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Alabama Town Gets Rid Of Entire Police Department After Racist Text About Slaves Surfaces

Man sends text messages. This image does not depict the incident mentioned in-story. [Shutterstock Tero Vesalainen]

[Shutterstock Tero Vesalainen]

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
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An Alabama town got rid of their entire police department after an officer allegedly sent a racist text about slaves, according to a report.

The Vincent City Council voted Thursday to disband the department and fire Police Chief James Srygley and Assistant Chief John L. Gross, according to AL.com.

“We passed a resolution with intent to pass an ordinance to disband the police department,” Mayor James Latimore reportedly said.

The vote came after text messages surfaced on social media purportedly showing an officer, identified as “752” texting “what do y’all call a pregnant slave?” according to the report.

An unidentified recipient then responded “?” and “??”

“BOGO Buy one, get one free,” the user identified as “752” responded.

It’s unclear who was involved in the communications, but the city of Vincent had listed three people, Srygley, Gross and Lee Carden, as members of its police department, AL.com reported. The site now remains blank. Carden submitted his resignation via text just after the city council voted to disband the department, according to WSFA. (RELATED: Mom Lawyers Up, Holds Press Conference After Accusing Sesame Street Character Of Being Racist For Snubbing Kids)

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is stepping up to fill in the gap for the town of less than 2,000, saying they “condemn” the “actions” of the police department and will respond to emergency calls.

The city has 392 black residents, The New York Times reported.