Statement by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis Re: Officer Justin Barrett

July 30, 2009

Statement given by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis at today's (9/30/09) news conference.

Thank you all for being here today. We are also joined by several guests and I would like to thank them for their continued support and participation. Joining us here is Minister Don Muhammad, Karen Payne from the NAACP, Michael Kozu from Project Right, and Detective Larry Ellison from MAMLEO.

On Tuesday July 28th the Boston Police Department placed Officer Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending the outcome of a termination hearing. On that day I was made aware that this officer admitted to being the author of correspondence which included repulsive racial slurs.

At that time and after a meeting with command staff, I moved immediately to take action and the officer was stripped of his gun and badge.

I was presented with a set of facts and believed that the appropriate and only response was to place the officer on administrative leave and set the wheels in motion for a full investigation. The officer is entitled to his due process and we will see that process through. There will be a thorough internal affairs investigation and hearing process which will lead to a termination hearing scheduled in the next week to ten days.

The Boston Police Department has a top to bottom commitment to community policing. Community Policing is based on trust. This type of venomous rhetoric is severely damaging. Maintaining our community relationships is paramount to our mission to serve the citizens of Boston.

We all work with the community and have made great strides to earn their trust. We must not allow this action to affect those relationships that have been forged and the progress we have made over the years.

The Boston Police Department is committed to a standard of excellence. Our community rightly has high expectations for us. It is a standard that the community deserves and we are required to meet. Officer Barrett’s actions do not comply with those expectations.

Barrett’s e-mail was racist and inflammatory. These racist opinions and feelings have no place in this department or in our society and will not be tolerated.

Barrett’s comments were directed at Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. I regret the direct insult toward professor Gates and have personally reached out to him to apologize for this offense and inform him of the department’s immediate efforts to make this officer accountable.

I have also asked that in the coming days, members of the department reach out to those in the community that we serve, and extend ourselves to others, to reiterate our commitment to them, our citizens, and to improving relations at all levels.

As I have stated in the past, I am very proud of the officers and civilians of this department who carry out their duties in the finest traditions of the BPD. We will not allow the unacceptable actions of one member to define who we are as a police organization. This department has over 2,000 uniformed officers and 700 civilians who conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism. I applaud your integrity and continued hard work.

As a department, we must learn from this most unfortunate incident and move forward.

Officer Justin Barrett's Racist E-mail

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I note that Officer Barrett has apologized for the e-mail. You can see his apology here. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=justin+barrett+apology&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

However, it's scary to think that someone who wrote such a thing is a policeman who is supposed to protect everyone regardless of color, race or creed.

Another Racist Cop in Boston

Officer Justin Barrett (Photo from Boston.com)

Racism in Boston, what’s new? Today we are hearing that a Boston police officer Justin Barrett (36) is about to be fired for writing and sending a mass e-mail which had racially charged language. In the e-mail Barrett is alleged to have called Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana eating jungle monkey”! On top of that Barrett says that he would not have tolerated Prof. Gates behavior and would have sprayed him in the face with pepper spray! Barrett has been suspended by the Boston police and will probably be fired. He's also been suspended by the National Guard.

Lord help us black folks! A black person dare not speak back to a white cop for fear of getting beat up, pepper sprayed, shot, even shot in the back! When I say that racism is alive and well, a lot of white folks laugh, shrug it off. The truth of the matter is, they really don’t want to admit that the racism still exists in America today.

Wake up! The sooner we all admit and agree that there is still a racial problem in America, the sooner we can resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, attention all black folks…continue to remember the lessons your Momma taught you. Never talk back to a white cop if you want to live!

You can read more about the Justin Barrett issue at the following links:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/30/boston_police_officer_suspended_after_racially_charged_e_mail/
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/gatesgate-stretches-from-cambridge-mass-to-boston.html