There’s a reason we often believe Black cops are cops first and Black second (or never). Time and time again, Black police officers—such as the thugs in blue accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death—prove that they carry around the same anti-Black attitude that many of their white counterparts patrol the streets with.
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Well, there’s a Black woman police chief in Atlanta who has taken this sunken place mentality to a whole new level, and she declared during a command staff meeting that she doesn’t want to hire any more Black or Hispanic women as police officers because they come into the force with too much “attitude.” (There’s an NWA joke in there somewhere, but Ima leave it alone for now.)
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Atlanta VA Medical Center Police Chief Beverly Banks was captured in audio recordings from a September 13, 2023, command staff meeting attended by more than a dozen people, during which she said the following:
“I am to the point… I don’t want to hire black women no more. I’m to that point. I ain’t got no white women beating down my door to come in and work. But I wish they would. Cause I don’t have these problems.
“I don’t have no Hispanic women. Hell, I don’t want them neither. Cause you know what comes with it? A whole of lot of f—–g attitude. And I don’t want it. I’m the only one with an attitude in this place. Me.”
First of all, you know the narrative that racism in policing comes down to “a few bad apples” is some bluish-white nonsense when an officer of the law can casually declare their discriminatory attitudes towards Black people while other commanding officers just sit there and nod along like it’s just another Tuesday.
To be fair, Banks and two other commanding officers were suspended with pay last month due to what the Veterans Administration called “unacceptable behavior,” but that doesn’t change the fact that she felt comfortable enough to say what she said without fear of repercussions. (And by “repercussions,” I mean paid suspension, which some people might call a vacation.)
Also, it’s worth mentioning that it wasn’t just the clear hatred of Black women with bad attitudes—that came from a Black woman who clearly has a bad attitude—that got Banks suspended. The suspensions of the officers also revolved around “allegations of sexual assault and harassment.”
From Fox 5:
Months before she arrived, VA internal affairs examined the case of Shaneka Jackson. She accused Deputy Chief Johnnie McCullor of sexual assault.
“I didn’t know what he was doing until everything ultimately started to happen,” Jackson told the FOX 5 I-Team.
McCullor denied everything. But a 2022 VA investigation raised questions about his honesty and found Jackson to be “accurate and truthful.”
“I was being truthful,” said Jackson. “And nothing happened.”
Jackson lost her job. McCullor remained deputy chief. And when Chief Banks took over, she kept him there. It’s unclear whether she knew about the IA findings.
In December 2023, another Black woman with the department filed a handwritten complaint with her supervisor accusing McCullor, who is also Black, of threatening to drag her down the hall by her hair, and while it’s unclear what happened with that complaint, during a department-wide meeting the next month, Banks reportedly told McCullor, “Deputy Chief McCullor, if you don’t know how to talk to people, tell me now so I can do whatever I need to do to get you disciplined… again.”
It’s also unclear what that “discipline” would entail since a sexual assault allegation determined to be “accurate and truthful” wasn’t enough to get him the ax. According to the EEO complaint filed by Jackson, McCullor offered to help her get a job with the private security company the Atlanta VA also uses, but that offer came with the condition that she perform sexual acts with the deputy chief.
“I remember one day he asked me to come into his office,” Jackson said. “He just told me I told you it would cost you.”
Jackson said McCullor then exposed himself to her.
“I’m like whoa, whoa, whoa like this is not something I’m going to do,” Jackson told Fox 5. “I got out of his office so quick. All I remember is seeing him adjust his pants back and I got out of there and started crying hysterically.”
Jackson was ultimately demoted and transferred—which she said happened after she finally filed the complaint—and after she failed to show up for work the next day, the private security company fired her and denied it had anything to do with the complaint she filed.
McCullor, Banks, and a third officer with the department, Major Daryl Gates, were all relieved of duty pending a VA investigation “to address the challenges in the Atlanta VA police department” as well as “investigate the situation in the Atlanta police department, make recommendations related to these 3 individuals, and identify other changes that might be needed to improve the culture.” Gates has since been reinstated. It’s unclear what role he played in the “unacceptable behavior” that is still under investigation.
As for Banks, a VA spokesman told Fox 5 of her remarks about hiring Black and Hispanic women, “There is no place for racism or discrimination at VA, and these comments are unacceptable.”
