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Warren Capt. Gilmore gets suspended for using racial slur
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Is it ever OK to refer to someone by a derogatory name?
What if a police captain utters that name regarding another police captain in front of representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, who are there to discuss the department’s progress in treating all members of the public fairly?
Warren Police Chief Eric Merkel, in a letter to Capt. Janice Gilmore, found her use of a pejorative term used to describe Italians “demeaning,” unprofessional and especially troubling coming from “the highest-ranking member” of the Warren Police Department under Merkel’s command.
“Your use of this racial slur not only reflects poorly on yourself but also on our department as a whole,” the chief said in an Aug. 27 letter to Gilmore placing her on 30 days unpaid suspension.
She began serving the suspension Sept. 7 but has appealed the punishment, arguing that it deserves only a written reprimand.
Gilmore was attending a meeting with Justice Department officials July 22 with Capt. Robert Massucci, who was acting chief at the time, in a police department conference room, Merkel said.
Massucci, who is in charge of the detective division, had walked out of the room and into his office but overheard the derogatory term. Gilmore, who is in charge of the road-patrol division, went to Massucci’s office and repeated the term, the letter says.
“Capt. Massucci testified [at a pre-disciplinary conference] that he told you at the time that the term was derogatory and was ‘like calling a black person the N-word.’”
Gilmore gave a statement to the internal-affairs officer in which she said she “knew immediately” she should not have uttered the term and told the others in the room that she has a history with Massucci’s family and that the term was “not intended to be hurtful.”
Massucci, however, testified that he “did not interpret the comment to be a joke and further denied the two of you were friends or on a friendly basis,” Merkel’s disciplinary letter said.
The word Gilmore uttered is included in a list of prohibited words or phrases in the Warren Police Department’s policy.
“The use of such a derogatory, demeaning and insensitive term in this context is not only explicitly prohibited by policy but will not be tolerated by this department,” Merkel wrote, adding, “it is imperative that you lead by example and embrace the standards expected from every member of this police department.”
Merkel noted that Gilmore has worked in the department 26 years “without disciplinary history,” but the incident has caused the chief to have “grave concerns regarding your willingness to further our mission as a more professional agency.”
The Justice Department continues to meet with the police department to monitor its progress in meeting the requirements of a settlement agreement the city signed with the federal government several years ago requiring the department to eliminate unconstitutional policing practices.
Among the issues the department faced were excessive use of force, strip searches and failure to give people ample opportunity to have their complaints about the department addressed. The Justice Department started to investigate complaints in 2003. The agreement was signed in 2012.