'I am grateful for a second chance,' says officer suspended over ethnic insult

What was this Detective thinking when he told a Latino man he was going to "beat the Mexican piss out of you, homey. You feel me?"??? Thank goodness the police force took swift action because this Detective is a menace to society for using the word 'Mexican". What was his punishment? Well, he was suspended, demoted, made to agree to meet with Latino groups to 'mend' fences and to also to speak to his fellow emasculated police officers about the importance of racial and ethnic sensitivity and received a frontal lobotomy! This is a police officer with 17 years service and a gang detective. Now, I've never worked in the police force, let alone as a gang detective, so please excuse my ignorance, but when the heck did the police force become a bunch of sissie wankers? I mean, hello, this is a man who has put his life on the line for his fellow human being - so they can sleep safe at night - and when he tells a Latino he'll beat the Mexican piss out of him, he gets vilified, neutered and shunned by his department? But, that's not all. Every civil rights worm came crawling out of the woodwork calling for this officer to be prosecuted and fired! But, wait you say - surely the USA government's Department of Justice came running to his defence....wrong. Instead of stepping in and backing him, the DoJ opened a broad civil-rights investigation in March into whether Seattle police have engaged in a pattern of unnecessary force and biased policing. Yes, that's right folks. That's how they treat the police these days. For all you victims out there - when you need the police don't dial 911 - rather dial your local civil rights branch to come help you out, seeing as they know better how to handle criminals. Even better, all White police officers should refuse to arrest any Blacks, Latinos or other minorities and let them run wild. Hopefully some of those civil rights people will feel what it's like to have a city in mayhem.

Detective Shandy Cobane

Seattle police Detective Shandy Cobane expressed relief Thursday after he was suspended, but not fired, for threatening to beat the "Mexican piss" out of a Latino man during a robbery investigation last year.

"I am grateful for a second chance," said an emotional Cobane, reading from a prepared statement at Seattle police headquarters.

Cobane spoke to reporters minutes after Chief John Diaz announced he had suspended the 17-year officer without pay for 30 days — the most severe punishment allowed short of firing.

As part of the discipline, Cobane — who also was demoted — has agreed not to appeal his suspension, and promised to meet with Latino groups to mend fences and to speak to other officers about the importance of racial and ethnic sensitivity.

He will undergo additional training and has accepted a "last-chance" agreement with the department, under which he would be fired for engaging in any other serious misconduct.

Diaz also said that if officers use such language in the future, they will be fired.

While Diaz characterized Cobane's punishment as extremely severe, a Latino legal group criticized the decision, saying he should have been fired.

Cobane sparked a public outcry last May when video emerged of an April 17, 2010, incident in which he was seen telling the prone Latino man he was going to "beat the [expletive] Mexican piss out of you, homey. You feel me?"

Cobane, who was working as a gang detective, drew condemnation from civil-rights and minority organizations.

Last May, the Seattle chapter of the NAACP and other civil-rights groups urged county prosecutors to prosecute Cobane, and a coalition of minority organizations formed after the incident pressed for his firing.

The incident was one of several that prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to open a broad civil-rights investigation in March into whether Seattle police have engaged in a pattern of unnecessary force and biased policing.

Diaz spelled out the disciplinary steps during a news conference Thursday at police headquarters, referring to his own Latino heritage and saying "the use of those comments ... will not be tolerated by this department."

After serving his suspension, Cobane will be assigned to patrol duty and will no longer hold the gang-unit detective position he coveted, Diaz said.

Cobane, a decorated officer with a previously spotless record, earned $92,143 in base pay last year and $8,823 in overtime pay.

Diaz called Cobane a "good officer" who made "a huge mistake."

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