By Courtney Gousman
Dellwood, MO (KSDK) - Charges of racial discrimination are surfacing in Dellwood. White officers say a black mayor is on a witch hunt following a recent police audit, and they're preparing to file suits.
The audit claims officers failed to file 120 cases with the county prosecutor. Now, the mayor has recommended the termination of three Dellwood officers, who refuse to cooperate with the investigation, but officers say the mayor just wants to get rid of the city's predominantly white police department.
"This is the most ridiculous, underhanded, sneaky system, I have ever come across," said Bill Stark.
Stark is fired-up about the latest news to come out of Dellwood. He is a union representative for five of Dellwood's remaining seven officers. These are officers who are now accused of not doing their job, by not forwarding cases to the St. Louis County prosecutor for charges.
"There's rape cases there. You try explaining that to someone's daughter that was a rape victim, and thought that evidence was being taken seriously and taken to St. Louis County for processing and it never made it," said Dellwood Mayor Loretta Johnson.
Stark says some of those cases didn't have enough evidence to move forward, while the majority are drug- related. Those cases are to be handed-over to the county's drug task force to handle. As far as accusations that an officer took home a firearm that had been taken into evidence, Stark says it's perfectly normal once a case has been cleared.
"Our guys followed protocol. We feel this is all a personal agenda solely spearheaded by the mayor and what's left of the city council," said Stark.
Stark says so far, two officers are moving toward filing racial discrimination lawsuits against Mayor Johnson, claiming she's trying to get rid of Dellwood's predominantly white department.
"The mayor has made comments that she doesn't care if an officer is qualified or not. That all she sees is color and that the police department does not reflect the current racial make-up of the city," said Stark.
Johnson responded by saying, "I can't change that. So for whatever reason that they want to file those type of complaints. I can't stop that. I'm an African-American. I was the first African- American elected here in the city."
Officers also say they found it hard to be consistent, when there were virtually no written policies.
Local 42 says their attorneys plan to file a total of 5 lawsuits on behalf of officers.
KSDK
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