Black Officers’ Group Calls for Racial Healing

The president of a black officers’ group blasted the St. Louis Police Department on Monday, claiming it tolerates a culture of racism.

Officer Eddie Simmons Jr. of the Ethical Society of Police said internal affairs officers treat white and minority officers differently, and that commanders often ignore racial slurs used against colleagues and residents.

He also alleged that minority police recruits are punished unfairly, as compared with white recruits.

“Racism–it seems that it just won’t go away,” Simmons said at a news conference at the group’s headquarters at Delmar Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. The Ethical Society of Police, formed in 1976, was established to help black officers fight for equal rights. Almost all of its 225 members are police officers.

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Isom [Chief Dan Isom] and several members of the top command staff are black.

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