UPROAR OVER WEB SITE
Officer in racist videos resigns
Woman, 60, to seek benefits for disability
Saturday,
September 15, 2007 3:35 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
![]() Purtee
The Columbus police officer whose racist and anti-Semitic Web site prompted protests from
residents and City Council members has resigned and will seek retirement benefits for a
disability.
Officer Susan L. Purtee, 60, a member of the Police Division for 15 years, was not pressured into resigning, police spokeswoman Amanda Ford said. "She did this of her own free will," Ford said. Purtee, who could not be reached at her Grove City home last night, turned in her resignation Thursday. It's effective Sept. 22. "I believe she's on scheduled vacation until then," Ford said. Purtee will be paid through Sept. 22 and can seek retirement benefits "based on a disability she has," Ford said. "I don't know what that disability is. That's just what I'm hearing." Jim Gilbert, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, said, "Normally officers retire when they reach 48 years of age and have 25 years of service. That's for normal retirement." He said the union doesn't assist with retirement paperwork, which is up to the individual officer. "We are obligated to represent her through the administrative investigation which was taking place," Gilbert said. "She has had limited contact with the union since this all began. She had an interview with internal affairs this past week at which the FOP represented her. "The FOP does not condone anti-Semitic comments or the views of Officer Purtee," he said. "We are obligated by contract and law to represent her administratively." Purtee's Internet videos, created with her sister, Barbara Gordon-Bell, 52, of Coral Springs, Fla., blame Jews, blacks, illegal immigrants and Cubans for a variety of the nation's problems. The sisters call themselves "the Patriot Dames." In a telephone interview last night, Gordon-Bell said her sister has put a video on YouTube since the news of her Web site broke Aug. 28. The video, titled "O'Reilly 9-12-07," responds to Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly's discussion of her. In it, Purtee says someone threatened to kill her. She says she never did anything wrong and that she has protected people in the inner city, many of whom have called to offer support. In the video, she also blames Jews for calling her "trailer trash" and says everyone in her department knows from her record that she's not racist. Purtee was off-duty when she made the videos with her sister. The women never mention where Purtee works, though their Web site, www.thepatriotdames.com, notes that she is a law-enforcement officer. Purtee was removed from her patrol job in August and placed on administrative duty. Her 624-page internal-affairs file showed numerous situations where Purtee showed incompetency on the job, WBNS-TV (Channel 10) reported. The file dates to 2002, when Purtee worked as a detective investigating crimes against children. She was written up for improperly disposing of evidence in a rape case, failing to properly investigate at least nine physical-abuse cases and not properly documenting interviews. Supervisors recommended Purtee be pulled from detective work because of that and an inability to follow proper protocol. Police Chief James G. Jackson previously requested that Purtee be terminated for unbecoming conduct after an incident with her supervisor. In a settlement agreement, she was suspended for 60 working hours. Laura Cole of WBNS-TV (Channel 10) contributed to this story. Story toolsToday’s Top Stories
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