Fired Police Trainee Claims Harassment, Files Complaint

A former police trainee has accused the Arcadia Police Department of firing her for complaining that officers watched pornographic movies on duty, uttered racial epithets and sexually harassed her.

Deborah Pierce, 29, of Glendora filed the complaint Monday with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), the federal civil rights agency.

City Atty. Mike Miller declined comment, saying the city has not received a copy of the complaint.

Pierce, who is white, worked as a probationary police officer for the department from June, 1991, to Jan. 20, 1993. She was discharged two months before the end of her training period. The police would not comment on the cause of her dismissal.

She claims that she was fired after repeatedly complaining about a racist and sexist climate in the department that existed at the very highest ranks.

She said Police Chief Neal R. Johnson used racial epithets in a conversation as she drove him to police headquarters last Nov. 2.

Johnson said he could not comment on the allegations because the complaint is pending.

Pierce said her supervisor sexually harassed her from March to June, 1992, beginning when she and the sergeant were at an annual police run from Baker to Las Vegas. She said he grabbed her and forcibly kissed her in her Las Vegas hotel room.

She said he continued to proposition her in subsequent weeks and spread sexual rumors about her after she rejected his advances. The harassment stopped after the rumors came to the attention of his supervisors, she said.

About two months later, Pierce was transferred to the all-male night shift, where she was subject to a hostile environment by officers and supervisors, the claim says.

“Pornographic movies were watched sometimes weekly, sometimes more frequently, on the graveyard shift after midnight in the break room,” she said.

She said she complained to the officers and supervisors, but the practice continued. She also said she complained that a racist climate existed on the night shift.

“When officers would gather after handling a call involving any person of ethnicity they would talking derogatorily about them,” she said. Officers joked that “it’s a felony to be black in Arcadia,” she said, and told her to increase her number of traffic citations by stopping more black and Latino drivers.

“Blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans were treated with hostility, while whites were treated with courtesy,” she said.

She said that in retaliation for speaking out, officers frequently failed to respond to her calls for backup.

EEOC Senior Trial Atty. Peter Laura said in Los Angeles that the commission will investigate the charges and determine whether to pursue legal action.

Of the 105 full-time and reserve officers on the Arcadia Police Department, 22 are women. There are one black reserve officer, 10 Latino officers, three Asian-Americans and one American Indian.