Black Troy police officer alleges racism in lawsuit
Christopher J. Johnson says he has been target of unfair treatment
A Black officer on the Troy police force filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday against the city, the department and deceased former police Sgt. Randall French, alleging he endured systemic racism in the agency and that it has caused his career and personal life to suffer.
The 45-year-old officer, Christopher J. Johnson, became one of four Black officers on the roughly 130-member force when he joined the department in 2007. Prior to that, the U.S. Army veteran had been the first Black officer with the Rensselaer Police Department.
In Troy, Johnson’s lawsuit states, he was subjected to “pervasive discriminatory conduct” that included being denied overtime when he worked as a school resource officer. He was later removed from that post due to what Chief Brian
Owens alleged was his poor job performance, but the officer never received a written complaint informing him of any issues with his work.
In March 2019, Johnson began working in the detectivegrade special operations section with French as his supervisor. He was the only Black member of the unit and found himself unwelcome there, his claim states, something that was evident when he would walk into the squad room and conversations would stop.
Four months after joining the detective unit, the lawsuit alleges, Johnson was showing a co-worker a photograph of his daughter from her high school graduation when French interrupted and asked Johnson how his daughter looked naked.
French died in late April from symptoms associated with COVID -19. The sergeant’s role in the fatal shooting of an unarmed DWI suspect in April 2016 sparked widespread protests in Troy over the past several years. The family of Edson Thevenin, the Black motorist killed by French, has a federal civil rights lawsuit pending against the city in U.S. District Court.
An internal investigation completed in 2018 by the Troy Police Department found French had improperly forced Thevenin’s car off the road and later lied about it; investigators also disputed French’s claim of opening fire as he was trapped between his cruiser and the suspect’s vehicle.
The 69-page internal affairs report, which was completed but never made public or acted on by the department’s leaders, became public through the federal lawsuit filed by Thevenin’s wife and two sons. The report recommended French face four disciplinary charges, including unjustifiable use of deadly force and providing false testimony about the fatal shooting. The department never disciplined French and police leaders did not act on the report’s recommendations.
Johnson’s lawsuit, which was filed by attorneys who also represent Thevenin’s survivors, does not mention the fatal shooting.
The civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Albany outlines other allegations of inappropriate conduct by French. In December, Johnson was sitting in his office at the police station without lights on because it was daylight and the blinds on the windows were open.
A visitor asked who was in the office and French identified the detectives who were there. “But when he got to Johnson, French stated, ‘Johnson is back there in the dark — Johnson, smile so we can see you,’” the lawsuit alleges. It claims French laughed after he made the remark and walked out of the room.
That same month, the detectives were discussing the design of a new patch for their unit and Detective Jeffrey Hoover allegedly said, “We should make the patch a spear and a piece of chicken.”
Johnson said that early in his career on the Troy police force he had noticed signs of potential racist leanings in the department, including a supervisor’s vehicle carrying a sticker of a Confederate flag, and another officer who had a Confederate flag on a belt buckle that hung next to his locker.
In March, according to the lawsuit, Hoover allegedly referred to a Black detective from another police agency as a “(expletive) n___.”
Hoover apologized for the slur and French later confronted Johnson and asked him if his fellow detective’s apology was sufficient, according to the lawsuit. Johnson did not believe so but told the sergeant the apology was enough.
Johnson, who said other detectives also humiliated him during undercover details and tried to undermine his confidence, confronted French about the situation and was allegedly told that the detectives mistreated him because they didn’t believe he was doing a good job. French allegedly told Johnson that the racial slurs and other comments he endured were standard fare in the unit and that he needed to deal with it.
Johnson subsequently transferred out of the unit and returned to uniformed patrol duties. He filed a complaint with the city ’s human resources department on March 19, but no action was taken, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint also lists multiple racist comments that Johnson said he was subjected to, including fellow officers telling him, “Black guys only date fat white women” and “Black people don’t do the things you do.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $1 million in damages, and claims Johnson has suffered emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, mental and physical anguish.
Deputy Chief Dan Dewolf, a spokesman for the department, said in a text he does not believe the department has a “racism problem.”