Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Cincinnati Police officer suspended for using racial slur on duty

Cincinnati Police Officer Rose Valentino.
Cincinnati Police Department
Cincinnati Police Officer Rose Valentino.

A veteran Cincinnati officer's police powers have been suspended after her body cam captured her saying a racial slur while on duty and in uniform.

Footage from Officer Rose Valentino's body-worn camera and mobile video recording show her driving past Western Hills University High School on her way to the District Three station on Ferguson Road April 5. According to an internal report, Valentino turned on her lights and sirens to signal for parked cars waiting to pick up students to move.

"You gotta move," Valentino said. "F****** ridiculous, f****** a*******. Is she gonna f****** just sit there?"

As she starts driving again, Valentino says, "Oh I f****** hate them so much, God I hate this f****** world." She then rolls down her window at the station gate to enter.

When she rolls her window back up, Valentino mutters under her breath.

"F****** n******," she said. "I f****** hate em."

Valentino turns off her body-worn camera, but the mobile video recording in her cruiser captures her saying, "And there it is," as she pulls into the station parking lot.

According to the internal report, Valentino admitted to cursing at drivers who didn't move their cars. She said she used the racial slur in reference to a Black teen who flipped her off while walking down the sidewalk after school.

The internal report says Valentino claimed she had been "desensitized to racially offensive language by music and hearing people talk on the street" and "frequent exposure had allowed the slur to slip into her vernacular."

Read the full story at our news partner WCPO >>

Copyright 2022 91.7 WVXU

WCPO-TV is a news partner of Cincinnati Public Radio.