Controversial traffic stop by Elk Grove Police under review says Chief Albright

Responding to a controversial traffic stop that occurred on the late afternoon of Sunday, September 13, late last night the Elk Grove Police...



Responding to a controversial traffic stop that occurred on the late afternoon of Sunday, September 13, late last night the Elk Grove Police issued a statement and video regarding the incident.

The video, which features comments from Chief Timothy Albright and Assistant Chief Bobby Davis, said in essence that the traffic stop of the 19-year old driver was under review. The police department video, which can be viewed here, said the police department contacted the driver and his family after they came aware of the video and the family scheduled, then declined to meet with department personnel.

"As part of the analysis of this incident, we are going to review the in-car camera footage, the body camera footage, and all the posting from social media of the mother of the driver," Davis said. "Our goal today is to provide context by releasing the entirety of the video from the start of the traffic violation."

Davis added that once the department was made aware of the social media video, they responded to the incident. The video has gone viral across several platforms and the officer involved, Misty Johnson, has been widely criticized.

The mother of the driver repeatedly expressed concern for her son's safety during their 22-minute video. During her commentary of the video, the mother noted her son, who is Black, had given the officer his driver's license, registration, and insurance but she had asked him if he was on probation or parole to which he said he was not, and that Johnson would not issue the citation.

The police department also addressed one of the many criticisms of Johnson's handling of the traffic stop by noting that she was wearing a Blue Lives Matter protective mask, which was in violation of the department rules. Acknowledging this violation, the statement noted "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."

Additionally, the police have released the in-car and body camera videos which can be viewed below. After 30 minutes, Johnson issued the citation for what appeared to be a rolling stop by the driver.

Along with the widespread distribution of video, the incident garnered the attention of noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump who commented on the events on his Twitter feed. It is not known if Crump will have further involvement in the proceedings. 




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3 comments

Steve L said...

Kudos to the chief for his transparency on this matter. How manty PCs would have posted to the general public, the officer's body cam with audio this soon after the incident?
How many PCs would have asked for an independent entity review the incident instead of keeping the investigation in house?

Not many.

There are issues here and only time will tell how things will eventually pan out. But so far, chief, nice job!

...and no, I'm not the mayor.

Daveswatching said...

You folks are crazy, this cop did nothing wrong, the mother should have been arrested for obstruction.

tonyv60 said...

this is the disconnect we have with police & the public, as for the stop, it went way beyond the time it takes to issue a ticket (rodriguez vs. supreme court, violation of his 4th amendment rights) as that cop was fishing for violation she could find to pin on the teenager & is why the mom stepped in as the kid obviously doesn't know laws to protect himself , that cop should have de escalated but instead added more problems by calling for backup as the mom was just defending her kid & had the right to do so, that cop is a future problem & a lawsuit waiting to happen, unless she smartens up, she will always have problems with the public, her mannerisms says it all, itching to use her gun

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