VINCENT, Ala. (AP) — A racist text message sent by a police officer prompted officials in a small Alabama town to disband their police department and fire the police chief and deputy chief.
Vincent Mayor James Latimore confirmed Thursday that Police Chief James Srygley and Deputy Chief John L. Goss had been fired, al.com reported.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on Friday condemned the two officers’ actions and said it supports the city “to provide law enforcement-related emergency services to (Vincent’s) citizens at this time. “.
In the post, which recently surfaced on social media, someone identified the texts “752”: “What do you call a pregnant slave girl?” An unidentified recipient responds twice: “?” and “??”
“752” replies, “BOGO Buy one, get one free”
“It tore this community apart. It doesn’t matter what color we are as long as we do good with people,” Councilman Corey Abrams said at Thursday’s council meeting.
On Tuesday, Latimore said “appropriate action has been taken” against the officer alleged to have sent the text, although at the time he did not name the person or anyone involved.
The city’s website lists three people in its department: Srygley, Goss and Officer Lee Carden.
At the council meeting, Latimore announced that he had suspended the chief and deputy chief, and the council voted to end the agency. Latimer said Carden submitted his resignation via text message just hours after the city council voted to disband the department.
Located in central Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, Vincent has a population of just under 2,000. It is located in Shelby, St. Clair and Talladega counties.
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