A police officer in the US was caught using the N-word - and tried to blame it on being “desensitised” to it because of music.
The officer from Cincinnati has been temporarily stripped of her duties after body-worn camera footage showed her using the word on duty.
An investigation into the incident found that police officer Rose Valentino also turned on the patrol car lights and sirens while passing a predominantly Black high school in April this year.
It’s claimed the officer did it to encourage the parents in idle cars waiting to collect their children to move.
The uniformed officer could then be heard going on a foul-mouthed, racist rant about the parents she was trying to get to move.
Valentino said: “I fucking hate them so much. God, I hate this fucking world. …Fucking n*****s, I fucking hate them.”
An internal report into her conduct heard Valention claim she had been “desensitised to racially offensive language by music and hearing people talk on the street” and “frequent exposure had allowed the slur to slip into her vernacular”.
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Valentino said she used the racial slur after a Black teen pointed their middle finger up at her while walking along the pavement out of school.
It’s not the first time a 14-year veteran officer has been involved in issues involving race before.
In November 2018, she was involved in an incident with two Black men – a realtor and a prospective buyer who was looking at a house – during which, Valentino pointed her gun at them and put them in handcuffs.
A lawsuit was brought against Valentino and two other officers following the incident and the city settled the case for $151,000.
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