LAWRENCE, Ind. -- Four black Lawrence police officers who claim the city's mayor engaged in racial discrimination say other people confirm she has used a racial epithet.

The officers, who filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said the four other witnesses gave sworn statements that Mayor Deborah Cantwell (pictured) used the N-word.

"Mayor Cantwell referred to African-Americans as stupid N-words (and) as lazy N-words," said the officers' lawyer, David Brooks, summing the witnesses' statements.

The four who gave the statements include former Lawrence Deputy Police Chief Robert Bowser, who is white; a Lawrence reserve police officer who is white; and two Lawrence Township firefighters, one of whom said he used to date Cantwell.

Cantwell worked with the fire department before she was elected mayor.

Three of the four statement-givers took and passed polygraph tests relating to the claims, the black officers told reporters Thursday.

"(The) polygraphs results show that our claims are true and that it is Mayor Cantwell who continues to mislead the city," said Lawrence police Lt. Ray Anderson, one of the black officers who filed the complaint in February.

The black officers, in addition to claiming Cantwell has used the N-word, claim that the police department has been discriminatory regarding promotions, and that Cantwell has retaliated against them by ordering demotions.

Cantwell in February denied the allegations, saying she believed they were "partially politically motivated." She is running for re-election this year.

On Thursday, Cantwell again said politics were at play, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

"You've got some disgruntled ex-employees and you've got a couple other people that probably personally don't like me. This is old-time politics in Lawrence at its worst, and you're getting to see what it's really like," Cantwell said.