"Let us pray that the black sergeant has not discovered it," said the girl.

Four other officers, including a black sergeant, were suspended.

He also suspended four white officers and one black sergeant who are believed to have seen the beating.

Between the flag and the door, standing at a modified position of parade rest, was a young black sergeant in dress greens.

Others raised questions: Would a white take orders from a black sergeant or lieutenant?

The black sergeant was in a veritable collapse of terror.

The proportion of black male sergeants has fallen by more than a quarter since 1990, to 5.7 percent.

Isaac Woodard, a black sergeant, was physically abused and lost both his eyes in the process.

From 1980 to 1999, a court order required that the department increase its numbers of black sergeants.

But at least they wouldn't be subjected to torture, as that black American sergeant had been.