Review board recommends firing racist OPD cop

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Orlando’s police review board called for the firing of an Orlando police officer who posted racist messages on Facebook.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina previously decided to punish Officer Robert Schellhorn with an 80-hour suspension.

Wednesday morning board members said that the punishment was inadequate and recommended termination of Schellhorn.

Activist T.J. Cole had filed a formal complaint against Schellhorn for Facebook posts that referred to black people as “savages” and black athletes protesting police brutality as “overpaid thugs.”

At the board meeting Wednesday (June 6) morning, which was packed with uniformed officers including two deputy chiefs, Mr. Cole said after he complained about Schellhorn the officer contacted him through social media and suggested that they meet.

An officer who harbors racist views is a discredit to the Orlando Police Department and a danger to the public – especially minorities, Mr. Cole told the board.

The review board’s action put Chief Mina in a precarious situation because he is running for election to become the next Orange County Sheriff.

The board recommendation is advisory, but if Chief Mina ignores the action then that shows that he would not be responsive to public concerns as sheriff.

Chief Mina already has major credibility issues. Within the past month, two of his officers shot and killed an unarmed man in a van at Colonial Plaza. The chief said the man tried to run over the cops. A video shot by a bystander showed the cops were never in front of the van.

Then it turned out that there was no police bodycam footage of the encounter. Chief Mina confessed to reporters that even though he said all patrol officers had bodycams one of the cops in the shooting – a rookie – didn’t have a camera. The other cop’s camera didn’t work because the battery ran out.

The chief had never before mentioned that the cameras had defective batteries.

How Chief Mina handles the case of the racist cop can have a heavy bearing on whether he gets elected sheriff.

Chief Mina was not at Wednesday’s meeting.
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