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Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - C
25 July 2006

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Officer demoted after comment

Disciplinary action has been recommended for Clarksville Police Officer Jeff Stanfill after an internal investigation of a racially inappropriate comment at a local restaurant.

Sgt. Scott Thornton reported hearing Stanfill make a racial slur June 15 during a dinner break with five other CPD employees.

Thornton reported Stanfill made the comment to his co-workers after the group had been repeatedly antagonized by a black customer in the restaurant.

Stanfill was decommissioned � removing his police authority, gun, badge and patrol car � and assigned to desk duty while the accusation was investigated by the department's Professional Integrity Unit.

PIU Lt. Rick Stalder released his findings to Police Chief Mark Smith, who determined Stanfill's discipline

According to a memorandum issued Friday from Smith to Stanfill, the recommended punishment includes a 12-day suspension without pay, a demotion from field training officer to patrol officer, completion of training specific to his "areas of weakness" and a transfer to desk duty for no fewer than six months.

Stanfill also will be ineligible for promotion for the next year.

According to Smith's memorandum, the harassing customer at the restaurant made numerous remarks about "cops and doughnuts."

Officer David Galbraith, who was eating with Stanfill that night, said the customer kept saying, "I didn't know they sold doughnuts here."

Several officers in the department told The Leaf-Chronicle that Stanfill responded to the remark by saying to his co-workers, "I didn't know they sold watermelon here."

During the investigation, Stanfill explained his comment was not meant as a racial slur, "but more as a statement about stereotyping," according to Smith's memorandum.

Smith also wrote the department "cannot disregard the fact that this could very easily have been offensive to the general public as well as other officers."

Galbraith said the comment was made out of the customer's earshot.

"Every time someone else would come into the restaurant, that customer would start it up all over again," Galbraith said. "I just got up and left early, before my break was over, because I got tired of hearing it."

Smith's decision to discipline Stanfill was influenced by the officer's past disciplinary action in 2002 for making derogatory remarks about Koreans.

"The last discipline you received was for exactly the same type of conduct as this," Smith wrote. "At that time you assured me that nothing like this would happen again. The punishment you received last time was based on that assurance. That being said I am reluctant in placing as much weight on your promise this time."

However, Galbraith, and fellow Officer Javier Matiz, insisted in interviews Monday that Stanfill is "by no means racist."

"I'm a Hispanic officer myself," Matiz said. "Officer Stanfill's family and my family spend a lot of time together. We're over at each other's houses, our kids play together. If I thought this guy was racist, do you really think I'd want him to be at my house, around my kids, spending time with me and my family?"

Matiz, who admitted the comment "probably shouldn't have been made," said Stanfill was his first field training officer and quickly became someone he wanted to emulate.

"From the get-go, he just impressed me with his knowledge and the way he handled himself and controlled business out there," Matiz said. "I remember one time we were eating breakfast in a restaurant, and this guy � a black guy � he had arrested years ago, came over and started talking with him, telling him how he'd gotten his life back on track. When Stanfill is working, he's incredibly professional � to everyone."

Galbraith agreed, saying, "It doesn't matter what race or sex someone is, he deals with everyone in a calm, respectful manner. He is the epitome of a police officer."

Still, Smith said he could not ignore the nature of the comment or the location in which it was made.

"It can be argued that we are hypersensitive to matters concerning race," Smith wrote in the memorandum. "Be that as it may, statements such as this hurt the department's public image and damages the confidence citizens have in their department."

Smith commended Stanfill for "taking ownership of this incident" and not blaming "anyone else in attempt to escape responsibility."

Stanfill has seven days to appeal the recommended penalty.

Two phone calls to Stanfill's department extension were not returned Monday.

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Article sourced from

Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - C25 July 2006

Officer demoted after comment

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Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - C
25 July 2006