ODESSA – An Odessa Police SWAT
officer was suspended for 10 shifts for making racial comments back in October
2014.
According to the report
released by the Odessa Police Department, supervisors reported that during SWAT
practice, a verbal exchange occurred between SWAT members involving
unacceptable conduct.
We're told Corporal Jeremy
Walsh acted inappropriately and was in violation of two standard operating
procedures.
The first incident involved
Walsh stating to another officer that he had “Django hands.” Officials say the
statement has a direct relation to the recent movie Django Unchained where the
lead character is a slave turned bounty hunter and Walsh stated that the
comment was meant that the officer, “has rough hands.”
The second incident occurred when
Walsh made a statement to an African American officer when he stated he would
get an officer to “show me how to pick some cotton.” Walsh said that the
comment was a “correlation of slaves picking cotton” and since the officer,
“being from Mississippi and being in the south.”
As a result of the internal
investigation, Walsh was also suspended from the SWAT Team and ordered to
receive diversity and anger management training.
In a statement to NewsWest 9,
Odessa Police Chief Timothy Burton, said, “The behavior of one officer should
not overshadow the efforts and accomplishments of the men and women of the
Department who work hard every day in service to our community. The Odessa
Police Department is committed to investigating all incidents of inappropriate behavior
as demonstrated by the efforts of the supervisors who brought these allegations
to light. The Odessa Police Department is committed to maintaining the highest
professional standards and demanding ethical conduct of all employees at all
times.”
You may recall Walsh from a
story NewsWest 9 did back in 2014 when he made headlines for his generosity.
That was after Walsh gave a homeless man water and a pair of boots.
