PLAINFIELD, Ind. — A captain with the Plainfield, Ind. police department is now on administrative leave after a statement about white male privilege during a transgender awareness session for the town’s police.
Indianapolis TV station RTV6 reported that the comment came at the Nov. 1 session. A representative from the U.S. Department of Justice and a United States attorney were instructing police on issues relating to transgender people, and how police should best interact with transgender people.
From RTV6:
About halfway through the presentation, a 28-year veteran of the Plainfield Police Department spoke up, asking questions about a certain statistic presented — that transgender people are 3.32 times more likely to experience police violence, compared to non-transgendered people.
A video recording of the training session provided by Plainfield captured the exchange.
“My life has never been part of police violence,” the officer said. “Most of the people that I know have never been … accused the police of violence (sic), so I guess I don’t get where that statistic comes from.”
At that time, Capt. Carri Weber interrupted, saying, “Because of your white male privilege, so you wouldn’t know.”
Weber’s comment appeared to anger the officer and others.
The TV station reported that one of the instructors tried to calm down the room and that one of the officers asked the police chief if they would let Weber “get away with that.”
A complaint was filed on Nov. 10 by the officer, who wasn’t identified when RTV6 requested the information. He stated he was “racially and sexistly slurred by Captain Carri Weber while I was asking a question of the instructor in training,” the officer wrote. “I am now firmly aware of the discriminatory belief she just verbally communicated. … There is no place in the Plainfield Police administration or supervision for someone who holds and espouses her discriminatory views.”
The town board of commissioners placed Weber on leave on Nov. 16 and will vote on her future with the police department on Dec. 7.
