Philadelphia’s interim Police Commissioner Christine Coulter apologized for wearing a T-shirt that joked about the notorious 1991 beating of Rodney King, which sparked race riots in Los Angeles.
Coulter appeared before the Philadelphia City Council on Tuesday after a photo of her from the 1990s was published last month. The photo showed Coulter, around 30 years old at the time, wearing a shirt that said, “L.A.P.D. We Treat You Like a King.”
The shirt was referring to the highly publicized beating of then-construction worker King by Los Angeles police.
“It is clear it was a bad decision on my part and I would not wear that shirt today,” Coulter told the City Council. “Certainly, as I look at the past week and the hurt and damage it has caused people who I care about to communities that I always care about, I should have known.”
Philadelphia Councilwoman Cindy Bass responded to Coulter’s apology by calling for the interim police chief to resign.
“I do not believe that the acting Commissioner Christine M. Coulter can effectively manage the external relationships necessary to address police and community tensions which is absolutely required of any commissioner,” Bass said, reading from a letter she sent to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
When the photo surfaced last month, Coulter said that she was unaware of what the shirt was referencing, and that she thought the shirt was making a generic reference to the LAPD. The photo was taken at a police officer gathering at the Jersey Shore.
Kenney’s office has continued to support Coulter. The mayor has accepted Coulter’s explanation for the shirt while recognizing that the shirt’s slogan is offensive to many.
The photo surfaced shortly after Coulter was named to the top spot in the Philadelphia Police Department, the first woman to hold the position. Coulter’s promotion came after the former police chief, Richard Ross, abruptly resigned on Aug. 20.
