The Black Police Association mentioned the coin was going to be bought to officers after an officer designed and created it.
DALLAS — Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and union officers on Wednesday decried a racist “challenge” coin a police officer created that negatively depicted a southern Dallas neighborhood.
The coin – which was commemorating the 15-year anniversary of the Dallas Police Department’s South Central patrol division – depicted a Pillsbury Dough Boy holding money and a gun as he stands behind an obvious drug home. The Dough Boy was additionally sporting a grill, and the coin featured a Dallas police automotive on one aspect and a purple automotive with giant rims on the opposite.
“Big ‘T’ Plaza” was written throughout the highest of the coin. The plaza is a shopping mall in South Oak Cliff.
Garcia in an announcement referred to as the coin “insensitive and racially offensive.”
“I know that this coin, and what it depicts, does not represent the beliefs or ideals of the men and women of the Dallas Police Department as a whole,” Garcia mentioned. “We will not tolerate this type of conduct.”
Garcia didn’t title the officer who created the coin, which was posted on social media “to canvass our membership for interest” in probably shopping for the coin.
The officer’s chain of command was notified, and police officers are coping with the difficulty “swiftly and sharply as this is not the standard for our department moving forward,” Garcia mentioned.
The officer was positioned on administrative depart as inside affairs investigates the difficulty.
The metropolis’s Black Police Association first raised issues over the coin Wednesday, calling the depiction racist.
Garcia held a news convention with the affiliation Wednesday afternoon.
Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, referred to as the coin “in very poor taste” and that it “had no business being on the DPA members page,” the place it was posted this week.
Mata mentioned he “immediately” deleted the coin publish from the web page when he grew to become conscious of it.
“I understand it’s my responsibility to maintain the moral compass of the DPA members page,” Mata mentioned. “In saying, I want to apologize to any person who was hurt or offended by the post and I promise to be more diligent in my duties to ensure that this organization and the media sites within it respect all members.”
story by The Texas Tribune Source link