Report: DEA Recruits Allege Culture Of Racism At Training Academy

A white instructor at the DEA’s Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia, last year allegedly referred to a Black recruit as “the monkey,” and would taunt Black recruits by making “monkey noises” over a loudspeaker, according to an internal complaint obtained by the Associated Press.

The instructor was swiftly transferred, the agency told Forbes, and an investigation opened into his conduct by DEA’s internal affairs bureau, the Office of Professional Responsibility, but he retired before the investigation was over, so the agency wasn’t able to “pursue administrative action.”

Dozens of retired Black DEA agents have said the agency discriminated against them – former Washington field division officer Karl Coder said, “there weren’t enough African Americans in positions to really monitor and ensure things are equal.”

Only 8% of the DEA’s 4,400 special agent’s are Black, and 10% are Hispanic, according to the AP.

In June, 76 Black retired DEA special agents wrote a letter “exposing the systemic racism in leadership at the helm of the Department of Justice” and criticized Attorney General William Barr for saying he didn’t believe the U.S. law enforcement system was “systemically racist.”