Texas police officers: "BURN BABY, BURN"

[Bluebear]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=4&u=/ap/fire_police_disciplined

AUSTIN, Texas - Five police officers and four dispatchers were suspended for sending computer messages after a nightclub caught fire joking about the blaze and quoting a line from the song "Disco Inferno" — "burn baby burn."

The club has a mostly black clientele, and there were suggestions after the fire that the messages revealed racial bias in the department....

Martinez replied that he was laughing, and "Those were my exact thoughts." Other officers chimed in with more than two hours of messages. Among those receiving 15-day unpaid suspensions was officer William White, who sent a note that said, "U can smell from (Interstate) 35. It is the smell of victory."

Dispatcher Susan Negron wrote, "I have some extra gasoline if they need it," according to the documents, and "My nite is made. I just had a lady ask me if it was burning. I said yep. She was upset. I was enthralled."
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I saw the police chief on the local news who insisted that phrases have a "different meaning" to police officers than to civilians. :crazy:

disclaimer: Yes, police officers lay their lives on the line every day and I appreciate it.

[Deja Q]

1. So do American workers.

Without our jobs, we can't afford living.

[Stop_the_War]

2. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the police who set the fire....

[jdj]

10. I was amazed at the amount of forest fires and wild fires that

are set by out of work firefighters.

I don't think you can become a cop without control issues anyway, so there is gratification involved.

When will people get a clue about e-mail. Duh.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. An officer Martinez?

I guess he would have reacted the same way if it were an all hispanic club? Not!

[Rose Siding]

4. Wow- I had guessed it was just inappropriate joking-

like gallows humor, but this is different. People will believe that police chief if they don't read what was really said.

Maybe he can explain to all of us the "different meaning" of "I was enthralled"!!! Or the offer of more gasoline? Can he translate the word "victory" from police-speak for us? :grr:

[shadowknows69]

7. do you ever get the feeling

that we don't even deserve to exist as a species anymore?

[Bluebear]

8. Exactly Rose. I got the reference to "Disco Inferno" & all....

Then out comes the person in charge and instead of accepting that it was wrong, he has to explain it away.

[Joanne98]

5. They need to be FIRED!

[walldude]

6. "Different Meaning" yeah right

I'm sure Officer Whitey had something different in mind when he said "smells like victory". I love how stupid people use that phrase from Apocolypse Now like it was ment to be something cool. Uh... hello.. McFly.. that speech was designed to show what a nutcase the Col. was.

[AlCzervik]

9. I saw it on cnn last night, the police claim that the remarks

were not recially motivated, they were motivated because they have had to respond to 100+ calls there in the past year, thats their story and they're sticking to it.