A 43-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the city.
Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin filed a $10 million tort claim in March, but it escalated to a lawsuit after the city failed to respond.
Known as “Detective Cookie” in the community, Bouldin says she faced years of gender and racial discrimination while working for the SPD and was retaliated against by her colleagues due to her outreach to communities of color in Seattle, Washington. The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 3.
According to The Seattle Times, the 67-year-old detective was subjected to “regular and continuous internal complaints about her relationship with the Black community.” Seattle’s Rainier Beach Park was named after Detective Cookie last year in honor of her community outreach, which included teaching children learning by playing chess. She became a member of the SPD in 1980 and faced “race and gender discrimination on a daily
basis” as the only other female Black officer.
“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,” states the lawsuit. “Behind closed doors, however, other officers and supervisors have belittled Detective Bouldin, challenging her loyalty to the Department and marginalizing her for her active role in the community.”
According to the lawsuit, Boudin was harassed with dog feces being left in front of her work locker after complaining about colleagues bringing their pets to work. She also claims other officers failed to come to her aid when she needed backup. The lawsuit states Boudin was subjected to “a culture of retaliation” that “deliberately” put her life and safety in jeopardy.
“Dog feces were left in front of Detective Bouldin’s locker as a direct result of her complaining about the roaming dogs,” says the…
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