Dispatcher under investigation for using racial slur during call - WNEM TV 5

A public dispatcher has been placed on leave after allegedly using a racial slur on a call.

Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra launched the investigation because ultimately the dispatcher answers to him. Though he works at the Public Safety Complex, he is not part of the police department.

"Same code again, 71, arguing with (N-word), neighbors, over a trash can," the dispatcher said on the tape.

Other dispatchers told their supervisor they didn't hear the slur, only a mispronunciation of "neighbor."

But on Fairfield Avenue, where the call was directed, the word came through clear as a bell.

"You don't bring that into your workplace," resident Ericka Mitchell said. "I'm sorry, people can make apologies, but at the end of the day, this is how they really feel."

Segarra said he agreed and pulled the unidentified dispatcher off the job and placed him on administrative leave.

Now an investigation is underway.

Others in the city said the word in question shouldn't be causing such a stir.

"It's a different generation and a different time now. Nobody should get mad at the n-word no more," someone only identified as Shaquille said.

The dispatcher in question has more than three years of experience and has had no history of problems before.

However, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra's office feels otherwise, and released a statement Wednesday.

"Mayor Segarra has a zero tolerance policy for usage of the 'n' word," the statement stated.

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