Crime & Justice

White Cincinnati Police Officer Suspended After Using Racial Slur

‘UNACCEPTABLE’

Reportedly while attempting to arrest black woman at nightclub over the weekend.

RTX3Y7AF_1_gkwrjr
Brian Snyder/Reuters

A white Cincinnati police officer has been suspended after he reportedly used a racial slur while attempting to arrest a black woman at a nightclub over the weekend, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. A body cam on a fellow cop caught Officer Dennis Barnette using the slur when the woman reportedly pushed him as he tried to arrest her. “This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated inside the department,” Police Chief Eliot Isaac wrote in an email to his supervisor, City Manager Patrick Duhaney. According to the emails obtained by the Enquirer, the incident occurred as Barnette was helping out with traffic control and parking complaints at Reading Road nightclub. He is now restricted to desk duty and an internal investigation has been launched. In 2014, Barnette was given the department’s Award for Exemplary Conduct, according to a police memo cited in the report.

Read it at The Cincinnati Enquirer