An Anderson Police Department dispatcher has been placed on administrative leave after racist and other offensive content was found on his MySpace page.
Anderson Police Chief Darron Sparks confirmed that dispatcher Brady Lewis had been placed on paid leave Tuesday, pending the outcome of an internal inquiry. An Indianapolis television station first reported the story early Wednesday morning.
“We will be working with the city attorney to find out what needs to be done,” Sparks said. “There are some freedom of speech issues that we have to handle the right way.”
The Herald Bulletin was seeking an interview with Lewis and made several attempts to reach him.
WRTV (Channel 6) reported that Lewis’ MySpace page featured profane language, racially charged words and other language that might be considered offensive to women. Lewis, also a reserve officer for the Edgewood Police Department, has lost that job, as well.
“I was shocked a little bit. It’s not my kind of humor,” Edgewood Police Chief Martin Stanley told WRTV.
When Stanley confronted Lewis, the dispatcher said the page was meant for friends and that he never intended to share it publicly, at which time Stanley asked him to turn in his badge. Among the content found on the page is a Care Bears-style character wearing a swastika.
In addition to his dispatch and reserve-officer duties, Lewis is part-owner of Sundaze Tanning in Edgewood and a business called Spanish 4 Emergencies out of his Anderson home. On a Web site related to the business, Lewis identifies himself as a reserve officer and police dispatcher in Anderson, Ind.
“I decided I needed to learn some emergency Spanish for my own safety, as well as the safety of the subjects with whom I was coming into contact,” Lewis wrote.
APD detective and public information officer Joel Sandefur said Lewis has been with the department for four years.
“As far as I know, there has not been any disciplinary issues,” Sandefur said. “He has functioned very well in his job.”
Local News
8:26 p.m. UPDATE: APD dispatcher on leave over MySpace page
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