Black sergeant sues Modesto, alleging racism within Police Department
A Modesto police sergeant has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming it has allowed a “culture of racial discrimination” within the Police Department and he has been subject to such treatment as being wrongly passed over for promotion and unfounded disciplinary charges because he is African American.
Derrick Tyler sued Modesto in Stanislaus Superior Court on Oct. 24 alleging discrimination, harassment and retaliation. He is represented by the San Francisco law firm of Walker, Hamilton & Koenig. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages as well as attorney fees and legal costs.
According to the lawsuit:
Tyler has worked for the Police Department since 1997 and was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and alleges that because of the department’s institutional racism he has been passed over for special assignments, denied promotion to lieutenant in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and subjected to “unfair written evaluation marks, reprimands and pervasive work criticisms not leveled upon his white colleagues.”
This is the second racial discrimination lawsuit involving the Police Department in recent years. The city paid $370,000 in 2014 to settle a lawsuit filed by retired police Sgt. Carlos Castro, who claimed he faced discrimination, harassment and racial slurs during his career because he is Mexican American. He worked for the department from 1991 to 2012.
The city also spent about $380,000 in legal costs defending itself in the Castro lawsuit.
Tyler testified in Castro’s lawsuit that he had faced a double standard because of his race. Tyler also recounted that when then-Chief Paul Jefferson hired him in 1997, Jefferson, who also is black, told him there was a good-old-boy network in place and advised him to watch his back.
Tyler alleges in his lawsuit that he has faced retaliation because he testified in Castro’s lawsuit.
Police Chief Galen Carroll said while he has not seen Tyler’s lawsuit he still could not comment because the lawsuit is ongoing.
The lawsuit also alleges Tyler made the city aware of his mistreatment, but that did not solve the problem. Tyler “made a complaint of harassment, discrimination and retaliation to (the city) in or about December of 2016 and (the city) conducted its own confidential administrative investigation that concluded in June of 2017, with no action that (Tyler) could observe,” the lawsuit states.
Tyler’s lawsuit does not provide details to back up his allegations. But attorney Peter Koenig said that is part of his practice and the details will emerge as the litigation proceeds.
“We have the names of people to support what Derrick has alleged,” Koenig said. “We’ve got the names of current and past employees whose testimony we believe will come out in support of his claims.”
Tyler declined to comment for this story. But Koenig said Tyler’s concerns are not with the rank-and-file officers. “He’s trying to clean up some long-standing racism in the Modesto Police Department, to bring it to light.”
While not commenting on Tyler’s lawsuit, Carroll said the Police Department has worked hard to become more diverse and reflect the community it serves. But Carroll, who became chief in January 2013, said that has not been easy.
“It you look at what is happening nationwide,” he said, “it is hard to recruit officers, let alone diverse ones.”
The Police Department has 309 employees, with 205 of them sworn officers — from the newest rookie to the police chief — and 104 civilian employees. According to the city, 61.3 percent of the department’s employees are white, 24.9 percent are Latino or Hispanic, 3.3 percent are black or African American, and 5.8 percent are Asian.
Among the sworn officers, 65.4 percent are white, 19 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 3.4 percent are black or African American, 5.4 percent are Asian. Women make up 10.2 percent of the officers.
The city also reported that among the department’s 27 sergeants, 23 are white, one is Latino or Hispanic, two are black or African American, and one is Asian. Among the 10 lieutenants, six are white and four are Latino or Hispanic. The three captains are white.
The department’s highest ranking Latino, Assistant Chief Rick Armendariz, recently left to become deputy chief with the Anaheim Police Department.
For some context, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that as of 2018, 46.4 percent of Modesto’s residents were non-Hispanic or non-Latino white, 37.9 percent Hispanic or Latino, 4.2 percent black or African American, and 7.7 percent were Asian.
