Ohio police chief resigns after putting Ku Klux Klan sign on Black officer's desk

[Nevilledog]

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2021/07/sheffield-lake-police-chief-resigns-after-putting-ku-klux-klan-sign-on-black-officers-desk.html

SHEFFIELD LAKE, Ohio -- Police Chief Anthony Campo resigned Tuesday following an incident in which he left a “Ku Klux Klan” sign on a Black officer’s desk, Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring said.

The incident in question, which happened Friday, was captured on surveillance video inside the department’s booking area.

Campo, who has been with the department for 33 years and served as chief for eight, is seen in the video walking into a room with a piece of paper in his hand that says, “Ku Klux Klan.” He walks to a desk and places the note on a yellow jacket laid out to resemble the infamous hood and robe synonymous with the American hate group.

He walks out of the room to wait for the officer, an unidentified Black man, to come into the room.

The officer, who started working for the department nine months ago, walks in and sees the message. It is unclear what the officer and Campo say to one another as the video has no audio. Other people come into the frame and chat with the officer.

*snip*

[wryter2000]

1. What makes these assholes think they can get away with it?

Seriously.

[Orangepeel]

2. because they mostly do

they are caught on video more and more, so hopefully that will change

[ret5hd]

3. Everything they have gotten away with in the past.

[gratuitous]

4. Sounds from the story that Campo wanted to quit

And this is how he went about doing it:

The union that represents the police brought a harassment complaint to Graves’ office. Bring went straight to Campo’s office after learning about the incident.

“I came into the chief’s office, and he’s standing there with a smile on his face,” Bring said. “He goes, ‘So, am I fired?’”

Graves showed Campo the complaint. Bring told him he had 10 minutes to get out of the office and that he would be on administrative leave until further notice. He asked the chief not to touch anything, hand over the keys to his cruiser, and find a ride home.

Campo then announced that he wanted to resign effective immediately, used his computer to type his resignation letter and left, Bring said. Campo earned a yearly salary of $86,835.43, and it’s unclear as of Friday if resigning from the department instead of waiting for the city to force him out of the position would allow Campo to preserve any retirement benefits Campo accrued during his time with the department.

My take is that Campo was hoping he would be at risk for getting fired. He seemed real comfortable with leaving that day (wouldn't surprise me if his resignation letter was already typed out and just needed to be printed). Good on the Sheffield Lake authorities for not pussy-footing around: 10 minutes to GTFO, don't touch anything, hand over your keys, and find your own way home, asshole.

[lindysalsagal]

5. Is this pathetic racism still really happening in the 21st century???

[UpInArms]

6. More from your link

The union that represents the police brought a harassment complaint to Graves’ office. Bring went straight to Campo’s office after learning about the incident.

“I came into the chief’s office, and he’s standing there with a smile on his face,” Bring said. “He goes, ‘So, am I fired?’”

Graves showed Campo the complaint. Bring told him he had 10 minutes to get out of the office and that he would be on administrative leave until further notice. He asked the chief not to touch anything, hand over the keys to his cruiser, and find a ride home.

Campo then announced that he wanted to resign effective immediately, used his computer to type his resignation letter and left, Bring said. Campo earned a yearly salary of $86,835.43, and it’s unclear as of Friday if resigning from the department instead of waiting for the city to force him out of the position would allow Campo to preserve any retirement benefits Campo accrued during his time with the department.

“He’s no longer an employee. The union who sent the paper (complaint) is satisfied with what we did. I can’t say that he’s not going to have other litigation, I don’t know.”

The mayor seems genuinely appalled.

[MissMillie]

7. People go out of their way to hurt other people...

it sucks.

And in this case, it's clear harassment--creating a hostile work environment.

Wouldn't it be nice if people could just go to work, do their jobs, and let everyone else at work do their jobs?

[BeerBarrelPolka]

8. I don't know

One thing I will say is that none of the cops are remotely physically fit for their job.

[Mary in S. Carolina]

13. I agree

I know right? At one time, in order to become a fire fighter you had to carry 50+/- pounds up a ladder - so this eliminated most women. Not sure if this is still the rule.

I think all cops must be able to run the 50 meter in 6.5 second and the mile in 12 minutes. Because they can't do the simple task of running, they instead resort to shooting black men in the back.

[Boomerproud]

9. I know the area well. Looks like a civil suit is in works.

Campos needs to pay for this.

[Diamond_Dog]

10. Their standard defense...

“It was a prank” or “joke”

How do these sick Neanderthals think this kind of thing is remotely funny? Why does this mindset still exist, in the year 2021?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. MoAr TrAiNiNg

[uponit7771]

12. +1,

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. Adios MoFo

[Progressive Jones]

15. The Caucasian Rubbish Removal Initiative is going to

take generations to complete.