Two deputies filed suit last week against the City of St. Louis Sheriff’s Department claiming that the sheriff supported a racially hostile work environment and failed to discipline deputies who hung a noose in the holding cell area of the courthouse in 2006.
The two black deputies – Patrick Hill, 57, and Jacques Hughes, 51 – allege that the racial divide in the sheriff’s department had been evident for years, citing that white deputies with less seniority were given preferential treatment for assignments, promotions and pay.
They also said that white employees used the term “porch monkey” in 2005 when referring to African Americans.
The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, claims a violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act and asks for damages in excess of $25,000 for each plaintiff.
The suit alleges that on July 18, 2006, Hill and Hughes discovered a noose hanging from a pipe outside the prisoners’ holding cell area in the basement of the Civil Courts Building.
The plaintiffs’ attorney Jerome Dobson said the noose was seen by the prisoners (all of whom were black on that day) and a number of deputies, including Hill, who took a picture of the noose and notified Hughes to come down to the holding area to see it. Hughes said he saw a white lieutenant holding the noose after it had been taken down.
Hughes became emotional when discussing his outrage.
“Here I am at 51-years-old, working for a department that takes something like this lightly, and I just cannot,” Hughes said during Thursday’s media conference.
“It’s an insult to everything that my great-grandfather went through.”
In a disciplinary letter, dated July 28, 2006, written to the three deputies involved in the incident (one of whom was an African-American female), Sheriff James Murphy regarded it as a “practical joke.”
He wrote: “You also have assured the department that there was no maliciousness or racial overtones intended. Therefore, let this letter be a reminder to you that creating a racially hostile environment through incidents like this will not by tolerated by this department.”
Hughes and Hill said they made several verbal and written complaints asking how the incident would be handled. After complaining again in December, Hill said he was transferred from working days to nights and weekends.
Five months after the initial noose incident, the department’s employees were scheduled to undergo four hours of diversity training through the Missouri Deputy Sheriff Association.
Hill said the course was more like two and a half hours and instructed by a woman from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department with little experience in race relations.
The sheriff’s lackluster response spurred the lawsuit, Dobson said.
“No one was fired, no one was suspended, demoted or lost pay,” he said. “The sheriff made no apologies and did not publicly acknowledge…(or) condemn the incident.”
Murphy was not available for comment.
His administrative assistant, Mike Guzy, denied the allegations and said African Americans make up 40 percent of the department and represent 53 percent of those in supervisory positions.
He said the noose was not used as a racial symbol but instead was an “ill-advised prank,” in which the three deputies attempted to hang the chair of another deputy, who was white, from a ventilation shaft in the holding area.
“This was not a KKK rally,” he said. “This was a practical joke, and it was directed toward a white guy.”
He said Hill and Hughes misinterpreted what happened.
“If this would have been racially motivated, these people would have been fired,” Guzy said.
He added that the involvement of the black female is assurance that the incident was not racial.
Deputy Barbara Chavers, the black female involved, also called it a prank and referred to the so-called noose as a rope.
“It was a rope. It wasn’t tied as a noose when I was there,” Chavers said.
She said it was going to be used for the purpose of hanging the chair of another deputy, but they could not get the chair up.
She would not comment on why the rope stayed hanging although the deputies could not attach the chair to the rope.
She said she did not know how long the rope hung because she left for her assignment. When she returned, she said the rope was gone.
She added that she has not experienced any problems with race relations in the sheriff’s department.
Chavers and the others involved in the incident still work at the sheriff’s department.
National Police Brutality Day
Thousands of people across the country came together on 10-22 in hopes of putting an end to social injustice. The day marked National Police Brutality Day.
In St. Louis, blacks and whites joined at the Carpenter Branch Library on Monday to remember those lost or abused by the American justice system.
“We realize that we are victimized and our lives are being stolen, taken away through brutality, beatings and murders,” said Kalimu Endesha of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, which hosted the event.
“We have to all let it be known that we should have justice.”
Loved ones and friends stood before the audience and called out the names of about 20 victims. They testified about victims, some as young as 13 years old, who were falsely imprisoned, unjustly executed, repeatedly harassed, physically beaten or killed by police.
St. Louis is only one of two cities – the other is Kansas City, Mo. – around the country that does not have local control of its police department. The coalition is petitioning to gain local control over the department and plans to take the issue, once again, to Jefferson City.
