Black state trooper alleges racism at Greensburg barracks in federal lawsuit

A Black Pennsylvania State Police trooper said in a federal lawsuit Monday that the department’s Greensburg barracks is rife with racism — toward its employees and the public it serves — and that its leaders have done nothing to stop it.

Among his experiences, Trooper Tavin Davis said a garden gnome was hung by duct tape like a noose outside his locker.

“This symbol was used to intimidate, harass and subject Mr. Davis to the most hostile of environments,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint includes claims for discrimination, hostile work environment and conspiracy, as well as violations of the right to free speech.

“Although Mr. Davis became a trooper, he never enjoyed the ‘blue code’ that the majority of his colleagues take for granted,” the lawsuit said. “Rather, officers and the (Pennsylvania) State Police as an entity discriminated, harassed and retaliated against him.”

The lawsuit describes overt racism, including “systemic,” “classic” and “historic.” It also accuses the department of “prolific profiling of Black citizens.”

A state police spokesperson said they could not comment on pending litigation.

Davis joined the state police academy in 2017 and later was assigned to the Greensburg troop. He said that when he complained about the racism, his supervisors cut his overtime pay, issued petty disciplinary action and refused him training and promotion chances. He was forced to move his family across the state to “avoid the racial animus in his troop.”

Davis now is stationed in Harrisburg.

The lawsuit names as defendants State Police Commissioner Robert Evanchick, several of Davis’ other supervisors in Greensburg and members of the state police chain of command.

The other defendants include: Richard Quinn, a lieutenant and patrol section commander; Jared Slater, a sergeant and Davis’ supervisor; Jason Swope, a corporal and Davis’ supervisor; Thomas Dubovi Sr., a captain and head of Greensburg Troop A; Christopher Paris, a lieutenant colonel; William Brown, Davis’ supervisor and director of the Equality and Inclusion Office; and William Maitland, a lieutenant in the Internal Affairs Division and western section commander, who was assigned to investigate Davis’ EEO complaint.

“The PA State Police, by and through its policymakers, have no interest in solving the racial problems that persist in the department,” the lawsuit said.

According to the complaint, Davis first heard racist comments five days after he joined the academy, when a trooper made offensive comments about Black NFL players kneeling for the national anthem. The trooper called it the “National Felons League.”

Davis alleges he experienced microaggressions for several months. It got worse when he was promoted to trooper and assigned to Greensburg in the spring of 2018, the lawsuit said.

In May of that year, the complaint said, Davis’ colleagues hung the gnome outside of his locker-room door.

In another instance, the lawsuit said, one of Davis’ partners told him there are two types of African Americans: “Black people and ‘n-words.’”

“This conversation irreparably scarred Mr. Davis,” the complaint said. “Any hope of continuing his employment within this department was dashed as he heard these words.”

In addition to discrimination he said he personally endured, the lawsuit said Davis also witnessed multiple instances of racial profiling and disparate treatment.

Davis said he complained to supervisors and reported an incident of a trooper throwing a 15-year-old Black teen down a flight of stairs.

Davis also noticed a discrepancy in how troopers responded to calls. When called to a college house party in Greensburg in August 2019, at which several young Black men were standing outside, Davis’ partner unholstered his weapon as they approached. But at a field party in Unity, with 200 white high school to college-age students, no officer withdrew their weapon, the lawsuit said.

In June 2019, the lawsuit said, Davis was interviewed by Quinn about his concerns and was offered confidentiality. He provided detailed accounts of implicit bias and racial profiling he had seen against others and himself, it said.

But during that conversation, the lawsuit continued, Quinn asked Davis his feelings on affirmative action, which Davis interpreted as Quinn questioning his qualifications as a trooper.

Davis filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint 10 days later, the lawsuit said.

Although Davis had provided detailed information up the chain of command, Dubovi, the captain, refused to issue any discipline, enforce existing policies or create new ones to attempt to address the allegations of racism.

“The department was rife with racial discrimination,” the lawsuit said. “Simply, Capt. Dubovi did nothing but keep the status quo.”

In July 2019, Davis said, he was assigned a shift in which fellow troopers made comments that “Black members of Congress should go back to the countries from which they came.”

“These same officers later made disparaging remarks about Black communities, including Baltimore, which his fellow officers referred to as a rat and rodent infested mess,” according to the lawsuit.

After complaining about discrimination at the Greensburg troop, Davis said his overtime began to drop.

He claimed he was denied training — which could have led to a promotion — under the pretextual reason that he’d asked for a transfer.

Davis was transferred from the station in Greensburg to Lykens, near Harrisburg, in March 2020.

“He was forced to transfer because of the culture at the Greensburg station, which exhibited racial discrimination, racial profiling and a hostile work environment,” the lawsuit said. “Mr. Davis did not feel safe in Greensburg.”