Cleveland Mayor Moves To Probe Racism In City Police Department

Jet, August 23, 1999

Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White says he believes a number of officers in the city's police department are racist, with some wearing pins on their uniforms believed to symbolize White power.

The mayor, who is Black, also said graffiti depicting swastikas has been scrawled in police locker rooms, and he has launched a major investigation into the allegations.

White said such allegations suggest there are bigoted officers in an 1,800-member force that is one-third Black.

Mayor White said a source tipped him second-hand about recurring racist graffiti. He declined to identify the intermediary who brought the allegation to his attention.

The disclosure was first reported in The Plain Dealer. The mayor said although he had no hard evidence, his source and the newspaper's reporting convinced him that there are racist officers on the force.

The newspaper, quoting law enforcement sources who weren't identified, said some officers have been seen wearing pins symbolic of White power. In addition, racist graffiti and signs have been removed from locker rooms in three of six district offices in recent months, the newspaper said.

Mayor White has met with Police Chief Martin L. Flask to discuss the issue. "This is going to be a defining moment for the Police Department and this administration," White said in the Plain Dealer.

"This is not just going to be an investigation of a couple of racist police officers wearing some symbols who are going to be disciplined and then we're going to go on with business as usual," White said. "I don't want to just cure what you see. I want to see if there is a way of curing what you don't see. What you don't see is the scary part."

In addition to an investigation by the Police Department's internal affairs, Mayor White has asked the FBI and U.S. Justice Department to investigate the alleged racism and possible White supremacist groups in the police department.