One extreme example from inside the Columbus Division of Police exposing how reckless and rogue some white male officers can be towards minority and women officers happened roughly two years ago when a female officer and a male officer were vying to run a high-profiled unit.

The white female candidate had more seniority over the white male candidate, and the female candidate won the promotion. But the male officers within the unit never wanted her to win the job and scoffed at her authority – and it soon turned ugly.

Who recalls the popular insurance commercial which portrayed a fisherman dangling a dollar bill with his fishing pole over the needy arms of young woman who desperately tried to swipe the dollar bill off the hook?

Soon after the female officer won the promotion, someone under her authority took time to create a poster which mocked her. They took a picture of her face and superimposed it on the face of the fisherman in the insurance commercial. As for the losing male candidate, they took his face and superimposed it on the young lady’s face.

“They hung these posters at the substation where she works,” said a Columbus police officer familiar with the story. “In the women’s stalls, every stall, on the supervisor’s door, throughout the substation. When she came to work, she saw all these posters. Basically, the posters said she stole his job. Even though she didn’t. It was her right to take that job. She had more seniority.”

This literal in-your-face insult by fellow co-workers would rarely happen at any other Columbus workplace, and if it did, those involved would certainly be fired – immediately.

The female officer filed an EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) complaint with her supervisor which was then sent to Internal Affairs. She had a good idea of who had made the poster – a white male sergeant obviously bitter over her promotion. She named him in the complaint.

“But IA couldn’t find out who did it. No one was disciplined. They basically did nothing,” said the anonymous officer. 

However, IA did send the white male sergeant a notification an EEO complaint regarding the poster incident had been filed against him

“The sergeant received a notification an EEO complaint had been filed against him. So, he hangs the notification up at the substation bulletin board so everybody can see it. Trying to intimidate her,” said the officer.

Upset once again and seeking some type of disciplinary action, the female officer filed an appeal to a Deputy Chief regarding the EEO complaint being pinned to the bulletin board, which was a violation in itself because it had nothing to do with official business.

Nonetheless, the white male sergeant was simply reprimanded for posting the EEO complaint on the bulletin board.

As the Free Press and others see this, Columbus police have the skills and power to solve homicides, but when it comes to uncovering who posted insulting and misogynist posters on their own walls, they have no clue?

Again, this is arguably another example of how much power and influence the Columbus police union, FOP Capital City Lodge #9, has over the Mayor’s office, the city’s Safety Director, and possibly the division’s high-ranking deputy commanders, who are most likely in bed with Capital City Lodge #9 President Keith Ferrell. 

It is also another example of how white male officers and commanders are pushing back against efforts to make the division more inclusive and representative of our community.