How A Coin Got a Dallas Police Officer Suspended
The Dallas Police Department suspended one of their officers in response to a controversial challenge coin he made, which city residents considered racist. According to The Dallas Morning News, the officer attempted to sell the coin, but took the sales down once he received backlash.
What even is a challenge coin? Fox 4 News reports these coins are commemorative and used by law enforcement to boost morale amongst one another. Officer Caleb McCollum customized a challenge coin to honor the 15th anniversary of the South Central Patrol Division. The image depicts a drug house with the Pillsbury Doughboy behind it wearing gold teeth, holding money in one hand and a gun in the other. In big letters above the figure reads “Big ‘T’ Plaza,” which is reportedly a shopping center frequented by Black customers.
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The one who raised the issue about the coin was Sr. Cpl. Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, noting that the image references the ‘Doughboy’ from Boyz N The Hood, the drug dealer.
After the controversy, McCollum was placed on administrative leave and was just handed a 5-day suspension after a disciplinary hearing.
Read more from Dallas Morning News:
The suspension was handed down after a disciplinary hearing with García, a police spokeswoman confirmed. García declined to comment, and police declined to release other details about the investigation.
Dallas police Sgt. George Aranda, president of the Dallas National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said he represented the officer at the hearing and believes the discipline was adequate. He said McCollum took down posts trying to sell the coin as soon he heard it was offensive.
“We do understand that it might have been insensitive to print the coin,” Aranda said. “But you have to remember, these are police coins which are made for law enforcement officers and for them to trade out with other officers. It was nowhere at any time meant for the community to get a hold of the coin.”
Oh, so in other words, police business wasn’t meant to become citizens’ business. That is exactly the reason people were up in arms about this coin. Though small and lacking in value to the average person, Hopkins said the coin was insensitive in its stereotypical references to the Black community, which may reflect the biases of Dallas police officers.
We’ve seen greater displays of racial bias from police departments beyond the illustration of a silly little coin. However, one would think officers would watch their back anyway, since the public is ready to scrutinize any biased behavior at the drop of a dime... no pun intended.
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