Chicago police are investigating a recording which captures racial slurs made in an apparent exchange between officers and the dispatcher captured on the department’s radio feed for Morgan Park and other Far South Side neighborhoods on Saturday, March 12 at about 8:30 a.m., DNAinfo reported.
In a dispatch recording that came out on Monday (scroll down for sound clip), a male officer could be heard saying, “Typical [Explicit] n—–s” and in the same recording, “Black lives matter, my [expletive].”
It’s hard to determine if the two comments were made by the same voice or not.
According to Clay Center Dispatch, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he is unsure if a member of the Chicago police radio did in fact make the comments—it could possibly be from another source.
“The statements made are absolutely unacceptable and Superintendent [John] Escalante has ordered an immediate internal affairs investigation into this incident.
“Should the investigation reveal that a member of the police department made the statements, he will be immediately suspended and disciplinary proceedings will be launched,” Guglielmi said in a statementon on Monday.
Spokeswoman Melissa Stratton for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, which oversees city dispatchers, said it may have come from a source outside of the department:
“We have reviewed the audio from this incident and we do not believe the comments were made through the use of a city-programmed radio as the audio in question lacks identifying characteristics of an official police radio,” Stratton said in a statement.
“At this time, it is unknown who the unauthorized user is but OEMC will work with CPD as they investigate the matter.”
