Baltimore Police Investigate Video of Cop Apparently Deliberately Coughing Near Woman in Public Housing
‘UNACCEPTABLE’
The Baltimore Police Department is investigating a video that appears to show an officer intentionally coughing near a woman outside of a public housing complex amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to The Baltimore Sun, the video shows the sergeant coughing as he passes by a woman who is calling out to him and filming him. “Cough your white a** back where you live at,” the woman is heard saying after the cop passes her. Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said the department had “become aware” of the video. “We have viewed the video, in its entirety, and believe it warranted being forwarded to the Public Integrity Bureau for an internal investigation,” Eldridge said, failing to identify the sergeant.
Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott said he sent the video to Commissioner Michael Harrison to take action, and called the cop’s behavior “beyond unacceptable.” “When you are in public service, it is your duty to treat everyone with respect, especially in a time where we are dealing with both a public health pandemic and a gun violence epidemic,” he said. “This is not behavior that we want our police officers or any of our public servants to model to our residents.”