The police department of a small Alabama town is being dismantled after the assistant police chief sent a racist text to a friend.
The police chief and assistant chief of the police department were suspended by the city council.
The council voted to work with a neighboring county's sheriff's department to provide law enforcement coverage.
"What do y'all call a pregnant slave?" was the question posed by someone identified as "752" in the text exchange.
ABC News reported that after the unidentified recipient responded with "?" and "??", Goss replied, "Bogo buy one, get one free."
The local news reported that Kenneth Dukes, president of the NAACP in the county, said that a screenshot of the texts was shared by another officer and soon went out to the public.
The residents voiced their outrage at the council meeting.
"These are people that are supposed to protect and serve, and to know they are sending racist texts or making racist comments, it makes you not have any trust in them," said Sharron Davis.
The assistant chief and the chief have been suspended with pay pending an investigation into the text messages, according to the mayor.
Hours after the city council meeting, a third officer resigned.
The council decided to work with the sheriff's department instead of the police department.
The sheriff's office said in a statement that they are providing emergency law enforcement services for the citizens.
The community has been torn apart by this, according to a city councilman. It doesn't matter what color we are if we do the right thing.
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