California mom in viral video alleges police harassment during son’s traffic stop
The police officer was wearing a 'Blue Lives Matter' mask.
A mother is going through with a formal complaint after her Black son was treated unfairly by a police officer.
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Sacramento’s KCRA reports in a video that has now gone viral where a mother can be seen addressing a police officer who decided to harass her son after he failed to stop at a stop sign. Instead of issuing 19-year-old Tobias Eagle of Elk Grove, California a ticket after the traffic violation, he was asked a series of questions including whether he was on probation or parole.
Eagle says he didn’t even notice the officer behind him until he pulled directly in front of his mother’s driveway.
“I noticed that a police car was here. I hear something faint in the background. It’s not until I open my door that I recognize what she was saying,” said Eagle.
The officer’s body camera shows her requesting backup before she even approached the teenager. Once she gets out of the car she asks for his license, registration and ID, but fails to issue a ticket once she’s given the information. The officer remained standing in front of the teen’s home with her hand on her gun, dark sunglasses, and a ‘Blue Lives Matter’ mask on.
In a Facebook video, Stacey Harvey-Slocum, Eagle’s mother, is heard telling the officer, “You will not be the judge, the executioner on this property right here.”
“She stood there and tried to intimidate us,” Eagle told CBS13.
Police Chief Timothy Albright of Elk Grove Police Department said the full video of the incident has not been released to add “context” to the situation. The police department said there is a full investigation underway.
He also issued this statement:
“On the evening of Sunday, September 13, the Elk Grove Police Department was made aware of a traffic stop involving one of our officers that was captured on video and was circulating on social media.
As is our practice to be transparent, Chief Albright has solicited an outside entity to conduct an independent investigation into the incident and to provide an impartial and independent review. After becoming aware of the video posted to social media, we reached out to the family. Chief Albright began a dialogue with family members and invited those family members to meet in person.
Along with Chief Albright and Assistant Chief Davis, the officer involved in the traffic stop volunteered to meet with the family and be a part of the process. Chief Albright also invited a member of the Chief’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) to take part in the discussion. We remain willing to be part of the discussion.
One of the issues that arose from several viewers of the video was the unauthorized cloth face covering worn by the officer during this interaction. Recognizing that one of our core responsibilities is to project neutrality and pay deference to others’ perspectives; in this instance, we fell short of that responsibility. The Elk Grove Police Department provided guidance on April 8, 2020, on the type of cloth face coverings expected to be worn by our staff. Following the above event, Chief Albright issued an administrative directive to staff.
The Elk Grove Police Department remains committed to transparency and policing that reflects our Mission, Vision, and Values,” the statement concluded.
The officer remains on duty and Harvey-Slocum says moving on with a formal complaint is very important because this treatment by an officer sworn to protect and serve should not be the standard.
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“If we made a wrong move we wouldn’t be doing this interview,” she said. “My son did not want to dismiss the complaint and let this happen to someone else and it’s not documented that it’s happened before.”
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