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Cop who works in Roxbury gets six-month suspension for making racist video

BPD brass today announced Joseph DeAngelo, 28, who serves in the B-2 police district in Roxbury, will be suspended for six months for making and distributing a "spoof" video that made another officer seem like a racist.

In a statement, BPD says:

He will undergo significant sensitivity and unconscious bias re-training. He will participate in recruit officer training on unconscious bias, meet with trusted community leaders and perform community service in our neighborhoods. Additionally, the Commissioner will reissue the Department Rule on Non Biased Policing, and increase training on these important issues throughout the Department.

DeAngelo, who has been a Boston cop for four years, created a trailer-like video that featured another officer- who was unaware he would even be in a public video - that ended with a photo of black women dressed in carnival costumes, bracketed with text reading "This summer, black people have met their match."

The video also shows the other officer with title cards reading "Chronic Masturbator" and "Inept Cop."

Police say that after the officer in the video was grilled by Internal Affairs after the video showed up on Channel 25 and then suspended, DeAngelo came forward and admitted he had made the video:

Over the past week, Commissioner Evans, with input from Chief Gross, struggled with what would be the appropriate discipline for the clearly insensitive and immature behavior of officer DeAngelo. It was clear from Officer DeAngelo’s interview that he feels significant remorse for his actions and now realizes the impact that this video had on our community. Officer DeAngelo readily admitted to the conduct and has taken full responsibility for his actions. ...

Officer DeAngelo provided a written apology to the community, and is sincere in wanting to continue his work as a Boston police officer. The department intends to use this incident as a teachable moment to remind all police officers the importance of recognizing unconscious bias and ensuring that they conduct ourselves in a way that reflects positively on themselves, the department and the community they serve.

According to a transcript of his interview with Internal Affairs, DeAngelo said he made the video with some software that comes on the iPhone and that he did it as a joke about the other officer, with whom he said he is lifelong friends.

He added that he included the references to blacks because both work in District B-2, which he described as "a primarily African-American district."

DeAngelo told his interviewers that he distributed the video in a group text message to several officers, including the one in the video, and that he has no idea how it got to the TV station.

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Comments

You should include "suspended for six months WITHOUT PAY" before anyone asks. Also add that he was really suspwnded one year, with six months to serve.

(Unless of course you intentionally did that to get people to leave comments or something).

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I mean, I kind of figure it is, but the BPD statement doesn't actually specify that.

As for the six months vs. a year, well, this happens all the time with court sentences, too - I tend to go with the time the person will actually serve, assuming he or she stays out of trouble, which, again, I'll assume is the case here.

I'll ignore the crack about the comments. There are easier ways to get those here.

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Yes, we know. Every other media outlet has it "without pay".

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they assumed so, or because its substantiated by BPD statements?

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Wow. That's rough.

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Sounds like BPD understands, and is trying to be constructive for everyone, not throw someone under the bus for external political expediency.

Progressives are always suspicious of possible blue line exceptionalism, but constructive is progressive.

Next time a progressive wants another chance for some guy who got convicted, I hope hard-liner conservatives understand that many progressives want fairness and support for everyone.

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You know there's a difference between losing your job/being suspended and going to jail, right?

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Cops are pretty much the only people in America who can make racist videos and keep their job. Well, maybe the president too because of all the spineless racists in congress.

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This video wouldn't even be in the news if the creator wasn't a cop, so no, most people would not be fired from their jobs for this.

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if the person who made the video worked in city hall, they'd be fired. in the statehouse, gone. in boston schools, done.

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You definitely took this and went way to the left. This guy made it "internal" when he showed himself and another cop in their uniforms in this video. It became a public matter, and namely a BPD matter, at that point. He's not being turned into a scapegoat, he specifically made this stupid video and targeted a specific demographic of oppressed and (truly) crucified people. He didn't say "bad guys of Boston". He said BLACK PEOPLE and showed images of black women, children and men simply enjoying summers in the city.

BPD is definitely being constructive, but now his actions as an officer in this city will be open for enhanced scrutiny (and possibly litigation) with any encounter he has. He's a liability now, more than ever. He will have to walk on eggshells for a good part of his career, all for something "external" that was actually pretty damning and damaging to the shaky state of policing and it's relationship with the Black/AA communities they "serve".

You're likely not a Black person and can't see why this would be offensive or demeaning, but the fact he made this video at all as a public servant in a role where he carries a weapon is a problem and it's great that it leaked to the media. The bigger thing to look at is, kudos to the officer who leaked the video to the media.

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Now that his name is out there, after his suspension he will have to be transferred and buried somewhere where he will have limited interacations with the public. Maybe the Central supply Unit or something like that.

I'd say for all intents and purposes, his career as a law enforcement officer is over.

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Watching the news last night, Superintendent Goss makes it sound like the guy wants his reputation cleared more than anything else. Perhaps trying harder when he returns will help him (and the city overall) with that.

I mean, there have been people on the force who have sullied their name yet somehow stayed around for a while.

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Sounds like BPD understands, and is trying to be constructive for everyone, not throw someone under the bus for external political expediency.

What exactly would "throw[ing] someone under the bus for external political expediency" look like, in response to the officer's admitted actions?

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External political expediency means PUBLIC OVERSIGHT BY TAXPAYERS.

Every other public job is subject to this, even elected officials (actually, especially elected officials).

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All suspensions are w/o pay. A six month suspension is the loss of six months salary or about $45,000.

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Apparently we have a racist cop on Boston Police Force. I am glad he is currently suspended and will have to do some sensitivity training along with allegedly meet and greet in there community in which he insulted.
I am a True Believer in Redemption and I hope this person learns from his hideous insulting painful actions. Personally I felt his apology was Fake lacking and without substance and I did not feel it. I feel that the commissioner's television interview was equally unacceptable. How can you apologize to something when you're quite uneducated about the subject matter. And I am sure we all can agree that this ignorant officer apologize without knowing first why he's apologizing and other than to do that you must be "re-educated" and retrained. Since this person likes to do videos, I feel this person should do a video apology to everyone he insulted and offended. Mind you his actions has tarnished the Boston Police Department and affected not only people of color book people of all Races.

However it appears you can learn about a Blog and community based on what they blog about in the contents of their blogs. The lack of outrage and focus on this issue from this blogging community is very shortcoming.

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But I would argue he's stupid and bored more than racist. I believe the MBTA police had similar problems on Facebook and officers were terminated

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This is a larger, systemic issue at B2. I live in Roxbury and have overheard young and older officers speaking in less than flattering terms about residents in the B2 coverage area. I personally have talked with Srgt Silta about this. He is actually a good one and is very open to the diverse community and works closely with us. Officer Smart does as well. Some of the other officers, not so much. I'd like to hear specifics on what is being done to train (not just once) officers on diversity and community interaction. Good question for the Commisioner and Mayor.

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When your job is to respond to nonstop human misery, constant, perpetual violence, and basically the worst humanity has to offer, you will eventually weaken.

Until we can program cyborgs devoid of human frailty to police our most violent neighborhoods in one of the most violent countries in the world, the police is all we have. And I'll still take the BPD over anyone else, any day of the week.

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You can't serve people if you have contempt for them.

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