Two Dallas Narcotics Detectives on Restrictive Duty After Scuffle Over Racial Slurs

Two Dallas narcotics detectives have been placed on restrictive duty after they got into a scuffle, possibly because one uttered racial slurs at the other during an earlier incident.

Both detectives are black.

The detectives, Charles Palmer and Dennis Malone, got into the scuffle in a parking garage at police headquarters about noon Friday. {snip}

Police say tension arose between the detectives earlier in the week when an undercover narcotics officer, who is white, asked Malone, who is black, for his assistance transporting a man arrested on a drug charge to jail.

Malone told supervisors that during that incident, on Wednesday, Palmer began calling him names because he had agreed to help the white officer. Malone told supervisors that Palmer, who is black, began calling him an “Uncle Tom” and the “N-word” as they were taking the prisoner to jail.

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“We’re waiting on the public integrity investigation to determine what actions will be taken,” said Acting Assistant Chief Julian Bernal. “The whole issue is problematic — using those kinds of names whether you’re talking to another officer or not. It kind of transcends into the public. If you’re using that terminology with another officer, you’re probably using that terminology with the public.”

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