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Boston cop who sent racist, misogynist Gates e-mail fired
By adamg on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 4:19pm
Boston Police announced today that Commissioner Ed Davis has fired Justin Barrett, a police officer who sent out a mass e-mail referring to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates as "a jungle monkey."
In a statement, Davis said:
After a thorough investigation of this matter, it is evident that Officer Barrett’s actions do not comply with that standard. Given the egregious nature of his actions and its effect on our community, I strongly believe that the only appropriate discipline is termination. I commend the officers who voiced their disapproval of Officer Barrett's actions. Our department has a top to bottom commitment to community policing, which is founded in trust. We will not allow the actions of one to damage the community relationships that are essential to our mission to serve the citizens of Boston.
Barrett, 36, had been a Boston cop since 2007. He was most recently assigned to District B-3, which covers Mattapan and part of Dorchester. In August, Barrett filed a federal lawsuit against the city for the disciplinary action against him.
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Comments
How did you do that, Adam?
Weren't you onstage at your panel when you posted that?
Shh ...
OK, now that the panel is over, yes, I can admit I did that. Fortunately, Dan Kennedy's a way better speaker than I am, so while he was talking, I snuck a peek at my RSS reader.
Hi, everybody, my name is Adam and I, I'm an online-a-holic.
You stayed awake through Dan
You stayed awake through Dan Kennedy? Mad props.
Good..
F**k him. Though he can probably get a job as a features editor at "Boston Magazine". I think it would be nice to finally have someone at that rag who has actually been to Codman Square.
Justin Barrett
Dear Justin,
Well, It's the last round up, BUCKaroo! It's been real. I know a character as corrupted as yours want to bring some of your former colleagues down with you but DON'T WORRY! Resist the urge to snitch! We know that your email was sent out to empathetic ears. We know that the culture that sustains your racist values pervade on the Boston Police and Fire Departments as well as The Emergency Medical Service. Rest assured...WE'LL SMOKE'EM OUT! Your email woke a lot of us up.....THANK YOU!
P.S How are your wrists? Healthy? I ask because my cousin just got promoted to assistant night manager at Wendy's and, if you ask real nice-like, I can put in a good word for you to be the newest member of the burger-flippin' trainee crew. They even have banana milkshakes! Right up your alley, huh?
Peace! ...and let the door hitcha where the good Lawd splitcha!
Saw this guy on the news
Saw this guy on the news tonight complaining he was not given a fair shake. Guy looked twitchy. Cops should not be twitchy racists.
Finally, but the fish rots at the head.
I've been screaming it was time to fire him for a long time.
http://touchfmboston.blogspot.com/2010/02/kingcast...
Too bad he learned from DA Dan Conley:
http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2010/02/kingc...
In February, 2009 Dan Conley refused to speak to a former State AAG and newspaper editor who blogged 35 videos of a contentious murder trial in the death of Revere Officer Daniel Talbot. In this YouTube video he put his finger in this black man's face and asked him for "credentials" even though he was aware that Judge Patrick Brady had given the man such credentials to roll video, take audio and still pictures and to provide commentary.
Mr. Bernstein shed some light on why DA Conley gets so pissy when you challenge him, particularly when he knows you've been a successful trial lawyer. Here's a 2005 Story by Bernstein "The Worst Homicide Squad in the Country."
'Jungle Monkey'
Here we are in 2010, and there is a certain segment of the law enforcement community that still has a 1950's mentality. It wasn't right then, and it's not right now.
Somehow, officers, before they BECOME officers, should be pre-screened for racist attitudes. And if that's already being done, the screening should be updated and improved.
I'm a caucasian male, but I am absolutely offended by Officer Barrett's remark. I imagine he feels, because of his white (probably off-white-to-pinkish) skin, that he is automatically superior to another human being that has a darker pigment to their skin.
I have no doubt that it takes much study and physical training to become a police officer. But I must submit to you, Officer Barrett, that this man was a HARVARD PROFESSOR, and, while it may be impossible to compare the two vocations accurately, I think he has you beat, bubba!
Best of luck in your next job.
I know some good people named Barrett, it's sad that you share the same name
Barrett's full e-mail
Barrett's full e-mail to Yvonne Abraham at the Globe reveals a lot about his stability and fitness to be a police officer. It's disturbing stuff.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/073...
If I wrote like that cop ...
I wouldn't be lecturing anyone else about her writing ability.
And it appears he missed...
...the class on paragraph breaks during high school.
'You are talking about the
'You are talking about the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind.' The fact that he described himself as a former English teacher shows that he is also delusional.
Channel 5 gets scoop; leaves out key part of story
John Carroll reports he watched Barrett's interview on Channel 5 last night and that he was amazed Channel 5 never told viewers just what it was that Barrett wrote to get himself fired, "which only strengthened the disgraced cop's argument that his civil rights have been violated."
Unbelievable.
I'm sure that was no mistake.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it.
Peace.
Aside from the racism and misogyny...
Even if you completely ignore the racism and misogyny, the letter bespeaks a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of police in relationship to the public...
umm... perhaps the good ex-officer missed that day in civics class?
WTF? The attitude that a member of the public, minding his own business in his own house ought to drop whatever he's doing instantly and make himself available just because a public servant shows up at the door is somewhat odd. It might be polite, or smart politics, but to consider it required reveals a fundamentally flawed attitude toward the public the officer is sworn to serve.