Metro’s acting police chief has issued an apology to his police force for a training memo that sparked accusations of racial profiling in telling officers to ask crime victims if robbers had “large lips.”
Chief Jeri Lee’s apology letter said that the physical description, first reported by the Washington Examiner, “on face value was at the very least, insensitive.”
Lee initially refused to acknowledge the language might have been offensive when he met with police union officials late last month, according to the police union’s attorney, Justin Keating.
But the same day the article ran, Lee sent the apology to his staff, with the subject heading “The Examiner Newspaper Article.”
“We apologize for any offense and will do our best to ensure publications are free from insensitive and/or offensive information in the future,” he wrote.
He said he asked for top brass to be allowed to attend a union meeting on the matter to “reinforce our commitment to Civil Rights, diversity, and cultural sensitivity.”
The initial training memo, called “Primer for Interviewing Robbery Victims and Witnesses,” had listed several sets of questions for officers to ask, including: “Did you notice anything unusual about the suspect? (i.e. large lips).” It was the only physical descriptor listed.
The initial training memo, called “Primer for Interviewing Robbery Victims and Witnesses,” had listed several sets of questions for officers to ask, including: “Did you notice anything unusual about the suspect? (i.e. large lips).” It was the only physical descriptor listed.
Some officers objected, saying it was offensive to single out a stereotype of black people as the sole description used to identify criminals.
Racial profiling has been a concern at police departments nationwide for years, with accusations that blacks have been singled out especially in investigations because of their race.
After the officers complained, the initial training memo was amended to replace the controversial language with “facial scar or tattoo.”
In the apology memo, Lee said that the Metro Transit Police had recently closed several cases in which the victim described the suspect as having “freakishly large lips,” he wrote. A person was arrested “based upon this description,” he added.
