sakabatou]

1. So, they resigned only because they got caught?

[cloudbase]

4. They resigned so they have nothing adverse their

record and can now go and work for another police department.

[TrollBuster9090]

7. And I know exactly who'll hire them, too. CLEVELAND.

"and can now go and work for another police department."

We all now know that the Cleveland police department is LOOKING for people like this.

[kelliekat44]

11. They resigned to keep their benefits and pensions which should be denied them. nt

[sheshe2]

2. Thank you AG Holder!

Asked whether that included closing the police force, he said: “If that’s what’s necessary, we’re prepared to do that.”

Thanks for your Op Judi Lynn.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

3. Bet those TeaParTY racist pricks wish Holder was gone now!

[2naSalit]

5. Is that all? Two?

I have yet to be impressed with any response by the Ferguson PD.

[bluestateguy]

6. "Henke, who joined the police force in July 1978, was paid $87,555 a year"

Just a pampered and overpaid union thug.

[Cryptoad]

8. The policemen that will be hired to

replace these fired officers will be hired by the same public servants overseen by the same public elected officials that hired those that are be fired.... Why,,,, 67% of voters in Ferguson didn't give a damn enough to vote last November..... Really saddens me and others that fought the battle for voters rights.

You really think those same public servants will hire a higher caliber of policemen as replacements?

[AndyTiedye]

9. Attempting to Vote While Black Could Result in Arrest in Ferguson

67% of voters in Ferguson didn't give a damn enough to vote last November.....

To vote, they have to get past the Ferguson Police, who arrest or shoot black people for anything or nothing even on an ordinary day.

Perhaps those police experience an outpouring of respect for democracy and so behave differently on Election Day, but I doubt it.

[Hekate]

10. Good start

[kelliekat44]

12. The NRA is waiting in the wings to give all those cops fired anywhere a job with them. nt

[shaayecanaan]

13. From one of the articles

The Justice Department’s report also identified Ferguson’s court clerk as the most prolific of a group of white officials who were caught fixing citations and fines incurred by colleagues and associates. City spokespeople did not respond to requests to confirm the clerk was Twitty. Calls to a number listed for Twitty were not answered on Friday.

The federal investigators found that in March 2014, a friend of a relative of the clerk emailed her with a scanned copy of a ticket and asked “if there was anything she could do to help”. The clerk responded: “Your ticket of $200 has magically disappeared!”, the report said. The clerk had at least one more ticket dismissed for the same person three months later.

In August – when the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white Ferguson officer led to intense protests – the clerk succeeded in having the municipal judge “take care” of another ticket on behalf of a supervisor at the Ferguson police department.

and

Investigators also found Ferguson court staff colluding with officials in nearby jurisdictions. “There is evidence that the Court Clerk and a City of Hazelwood clerk ‘fixed’ at least 12 tickets at each other’s request,” the report said.

Not only racist, but severely corrupt as well, it seems.

[marshall]

14. This is why government officials must use government email addresses

there is nothing to shred, no tapes to erase, no private servers to wipe--it is all owned by the government and can be gone over with a fine tooth comb. We live in a truly transparent world when no one has secrets. And we can rout out and publicly shame those who are troublemakers.