ST. LOUIS — A contracted instructor for the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy "will not be teaching at the academy again" after using disparaging language while teaching a class.
St. Louis County police Chief Mary Barton on Tuesday sent a letter to members of department saying the language used was "inconsistent with our values and below our expectations."
The instructor used language during a class on Monday that was disparaging toward "African Americans, Hispanics and women," department spokesman Sgt. Benjamin Granda said in a statement.
Barton said she met with the department's Diversity and Inclusion Unit, the Ethical Society of Police — a union that represents African American police officers — and the Police Officer's Association for their input.
"I am grateful to our personnel that brought this to light. It demonstrates a collaborative intolerance in our department for this behavior and shows an empowerment amongst our ranks to report it appropriately," Barton wrote in the letter. "Discrimination, whether by word or deed, shall not be tolerated by any of us."
Barton said moving forward, the department would reevaluate how instructors are hired and modify contract language to be more specific about instructor expectations.
The Ethical Society of Police said while it acknowledges Barton took appropriate steps, the incident is at least one of at least three involving derogatory language used in a professional training environment.
"We believe that additional steps are needed to ensure such an incident will not occur again. We are asking for better checks and balances, … and regular evaluations by class participants," the organization said in a statement.
The incident comes a month after a dispatcher for the department used the "n word" on an open police radio mic. The dispatcher, who is related to Barton, was fired days after the incident.
5 On Your Side's Christine Byers contributed to this report.
