Fired Cop Testifies Over Alleged
Racist Texts
By Joan Murray
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — A
Fort Lauderdale cop fired over alleged racist text messages testified Friday in
an effort to get his job back.
Former Police Officer James Wells
spoke for the first time about it on Friday after he and two other officers
were fired in March 2015. Investigators said the texts were laced with racial
slurs.
He insists he is not racist and
was trying to convince an arbitrator his dismissal wasn’t fair and he should be
reinstated.
Wells said the “n” word he used
in the texts was used a lot on the streets and means different things. He also
said his African-American friends called him the “n” word.
Wells said when he used the “n”
word he was talking about what he referred to as “the worst of the criminals,
not a specific race or gender.. the worst of the worst.”
“Do you have a negative image of
African Americans” his attorney asked.
“Absolutely not,” replied Wells.
He said the texts are not who he
is.
“I enjoy helping people,” he
said.
Wells said some of his texts were
taken out of context and often he was quoting from the movie “Django Unchained”
which deals with slavery.
“The word hurt means I would
arrest them,” said Wells.
When pressed by the city attorney
to admit what he said was wrong, Wells acknowledged police officers are held to
a higher standard.
“I thought I was assured privacy
in those conversations,” Wells said about the messages
The texts were turned over to the
Fort Lauderdale police department by the ex-fiance of former officer Alex
Alvarez who resigned in January 2015. Alvarez was accused of making a racially
charged home video that depicted the Ku Klux Klan and African Americans being
mistreated.
Just a day before, the man who
fired him, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, testified in the case.
He called the racism scandal the worst
thing he had ever seen.
“It was a black eye on the City
of Fort Lauderdale,” Adderley said.
Adderley said the messages damaged
the trust with the community and the words made it impossible to prosecute some
suspects.
Broward prosecutor Tim Donnelly
told the arbitrator that his office had to drop 18 cases where Wells was the
arresting officer.
Wells maintains he isn’t a racist
and the text messages were private conversations made in jest with friends on
the force.
The arbitrator isn’t expected to
issue a ruling until the spring.
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