A former police officer with St. Louis County is taking legal action against the department alleging racist hiring practices.
As reported by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Shanette Hall filed suit on Wednesday, in which she claims she was retaliated against after her interview with Vice News aired last spring.
In the video, Hall appears with other Black female officers from Pennsylvania and North Carolina who speak off-camera about race and gender divides within police culture. She also opened up about her experiences as a Black female officer in a 2021 Washington Post story.
Hall started as a 911 dispatcher with the St. Louis County police department in 2010 and became a sworn officer in September 2014. She claims less than 24 hours after her Vice News interview aired, she was abruptly removed from human resources as a recruitment officer and reassigned to a patrol position.
Hall’s lawsuit alleges that eight days after her transfer to a different precinct with predominantly white staff, the department posted a job opening for her former role. She alleges that she was not provided an explanation for the transfer, and was also denied the position when she reapplied for the job.
The lawsuit details the racist hiring practices of the command staff, such as not requiring white men to take the written or physical exams.
Hall, second vice president of the St. Louis County Chapter of the Ethical Society of Police, reportedly exited the department last April.
“I just know that Shanette is a remarkable person and what I would say is the fact that she has left the department is a really sad statement about the department because it is their loss and the community’s loss,” said her attorney, Jerome Dobson.
The lawsuit also alleges that the department rejected applicants if they had Black-sounding names. Throughout the complaint, Hall claims racist behavior among the ranks was reported numerous times but no disciplinary action was taken.
Hall said Lt. Col. Kenneth Gregory, the department’s first Black chief, denied seeing racist behavior.
Dobson said St. Louis County’s hiring policies are the “essence of racial discrimination.”
”It’s hard to see that people that look like me are constantly affected by the bad ways of law enforcement. Black Americans have had to survive off of hope since we were brought to this country. We’ve had this unbelievable hope that tomorrow will look better because that’s all we had,” said Hall in a 2021 interview with Women’s Health.
“I have to remind myself to care for my body, mind, and soul. Service is how I was raised, and my heart and soul want to help people.”
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