RaShall Brackney, Charlottesville’s first Black female police chief, was hired to take steps to eliminate the city’s racism and bigotry. However, Brackney was on the receiving end of what she fought hard to change during her short tenure as the department’s leader.
The former Black police chief discovered that her police officers were making secret racist remarks and not taking her seriously. Brackney was fired, but this summer, she brought forth a lawsuit for wrongful termination, The Washington Post reported.
Brackney was hired in response to the 2017 Charlottesville riots between white nationalists and their counter-protesters because of the removal of a Confederate statue, which resulted in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer after a James A. Fileds Jr. drove his vehicle into the crowd of people protesting against the white nationalists. Having the city’s first Black female police chief was intended to ease the racial tension, and the town was hoping Brackney would restore their trust in the city.
Things took a turn when it was discovered that the police officers she worked with had little to no respect for her. Text messages show that the police officers can’t look past the color line. One text suggested that they “take out” the command staff. The former chief found the comment concerning, but others on the command staff didn’t see anything wrong with it.
The Washington Post reported that an officer was caught training a new employee on how to hide misconduct.
Another instance where Brackney dealt with difficulty from her staff happened sometime after she was sworn in. A commander approached her as she walked down the hall and said, “I voted Republican. I don’t think I drink any f**king pumpkin lattes.”
Upon realizing the racial gap was still present, Brackney made moves she thought would break the divide. She pulled officers from the drug task force because she believed they were only targeting lower-level drug users and not the drug pushers. She also made moves to remove resource officers from schools, which could possibly increase criminal behavior.
Many thought Brackney was just pushing her own political agenda.
My first concern is that the chief is more focused on her political career and personal interests over the safety and mental health of her officers,” an officer stated. “She will hang any officer out to dry before she admits any personal wrongdoing.”
Brackney was fired on Sept.1, 2021. She filed a $10 million federal racial and gender discrimination lawsuit against the city in June 2022.
“Why Chip Boyles, the defendants, and other city officials worked so diligently to terminate my contract without cause and to halt the work of dismantling institutional racism and supremacy within CPD,” Brackney said during a press conference.
The defendants in the lawsuit include Charlottesville City Manager Chip Boyles, former City Councilor Heather Hill, Mayor Lloyd Snook, City Councilor Sena Magil, former Police Civilian Review Board Chair Bellamy Brown, and more.
Brackney’s attorney Charles Tucker alleged that one of the reasons she was fired was because she conducted investigations on certain officers.
