ROSWELL, GA — Roswell Mayor Lori Henry is weighing in on an explosive report that showed two of the city’s officers using a mobile app to decide whether they would arrest a motorist after she was pulled over for speeding.
Henry on Sunday posted a message on her Facebook page, just two days after the Roswell Police Department announced the officers had been placed on administrative leave. Officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson were placed on administrative leave after WXIA-TV, the Atlanta NBC affiliate, uncovered video of the officers using an app on a smartphone to flip a coin to determine if they would arrest or issue a citation to a woman following the traffic stop.
“Like you, I am shocked and offended by their actions,” Henry said on her Facebook page. “I find the behavior of these two officers inexcusable and unprofessional. This type of behavior is not and should not be reflective of our police officers in Roswell who protect and serve our community every day. Behavior like this makes a hard job even harder for our professional officers.”
Sarah Ashley Webb of Lawrenceville was pulled over on April 3 along East Crossville Road/Ga. 92 near Bent Grass Road in Roswell after an officer determined she was traveling more than 80 miles per hour on the state highway. Ga. 92 has a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour.
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“I sped to catch the vehicle, reaching 85 MPH before activating my blue lights and sirens,” Brown wrote in her incident report provided to Patch. “As I reached 88 MPH, the vehicle had slowed down enough for me to catch.”
Brown approached the vehicle and asked Webb if she knew how fast she was going. Brown made note that the road conditions were wet at the time. Webb told the officer she was “running late to work at a hair studio in Duluth,” according to the report. Brown explained to Webb that there was no reason for her to be traveling so fast due to the road conditions and the 45 miles per hour speed limit. Webb provided the officer with her license, turned off the vehicle and gave her car keys to Brown, who retreats to her vehicle to begin the process of writing a citation.
According to an investigative report done by WXIA-TV, the two officers were recorded inside the patrol car debating whether they should make the arrest. According to the news station, Brown did not have a speed detection device, and Wilson noted she didn’t have tickets.
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Brown, the news station said, pulled out her cell phone and opened a coin flipping app on her phone. They can be heard on camera indicating A, for arrest, would be head, and R, for release, would be tail. The coin is “flipped,” and Wilson asks if the coin landed on tail. Brown responds in the affirmative and asks if they should release the driver. Wilson replies with “23,” which is the code for arrest. You can read more of the story here.
Henry goes on to say that she and her fellow citizens trust and honor Roswell officers, and this incident “will not interfere with our respect for the rest of our police department.”
“I ask the citizens of Roswell to support and respect the badge of the Roswell Police Department,” she said, adding she wants to assure the people of the city that she expects officers to adhere to the highest professional standards.
The actions of the two officers, Henry added are, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in Roswell. In a statement issued on Friday, Police Chief Rusty Grant said he ordered an internal investigation into the matter after he was made aware of the two officers’ actions.
“This behavior is not indicative of the hard working officers of the Roswell Police Department,” he said. “I have much higher expectations of our police officers, and I am appalled that any law enforcement officer would trivialize the decision making process of something as important as the arrest of a person.”
Image via Lori Henry