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HPD officers accused of racially insenitive posts
Houston Police Department is getting inundated with calls relating to racially insensitive posts.
HOUSTON - Several people have reported racially insensitive posts that were supposedly made by Houston police officers.
One of the latest social media posts, a picture comparing black people to monkeys, was made by a Houston police officer who resigned earlier this month."It’s extremely upsetting and disheartening,” says DeAndre’ Hutchison President of Houston’s Afro American Police Officer’s League.
Many who saw the photo say the Facebook post is even more troubling knowing it was made by a former Houston police officer who just quit the department two weeks ago.
"It’s absolutely deplorable. For far too long we’ve been compared to animals,” Hutchison adds. "During this time it’s imperative that we come together in unity. We need the community and the community needs us."
The President of the Houston Police Officers’ Union Joe Gamaldi says, “This former officer resigned weeks ago and posted it after he left the department. It was disgusting and it is not who we are as Houston Police Officers."
"We’re encouraging all officers to make posts that are centered around unity and respect because that’s what the citizenry in Houston deserve as well as what they should expect from the police department,” says Hutchison.
You may remember, 25-year HPD veteran Sgt. Rob Clasen retired earlier this month after making a racist rant about blacks on Facebook.
MORE: HPD officer relieved of duty after racist social media rant
AAPOL also received complaints just today regarding an officer who posted black pumpkins and someone commented "Black Pumpkins Matter."
"We’re getting inundated with calls relating to racially insensitive posts. To see this kind of thing continuing to happen just speaks to how far we still have to go,” Hutchison says.
The Afro American Police Officer’s League is scheduled to meet with top brass today regarding this issue.
Also, there were allegations that two other officers somehow participated in one of the posts, perhaps commenting or sharing the picture of the monkeys.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo says he’s aware of the post made on June 24 by the officer who quit the force on June 18. In a tweet Tuesday afternoon the chief said, "This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It is not indicative of the dedicated men and women of this majority-minority police department … The department has initiated an investigation...to determine if any current employees are involved."