Police Chief in Florida Is Fired After ‘Orangutan’ Description
St. Petersburg’s police chief was fired Tuesday after comparing a black suspect to an orangutan.
Police Chief Mack Vines, who is white, had served only since Oct. 5, although he also held the position from 1974 to 1980.
Vines used the term “orangutan” at a meeting with officers earlier this month to describe the actions of a black suspect who had to be pulled out of a car by police after he wrapped his arms around the steering wheel.
He apologized for the comment and said he had not intended it as a racial slur.
But St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said at a news conference that Vines’ remark had damaged trust in the chief’s leadership. Baker named Deputy Chief Chuck Harmon, who is also white, to replace Vines.
Baker had picked Vines to replace Goliath Davis, who was St. Petersburg’s first black police chief. Davis took a position as a city administrator.
Davis became chief in 1997, a few months after a race riot that began when a white police officer killed a black teenager.
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