A screenshot of Melissa Adamson’s post showing the part-time Pennsylvanian police officer in full uniform with the title “I’m the law today [N—ga]” went around the internets and caused enough of an uproar that Adamson was forced to resign from one of her jobs as a part-time police officer in Versailles. She was also fired from her part-time police job in McKeesport.
Mayor Michael Cherepko posted this statement to Facebook a couple of days ago.
As Mayor of the City of McKeesport, I feel compelled to publicly address an issue that has come to my attention via social media. A past social media post surfaced just a few hours ago involving a recently hired part-time police officer, who has been in training as a probationary employee for just a few weeks. This post displays a degree of conduct and character that is far different from what I would expect from an officer in this city. It is absolutely unacceptable. Without hesitation, my office and the police chief’s office immediately concluded that this officer’s actions will not be tolerated in the City of McKeesport. She has been relieved of her duties, and her employment has been terminated.
The post showing Adamson was taken months ago when she worked as a part-time officer in the Piticaim police department. Adamson says this image was being passed around in a revenge plot.
"An altercation happened between me and a former police officer, and he’s bringing up his dirt, ruining my career, which has been done," she said.
A McKeesport native, Adamson said the term was used loosely by people around her.
"Everyone that knows me knows I don’t have a racist bone in my body," Adamson said. "And people who don’t know me, I can understand why it was misconstrued to where it looks racist. But like I said, everyone who knows me knows I'm not racist."
Saying you don’t have “a racist bone in your body” is a bad look when you’ve been busted for posting a kinda racist thing on social media. The nature of making the declaration that you don’t have a racist bone in your body almost decidedly puts you into the camp of ignoring the concept of implicit bias—which we all face. While Adamson seems very contrite in her other statements, and seems to feel terribly about this, it is not a negotiable situation for law enforcement agencies. The standards by which we must hold people we allow to handle guns and arrest citizens must be higher than the standard we hold morning radio DJs to.