The white state trooper caught on videotape using a racial slur against a fleeing black suspect could have been fired under the Department of Public Safety’s written disciplinary policy, a review by The State newspaper found.
Lance Cpl. Daniel C. Campbell was cited for using a “racially derogatory term and threatening to kill” then-18-year-old Jeremy Travio Saxon during a 2004 traffic stop in Greenwood County, Highway Patrol commander Col. Russell Roark said in a 2005 letter to Campbell.
Under the disciplinary policies in effect then and now, Campbell’s possible punishment for “improper conduct” ranged from a “Level I” reprimand to termination for a first offense. He received a “Level II” reprimand — the second-lightest form of punishment under the policies. The head of the highway patrol recently was forced to step down because of the controversy.
Read the full story at thestate.com.