10 Aug 2016
Back in June of last year, what should have been a routine traffic stop took place in Austin. The incident was captured on video from the dash cam of the patrol car. He pulled a vehicle over and told the woman driving that she was being stopped for speeding. She is an elementary school teacher who, as far as we could tell, exhibited no “violent tendencies,” a fact that will become relevant later on. Maybe she didn’t close the door of her car fast enough to suit the desires of the officer, Bryan Richter. Whatever his reasoning was, he apparently thought it appropriate to drag the woman from her car, body slam her twice on the pavement, and forcefully and painfully handcuff her with her arms stretched high behind her back. Again, this was a stop for an alleged traffic violation. Oh, we forgot to tell you. The woman who was being slammed into the ground is black, and Officer Richter is white.
So what happens? Not much, really. Officer Richter was given some training and counseling.
But there was a second video, which was just released. This one reveals a conversation that took place in the patrol car transporting the woman to the station. At one point she asks why so many people are afraid of black people. Officer Richter’s partner responded that people fear blacks because they have “violent tendencies.” He adds that “99% of the time,” it’s the “black community” that is violent.
In any event, when they got to the station, the woman was charged with resisting arrest, a charge that has since been dismissed. But the dismissal came only after the second video was released. The case against one or both of the officers, on the other hand, may be presented to a grand jury.
One of the issues that this brings up is how the second video got buried. According to one source, it was reviewed, but the supervisor reviewing said he didn’t believe it warranted an investigation. As a result, Chief Art Acevedo says he never saw it until recently. This, in turn, means that the officers cannot be disciplined departmentally because the six-month statute of limitations has expired.
We’ve definitely made some strides toward transparency and accountability with dash cams and body cams. But we believe that unless the videos are properly reviewed and made available, those strides will be mere window dressing.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
1201 Rio Grande Street #200
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737