The
lawsuit filed this week by the U.S. Justice Department
was only the most recent of several claims of racial
discrimination leveled against the Delaware State Police
in the past three years.
The highest ranking black state trooper in 1998 accused
the agency of giving him demeaning menial jobs even
though he was a captain. The lawsuit was settled out
of court. The following year, one former and two current
black troopers filed discrimination claims against the
department, alledging they were disciplined more harshly
than white colleagues. Those claims are pending.
The four lawsuits were filed after the Justice Department
began investigating claims in 1997 that the state police
discriminated against black troopers.
That investigation led federal civil rights lawyers
Wednesday to sue the state police in U.S. District Court
in Wilmington, claiming that until 1999 the agency used
a written test to deny employment to black candidates.
The Department of State Police "is committed to hiring
the highest quality officers in our search for the most
qualified candidates," a state police statement said.
Our staff continually reviews and asseses our testing
and recruitment tools to ensure that these processes
do not have a negative impact on our ability to obtain
the best troopers."
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit after negotiations
broke off between its lawyers and attorneys for the
state.
The complaint was filed just after Tom Carper finished
his second term as governor and moved on to the U.S.
Senate.
"We were not surprised, but we are disappointed that
these two law enforcement agencies could not resolve
this short of litigation," Carper spokesman Brian Selander
said.
Selander said the state and the Justice Department
had been trying to negotiate a settlement that would
avoid a lawsuit.
Civil rights leaders and state legislators have expressed
surprise at the lawsuit because the state seemed to
be making progress recruiting and retaining minority
officers.
Of the 594 officers who make up the Delaware State
Police, 54, or 9 percent, are black, and 23, or nearly
4 percent are from other minority groups. The rest,
about 87 percent, are white. The lawsuit asks a federal
judge to order the state police to stop using any test
that discriminates and to offer jobs or back pay to
anyone harmed by a written test given to trooper applicants
until 1999.
The test was replaced in 1999 following complaints
by civil rights leaders and state legislators about
the low number of black state troopers.
"Obviously there are some pretty serious problems with
the way the Delaware State Police deals with its minority
troopers," said lawyer Richard M. Schall, who
sued the department on behalf of a current trooper and
a former trooper.
In his 1998 lawsuit, Capt. David L. Baylor made claims
that are similar to those in the federal lawsuit regarding
state police hiring process. Baylor's lawsuit also said
that for two years he was the only captain'who was not
either a troop commander or a section chief. Instead
he worked in the agency's personnel department where
he was ordered to gas up and clean the car of a visiting
state trooper, pick up lunch for other officers and
arrange social events.
Baylor settled his lawsuit out of court in 1999. The
terms were never made public, and Baylor would not discuss
them Thursday. Today Baylor is in charge of Troop 9
in Odessa.
The other lawsuits. which also were filed in U.S. District
Court in Wilmington, accused the state police of punishing
black troopers more harshly than white troopers.
Ronald Tate, a 12-year veteran, claimed in his 1999
lawsuit that he was demoted in 1998 for policy violations
that white officres have committed and have not been
punished for.
In one instance, Tate claimed he was punished because
he was working as an assistant football coach for Smyrna
High School in violation of a policy that prevents officers
from earning outside income without approval.
Lawyers for the state police said Tate had a history
of discipline problems, including instances when he
failed to show up for court appearances. and that he
used poor judgement in investigating a 1998 fight between
two men, according to court papers. Tate could not be
reached for comment.
State Police Cpl. Valerie Robinson also sued the department
in 1999. She accused theagency of refusing to promote
her because she is black and because she is a woman.
She also said she was punished for keeping a gun locked
in the trunk of her patrol car even though white officers
did the same thing without being reprimanded. State
lawyers said in court records that Robinson was not
singled out and said that the lack of promotion was
justified by her work record.
Former trooper Lionel Maull sued after he was fired
by the state police. Maull, who said in his complaint
that he is a recovering alcoholic, claimed he was fired
for doing something that white troopers had done without
losing their jobs. According to court papers, Maull
was fired after a Breathalyzer test showed he had a
0.07 percent blood-alcohol level while on duty. Maull
claims that a white officer would not have been fired
for such an infraction.
In a motion to dismiss Maull's complaint, state lawyers
said the former trooper had a history of discipline
problems, including being suspected for possessing anabolic
steroids. Another trooper with a similar, alcohol-related
infraction was not fired because he did not have the
same history of problems that Maull had, the state's
motion says.
Reach Steven Church at schurch@delawareonline.com
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