Overzealous cops disproportionately target Black people for minor infractions, civil rights leaders and legal experts have long complained.
On Tuesday,
a Black driver for Amazon was tackled, handcuffed, and taken to jail after a white Warren cop confronted him about parking his delivery truck.
“You gonna give me a ticket for this bullshit?” the frustrated driver asked the cop on Tuesday afternoon, according to body cam footage
viewed by Fox 2.
"I'm going to give you a whole lot more if you don't get your license out," the cop responded.
Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer tells
Metro Times that the 23-year-old man refused to show the officer his driver’s license.
“The driver became argumentative and refused multiple requests for his license,” Dwyer says. “The driver would not comply. … The officer took him to the ground for everyone’s safety.”
Warren police are asking prosecutors to charge the man with resisting arrest, failing to obey a lawful command, and failing to produce a driver’s license. Neighbors described the delivery man as polite.
Dwyer says an internal investigation is underway to determine if the officer, who has been placed on leave, did anything wrong.
“I will take the proper action, which could be anywhere from termination to exoneration,” Dwyer says.
Asked why the officer ordered a delivery driver to show his license, Dwyer says, “We had received complaints about Amazon drivers in the area from our city council back in March, so the officer was just to there to enforce the traffic laws.”
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts called for the officer’s termination in a Facebook post that he quickly deleted at the commissioner’s request.
“I have spoken with Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer and have ordered that this officer be terminated immediately,” Fouts wrote. “I have zero tolerance for this disgusting act against an innocent person. If the last two weeks have taught us anything, it is that bad behavior by ANY police officer will not be tolerated!”
Fouts couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
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