EUGENE, Oregon — A police officer who worked in Salt Lake County for several years has resigned from his position in Oregon after body-worn camera footage caught him making racist remarks while on duty.
In addition, a current Grantsville officer is now under internal investigation for being on the other end of that phone call.
Martin Siller was an officer with the West Valley City Police Department from 2014 to 2019. He was also a resource officer at East Hollywood High School, a charter school in West Valley, from 2014-2016 and 2019. He also worked security for the Granite School District in 2015 and 2016, according to Transparent Utah.
The West Valley City Police Department said Siller retired from their department more than seven years ago.
The Eugene Police Department released the bodycam footage and said the officer in the videos had resigned on Monday. The department didn't name the officer; however, The Register Guard newspaper identified him as Siller.
The bodycam footage was timestamped on Jan. 30 of this year. In the first of two released by the department, Siller is listening to a radio talk show, seemingly alone in his patrol vehicle. A voice on the radio says, "What do you do to stand up for your Somali and Latino communities?"
Siller is then heard saying, "F*** the Somali and Latino communities! I'm about the American communities. I'm about America, son!"
VIDEO BELOW (Warning: Contains offensive language)
The second video is from about six hours later. Siller is talking on speakerphone to a friend who appeared to have been a former law enforcement colleague in Utah.
On Tuesday, Grantsville Police confirmed that the person on the other end of the call is a current officer with their department. They said they have opened an internal investigation. They have not publicly identified the officer.
In the Jan. 30 phone call, Siller's friend is discussing a vacation to Hawaii. He says, "Well, Hawaii is just..." at which point Siller interrupts and says, "Too many Hawaiians, right?"
Siller later says he wouldn't go on a cruise because he's "not gay."
He and his friend then continue to talk about cruises.
"Which [cruise] do Black people go on?" Siller said. "They can't swim! You've gotta be able to swim if you go."
SECOND VIDEO:
In a press release on Monday, Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner called Siller's words "unacceptable," "wrong" and "disrespectful."
"I am angry, disappointed, and deeply concerned about the harm this has caused - especially to members of communities who already carry distrust and pain when it comes to law enforcement. Every person in Eugene deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, regardless of race, background, or circumstance," he said in the statement. "When an officer speaks with hate or prejudice, it damages the trust this department works hard to build with the community we serve.
"To the residents of Eugene: we hear your outrage. We hear your disappointment. And we accept the responsibility to do better."
On Tuesday, Jeanetta Williams of the NAACP issued a statement in response to this incident.
"It is appalling to hear these two police officers using the racist language they used. It is especially concerning that both officers are former members of the West Valley City Police Department," her statement read in part. "When incidents involving discrimination or other damaging actions by police officers occur, they harm the credibility of the department and give the public reason to lose trust in law enforcement. This type of language and behavior cannot be allowed to represent the profession."
