Black Seattle police officer sues department, alleging daily racist discrimination
Denise "Cookie" Bouldin has worked in the Seattle Police Department for 43 years, the second Black woman when she joined. She says she's faced racism and gender bias from the start.
A senior detective has filed a lawsuit against the Seattle Police Department, alleging that she has observed and endured racism and gender bias from the moment she joined the force decades ago — and that the hostility and hatred have increased in recent years.
Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin, 67, has worked with the department for 43 years, striving to keep young people out of trouble and the city’s streets safe. According to The Seattle Times, she “has been a trailblazer” inside the SPD, having been the second Black woman when she joined in 1980. However, in a lawsuit filed on Nov. 3, Bouldin claims she faced daily discrimination from department brass and fellow officers.
Bouldin has a reputation for working with children and teaching them what to do and how to act when encountered by police. She has been a visible and welcoming presence in Seattle’s diverse South Precinct, where she has taught area kids to play chess and form relationships. A Rainier Beach park that opened last year was named after her.
According to the lawsuit, Bouldin’s outreach has won her a reputation as a champion within communities of color — and as a traitor among some of her fellow cops.
“Behind closed doors,” the suit reads, “other officers have belittled Detective Bouldin, challenging her loyalty to the department and marginalizing her for her active role in the community.”
Boudin claimed in her lawsuit that the city failed to “respond meaningfully” to a spring tort demand for $10 million in damages. Municipal authorities reportedly opened an equal employment opportunity claim in response to her initial allegations, but then “continued to degrade her” after she indicated reluctance to engage in the claim process.
The detective also alleges she has been forced to work in a hostile workplace, where she has endured explicitly racist statements from white superiors and performed menial duties she considers “degrading, humiliating, and [with] racist overtones,” discrimination that has reportedly significantly impacted her emotional and physical well-being.
“The Seattle Police Department has used Detective Bouldin’s strong relationship with the Black community to portray such relationship as one the department itself has with the Black Community,” the lawsuit reads.
It adds: “She files this claim for damages in hopes that the department will authentically address issues related to racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination she has faced during her career.”
The Seattle Times said the city and the police department have not answered requests for comment on the lawsuit as of Wednesday.
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