The public information officer for the Bridgeport Police Department gave out a little too much information on Thursday and Tim Quinn has been suspended without pay after sending an e-mail to the media that the NAACP calls offensive.
Quinn joked in an e-mail that reporters should hire a cartoonist to draw mug shots of fictional characters instead of waiting for police to release the real photos.
Quinn suggested Miguel the Murderer, Tyrone the Thief, Richard the Rapist, Hector the Home Invader and Benny the Bank Robber.
The e-mail went on to say Miguel would be a "kind of skinny rat wearing a dirty tee shirt" and Tyrone would be "an ugly mixed breed mongrel with sunglasses."
"I think that's totally out of line," said Scot Esdaile, president of the Connecticut chapter of the NAACP. "We need individuals in those types of positions that stand for freedom, justice and equality."
Quinn said he wrote the e-mail after reporters requested several mug shots over a short time period and wasn't targeting minorities. He e-mailed out an apology less than two hours after sending the first e-mail.
"I was just doing alliteration," he said. "It was just me being stupid."
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Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said the language was "unacceptable." In a statement, Mayor Bill Finch also said that "offensive or culturally insensitive remarks will not be tolerated without swift and significant discipline."
