The Fort Worth Police Department has put one officer on “indefinite suspension” and continues the investigation into a second officer after the two recently posted a racist meme on their joint Facebook page.
Today (Thursday, Oct. 1), Officer Roger Ballard “received an indefinite suspension for violating departmental General Orders related to social media use,” according to a statement from the Fort Worth PD’s Public Information Office. “An indefinite suspension is equivalent to termination.
The statement botes that FWPD’s Internal Affairs division “is continuing to investigate the extent of the involvement of the second officer.”
The second officer, sources told Dallas Voice, is Roger Ballard’s wife, Katie Ballard.
The investigation into the two officers began after the department “was made aware of a racially insensitive and grossly inappropriate Facebook post which surfaced on an officer’s shared personal profile page,” the FWPD statement said. Angry individuals posted screen captures of the meme and the couple’s profile photo, above, on Facebook the afternoon of Sept. 24.
“Internal Affairs quickly began an investigation and concluded that Officer Roger Ballard was responsible for posting the racially insensitive meme containing a photo which led to numerous complaints and public outrage,” the FWPD statement. “After reviewing the Internal Affairs findings, Chief Kraus concurred with the chain of command determination that Officer Roger Ballard was in violation of departmental General Orders and that his conduct brought justified unfavorable criticism upon the department.”
The statement concludes, “The Fort Worth Police Department holds every officer to a very high standard and any comment, post or any communication which is racially insensitive and unprofessional will not be condoned in any manner. Our department will continue to hold accountable those who do not meet that standard.”
— Tammye Nash
