COOPERTOWN, Tenn. (AP) — The chief of a small-town police department in Tennessee says racists aren't going to want to be on his force once they find out they can't get hired without taking a polygraph.
Coopertown Police Chief Shane Sullivan says the test doesn't ask people if they're racist — only if they've committed race-based crimes.
Still, the police chief of this Robertson County city of 4,000 said several officers who previously expressed interest in a job didn't call him back after finding out they had to take a polygraph.
The department was disbanded for several months last year after an officer was recorded using a racial slur to describe a black motorist. The town previously made national headlines as a notorious speed trap that targeted Hispanics and out-of-town drivers.
