San Diego Police Officer Sues Police Department Over Racist Cartoon

San Diego Police Officer Files Lawsuit After Being Punished For Complaining About Racist Cartoon Used In Training

A California police officer is headed to court to face his police department after he says he was reprimanded for being offended at a blatantly racist cartoon used in training.

via NBC San Diego

A San Diego Police sergeant is suing the city and the police department for harassment and retaliation after he complained about a cartoon shown in training.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges Sgt. Arthur Scott was reassigned and passed up for a promotion because he spoke up after seeing what he considered an offensive cartoon at the San Diego Police Museum.

The cartoon was included in the complaint and shows an ape dressed in a San Diego police uniform walking on patrol. In the cartoon, the officer is labeled “Cop McCarter”, a reference to Officer Frank McCarter, the first African American police officer in the city.

Scott said he saw the cartoon with other officers in an August 2014 training session led by retired SDPD Lieutenant, Tom Giaquinto.

After the training Scott, who is a Vice President for the San Diego Police Black Officers Association, told a supervisor about the cartoon and told him it had no place in police training, according to the complaint.

He said he was called into the office of Assistant Chief Todd Jarvis to discuss the cartoon. According to the lawsuit filing, Jarvis told Scott the cartoon would not longer be part of the training session but at the same time tried to defend its use.

Scott claims his “forced transfer” to Central Division on Jan. 7 was a result of the complaint and being an “outspoken member of the SDPBOA.”

From the looks of this obviously-racist photo and given the fact that the department was bold enough to use it in a training class, we’d guess that this case will end in this police department taking a well-deserved L.