Orting's firing of first black cop goes national

Robert LeCompte Jul 8, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

Republish Article

You can republish articles in print or online. Simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline, and credit to Cascade PBS. Republishing of the photos or videos embedded in an article can occur only if the photo or video is a copyright of Cascade Public Media ("CPM") and not of a third party. Photos and videos that are a copyright of CPM are not required to appear in the republished article, but if they are used, they must be embedded where they appear in the original article and must include the attribution to the CPM photographer.

You may reprint in any medium
You may edit only for tense and timeliness
If republishing in print you can edit for length if you follow our print republishing guidelines.
You may write your own headline
Include a byline and shirttail with credit and link to Cascade PBS
Include our tracking pixel
Remove if we ask

          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>Orting's firing of first black cop goes national</h1>
                <h2><p>The Washington Post has given in-depth treatment to the story of Gerry Pickens, the first black police officer in the small town of Orting, his firing and the divisions in the Pierce County community. Not only was he fired, but someone spray painted a racial slur on Pickens' car.</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/robert-lecompte-crosscut-com/">Robert LeCompte</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/for-tiny-orting-wash-a-foundational-shift/2015/04/18/14e1e098-dc6e-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Washington Post has given</a> in-depth treatment to the story of Gerry Pickens, the first black police officer in the small town of Orting, his firing and the divisions in the Pierce County community. Not only was he fired, but someone spray painted a racial slur on Pickens' car. "I keep telling myself that this doesn't have anything to do with my race but something's going on," Pickens said. Although he tried to simply move on and find another police job elsewhere, Pickens is now suing the town of Orting for $5 million.</p>
          </article>

The Washington Post has given in-depth treatment to the story of Gerry Pickens, the first black police officer in the small town of Orting, his firing and the divisions in the Pierce County community. Not only was he fired, but someone spray painted a racial slur on Pickens' car. "I keep telling myself that this doesn't have anything to do with my race but something's going on," Pickens said. Although he tried to simply move on and find another police job elsewhere, Pickens is now suing the town of Orting for $5 million.

Our members' donations make local journalism happen.

Support once for $1

Support monthly for $7

Cascade PBS Passport
Mossback members-only newsletter
Monthly Viewer Guide

Support monthly for $25

Invitation to quarterly news and original programming video conference
Annual in-person meet-up with news & programming teams
Special event perks (reduced price or free tickets, cocktails, etc.)

Continue

By Robert LeCompte

Robert LeCompte is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He studies communications and film at The Evergreen State College where he recently transferred from Maryland. When not working, he can usually be f