Police Officers Placed On Leave After Video Shows Them Flipping Coin To Decide Whether To Arrest Woman
According to NBC News, two Georgia police officers, Kristee Wilson and Courtney Brown, have been placed on leave after a video surfaced of them flipping a coin to determine whether or not they were going to arrest a woman for speeding back in April.
The Bodycam footage of one of the officers, which was obtained later posted online by NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta, reveals the two officers discussing “what they should do with” Sarah Webb, who they had just pulled over for speeding. Wilson is heard saying that she does not have any tickets on her, while Brown says she is lacking the necessary speed detection equipment.
Webb, who claimed to have been speeding because she was late for work, is heard asking the officers, “Why am I being arrested?”
The officers, however, were still busy discussing what to do with Webb, eventually deciding to flip a coin.
WXIA reported, “The officers used the terms “A” or arrest for heads, and “R” for release for tails, according to the station. The video audio appears to show Wilson say “This is tail right?,” Brown says, “Yeah. So release?” and then Wilson says “23,” or a police code for arrest.”
In an interview with NBC News, Webb said, “These are people who are supposed to protect us, and instead are treating our freedom and our lives like games. It’s disgusting. It’s scary to think police officers do stuff like this.”
Police Chief Rusty Grant said of the Bodycam footage, “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, to be honest. It was appalling,” adding that both Wilson and Grant have since been placed on administrative leave.
“This isn’t a police procedure,” Grant continued, “to bring a coin flip — whether it’s an app or an actual coin toss — that’s not part of that decision making to decide to take someone’s freedom.”
Grant also released a statement on behalf of the entire Roswell Police Department, saying, “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.”
Sarah Webb, however, does not think putting the officers on leave is a severe enough consequence. Webb, whose initial charges of speeding and reckless driving were later dismissed, said that she “would like to see them fired, because they shouldn’t have been playing with my freedom on a flip of a coin.”
