By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
DALLAS — A Dallas Police Department officer has been suspended for designing a controversial challenge coin online.
Officer Caleb McCollum was given a five-day suspension during a disciplinary hearing with the chief, FOX 4 reports. McCollum has been on administrative leave since August 2022.
The coin, according to FOX 4, was created by McCollum to mark the 15th anniversary of the South Central Police Patrol Station. The coin has a Dallas Police badge with the words “South Central” on one side and “Big T Plaza” with a doughboy drug dealer with a gun, gold teeth and cash on the backside. There’s also a police vehicle opposite a car with gold rims and a drug house near the bottom of the coin.
Dallas Police officials pulled it offline after being alerted to an advertisement to fellow officers.
When the coin was first discovered, Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, said the coin was “considered blatantly racist to the African-American community,” and that he will “not stand for any level of racism against its officers, civilian members, city of Dallas employees or the community.”
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia responded following the incident, saying he “will not allow an individual to stain or tarnish our badge and what we’re doing.”