TAMPA, Fla. — Former Tampa Police Officer Delvin White is fighting to get his job back after he was fired for using the N-word while on duty. This incident has sparked some larger conversations about work conduct as it relates to race and where to draw the line. Some say that a policy put in place to protect minorities is now being used against one. 

"I understand I should have been disciplined, but I don't think termination was the punishment I should have received," White said. 

White has worked as a Tampa Police Officer for 8 years. The last three were at Middleton High School as a resource officer. That is where he was overheard on body cam footage referring to a student as the N-word. White said the student was suspended from school but didn't want to leave, so he was arrested. 

"I didn't really want to do that because I know what happens when you arrest a kid, especially a young black man, and I didn't want that to happen," he explained. "Yes, I did say the N-word, but it wasn't used in a derogatory way."

Danny Alvarez is a Police Union Representative who is helping White get his job back. Alvarez said the use of the N-word within the Black community has a very different meaning. 

"Where Delvin was born, where Delvin was raised and hired, works, there is a certain type of language that's acceptable. It's like saying brother. I can't say it," Alvarez explained. 

However, public records suggest that other officers have been cited for going against the grain of that same policy. Other disciplinary records show that officers were suspended for drug and alcohol use, in addition for failure to comply with department policies. At most these officers were suspended. 

“Delvin is someone that made a mistake, using a word that we’re not allowed to use in uniform. But we don’t feel that his mistake rises to the level that he should have been fired. Should he have gotten in trouble? Yes. Counseled? Yes. Has he admitted those things? Yes,” Alvarez said. 

White's former school, Middleton High, held an event Monday in support of White getting his job back. A petition created by one of the students has nearly 1,300 signatures. 

"I’ve heard that other Tampa police officers have been disciplined for the same things as me and they weren’t terminated. Hopefully I can get back to Middleton High School with my kids.”

White said that the Middleton High resource officer was a tough position for the department to fill, but a position that he enjoyed and hopes to get back to.