It began as an investigation into an officer-involved automobile crash.
But when officials began looking into the messages received that day between cops in Monmouth County, New Jersey, they discovered something much more alarming.
“Next I’ll be cleaning the floors or some sh- like I’m the f—ing hired ni—r or something,” a Marlboro Township (N.J.) Police Department officer texted.
After a cop in Freehold Township, New Jersey, texted racial obscenities about the Black community, another officer in the same department answered, “I’m not racist.” I detest everyone. If anything, Jews are a ‘race’ I despise. I have no problem with black people. “They create their own issues and names.
“One message that stands out the most is one that says I hate ‘n’ words,” said Harrison Dillard, president of the Hunterdon County NAACP in New Jersey. “It does not speak ‘n’ words; it simply says the word. “There is no ambiguity there.”
Another message was disparaging toward Asians.
“Look at that g—k,” the inscription stated.
According to WABC-TV in New York, one Marlboro officer was fired because of a text message he sent. The other three cops involved have not faced any formal disciplinary action, and at least one is still on the job, according to the station.
The two cops involved from Freehold Township have resigned from the department in good standing.
“We can’t see the heart of everybody and every officer as they’re going through the hiring process,” Dillard said the audience. “These officers showed us their hearts, they showed us what they think of people of color.”
In December 2022, Dillard and other members of the NAACP met with Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago. But nothing came of it, he explained.
Dillard, a former cop, said investigators should have looked into the officers’ previous on-duty interactions.
“Every officer should have been held accountable, and their records should have been reviewed to see if they have disparately arrested people, pulled people over, using force against people,” he said CNN. “Whatever they did in their line of duty should have been examined.”
“We have to police without bias, we have to serve all communities equally,” he went on.
Former Southern District of New York Prosecutor David Miller told WABC that the officers’ actions could call their integrity into question, jeopardizing future cases.
“If we rely sometimes on officers to swear out affidavits as to facts that occurred in support of an arrest or in support of a search warrant, if now those officers’ credibility could be challenged and they’re the sole source of the facts, there could be questions about the integrity of the process,” according to Miller.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office stated in a statement that racism allegations are “taken extremely seriously and investigated in a thorough manner.”
“This Office is dedicated to ensuring that those who reside in or visit Monmouth County, are policed only by law enforcement officers who treat everyone they encounter in a fair, unbiased, and impartial manner,” the statement added.
“Moreover, if allegations of conduct reach the level of criminality, the appropriate charges are filed and those individuals are prosecuted. If no crime has been committed, an internal affairs investigation is launched to see if administrative findings can be established. Rest assured, this is the procedure that is followed when dealing with any and all allegations.