STATEMENT FROM CHIEF RICHARDSON, May 29, 2020
The following are the facts surrounding the Officer Navarro “black face” post:
In the early morning of May 28, 2020, I was made aware by the duty shift supervisor of a “Snap Chat” post that was made by Officer Walter Navarro. The post was a picture of Navarro wearing a facial cleansing mask poking out his lips with his girlfriend leaned in next to him also poking out her lips. The picture had a caption typed on it saying, “I date a black man”. According to the supervisor the picture had been posted by an unknown person onto Facebook after Navarro shared a post on his FB account regarding the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Officer Navarro’s post was in support of the condemnation of the horrible act committed by the police officers in Minneapolis.
Later that morning I met with the supervisor and Officer Navarro in my office. During our meeting Navarro stated that the picture was taken the first week of May and was sent to his friends on Snap Chat. He did not post it publicly. He was wearing a facial cleansing mask that his girlfriend had talked him into using to cleanse his skin. He said while he was sitting in a chair with the mask on, he posed for the “selfie” with his girlfriend and that she later added the caption. He stated that he was the one that shared the pic with some friends on his Snap Chat account. He further stated that he had not heard anything else about the pic until the evening of the 27th. Officer Navarro indicated that he knows that it was a very poor lapse in judgement and that he had no intent to offend anyone. He further stated that at no time did he paint his face or put this mask on for the sole purpose of making fun of another race.
He proceeded to state that on May 27, 2020, he made a FB post sharing a post made by another officer that was condemning the actions of the officers in Minneapolis regarding the death of George Floyd. I have read the post and find nothing offensive about it. Navarro then stated that it was shortly after he made his FB post that he discovered someone had posted the pic of him in the mask on his FB feed. He immediately notified his supervisor of the situation.
After hearing all the facts, and reviewing the picture, we decided that posing and disseminating a photograph of this nature on social media, regardless of the original intent, is unacceptable behavior and demonstrates a serious lack in judgement on behalf of a Thomaston Police Officer. Officer Navarro was asked to resign or be terminated at which time he tendered his resignation. It’s an unfortunate situation that has breached the trust of the community and affects the professionalism of the department that we cannot and will not allow at the Thomaston Police Department.
Officer Navarro is a Latino American police officer who made an extremely poor decision that had serious consequences. He served the department well and during his two years on the job had never received a single complaint regarding conduct, rudeness, racial bias, or unprofessional behavior or the mistreatment of others of any nature. Regardless, in the end, we serve the public and if the public trust is broken, I have the responsibility to fix it. We cannot do our job effectively without the support and confidence of the community we serve. I hope that all young and old officers can learn from this situation and fully understand that their actions on or off duty, regardless of intent, can have a tremendous effect on the community and people they serve.
Michael Richardson
Chief of Police
Thomaston Police Department
