A Cleveland police detective, who works in a predominantly black neighborhood, was found to have used the n-word to refer to Ohio State football players, according to an internal police investigation.
For his infraction, Det. John Kraynik, who works in Cleveland’s Fourth District, basically received a slap on the wrist (Cleveland.com reports that he was issued a lesser penalty than a written reprimand) including sensitivity training.
The racist cat got let out of the bag when the CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs found in text messages from Kraynik during an unrelated investigation. Cleveland.com reports:
The investigation into Kraynik, and another Cleveland police officer disciplined for sending a racist text, began as internal affairs looked into accusations that a now-retired police officer sexually assaulted a woman.
Prosecutors told investigators there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against that officer, who resigned during the investigation.
Internal affairs investigators, however, conducted a search warrant on that officer’s phone and found racist texts sent to the officer from both Kraynik and Third District Patrolman Aaron Pettit, the records say.
The Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association filed a federal lawsuit against the police department, saying the city had no right to punish the officers because Kraynik and Pettit weren’t the target of the investigation, that they had sent the text messages on their personal cellphones and that they had a First Amendment right to free speech.
Source: Cleveland Cop Caught Using N-Word in Texts, Gets Slap on the Wrist
