Page 38 - Florida Sentinel 3-26-21

Sports
Local
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Earlier this month, a Tampa Police officer was ter- minated for using a racial slur on two occasions. The in- cident took place last year.
Since that time, the com- munity has shown an out- pouring of support for former Officer Delvin White. White is a veteran officers with 8 years of experience. He has served as the School Resource Officer at Middle- ton High School for the past three years.
On Monday, several stu- dents at the high school gath- ered in support of Officer White. They held a “White Out,” to let the community know that they are in support of him.
Created and organized by Ms. Rebekah Cox, a Mid- dleton Senior, everyone was encouraged to wear white for White. Ms. Cox is also the Student Government Presi- dent. She created a flyer and used social media to alert others to the “Day of Appre- ciation” event for Officer White.
The event follows the sub- mission of more than 60 let- ters of support sent to Chief Brian Dugan in support of Officer White.
The students have also created an on-line petition that has generated more than 1,300 signatures supporting the officer.
According to a statement released by the Tampa Police Department earlier this month, “on November 13, 2020, White was on a phone call when his body-worn camera captured him refer- encing a group of people as “ghetto N******”.
“While under investiga- tion, White informed his su- pervisor that there was another incident, on November 30, 2020, where he used the “N” word while making an arrest. The body-worn camera captured White using the derogatory language twice while effecting an arrest for tres- passing.
“Derogatory statements made by police officers jeop-
Buccaneers Extend OT Donovan Smith, Bringing Back DT Ndamukong Suh
Students Host ‘White Out’ To Support Fired Officer
DONOVAN SMITH
The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers con- tinued their busy offseason Wednesday, agreeing to a two-year, $31.8 million con- tract extension with offensive tackle Donovan Smith while finalizing a one-year,
NDAMUKONG SUH
$10 million deal to bring back defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Smith's extension runs through 2023 and includes $30 million guaranteed over the next two seasons, sources told reporters.
The students, staff, and faculty turned out Monday for the “White Out” held in support of former Tampa Police Officer Delvin White.
Ms. Kimberly Johnson, Regis- trar and Ms. Yolanda Simmons, Guidance Secretary, posed for a photograph with Delvin White.
White is
Leah Green, a 12th Randall Carswell, Social Studies grade student, is teacher, and Dr. Sharondrea King, shown with Delvin
Delvin White, left, is shown with Psychologist. White.
ardize the trust that our department works to estab- lish with our community,” Chief Brian Dugan said.
“Tampa Police officers are held to a higher standard and incidents like this negatively impact the entire law enforcement profession.”
Officer White is being represented by Attorney Danny Alvarez, of the Tampa Police Benevolent As- sociation.
Attorney Alvarez has requested a Civil Service Board hearing in reference to
the termination. The Civil Service Board has the power to reverse or let stand the ter- mination.
Supporters of Officer White feel that he should be held accountable for his lan- guage. However, they feel ter- mination was too strong a punishment for the beloved officer.
Officer White is a prod- uct of East Tampa and the son of two retired Tampa Po- lice Officers, Lawrence and Vivian White. He is mar- ried and the father of five.
Delvin
shown with Jamila Malave, a Senior, dur- ing the rally.
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