Police commander under investigation

BALTIMORE, March 26 (UPI) -- A Baltimore Police Department homicide unit commander is being investigated for allegedly ordering a black sergeant to watch online Ku Klux Klan videos.

The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday that Mayor Sheila Dixon has been briefed on the nine-count federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed against Lt. James W. Hagin Jr.

"The EEOC is investigating this complaint, and we take these matters really seriously," said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Police Department and the mayor's office.

The complaint was filed by Sgt. Kelvin Sewell of the city's homicide unit, who said commander ordered him to watch the KKK videos for about an hour.

Sewell is the target of an internal affairs investigation into whether he used his city-issued credit card to put gas in his personal car, sources told the newspaper.

Paul Blair, the police union president, downplayed concerns about racial tensions in the homicide unit.

"This is one incident," he said. "I've heard no complaints coming out of the homicide unit, aside from tightening up on the overtime."