Accusation against SOMA School Board member
Doesn't undo her behavior at the stop, but I give her credit for a humble and at least seemingly sincere apology that covers the bases. Unlike Caren Turner's non-apology apology.
The Police Officer was absolutely exemplary of how an officer should act, IMHO.
The driver was an embarrassing example of privilege.
The whole thing is dizzying.
On one hand, I agree that the viral distribution of this thing was far too excessive, and that her exposure throughout the community, the country and even parts of the world far outweighs her behavior in this incident.
That said, given the noise behind all of this, I don't know how she can just go back to her BOE role and be effective. Worth a try, I suppose.
I believe that the incident can be a teaching moment. Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives, and if they take responsibility and sincerely apologize, it is often possible to learn from it, grow and move on. Both the police chief and the school board member want to work together for good, going forward. I believe that may be possible, particularly if some positive efforts and initiatives emerge from it.
DaveSchmidt said:
Klinker said:Has anyone confirmed that she made such calls?
Right. I was wondering what she said back in April when she made her calls to try to get out of the ticket. Probably something quite different.
I was just taking her at her word.
Klinker said:
I was just taking her at her word.
Noted: Relying on what someone said in the heat of the moment, and unconfirmed.
DaveSchmidt said:
Klinker said:Noted: Relying on what someone said in the heat of the moment, and unconfirmed.
I was just taking her at her word.
Yup. Just relying on the completely inappropriate threats she made.
Walter Fields states that this happened 3 weeks ago.
When did she apologize to those young men?
That will tell me everything I need to know about her sincerity.
The written and published apology along with her meeting with Chief Kroll are important first steps. I hope what comes next can be a broader healing with the community at large. We shall see.
Any video featuring the police and a person of color is likely to go viral these days. Here's one with a happy ending -- the police take the side of a young black property inspector over the crazy white lady next door. It's cute; he knows how to ham it up for the camera.
Jackson_Fusion said:
Walter Fields states that this happened 3 weeks ago.
When did she apologize to those young men?
That will tell me everything I need to know about her sincerity.
Portion of Sheena Collum's statement on this, as reported by TAPInto -
Next, the question has been raised about whether or not the school board member had used her status as an elected official or references to contacting me as a means to seek privilege. A call to me never occurred and I assure you that I have not nor will I use my position of influence to alter the outcome of any police operation.
Lastly, a derogatory and hurtful comment was made about our Police Chief at the conclusion of the traffic stop. A meeting had been requested by the board member prior to this incident becoming public and has since occurred. An apology has been made both privately and publicly and accepted by our Police Chief. While he has opted not to make any public comments to date, he has conveyed to me his personal desire to move forward together and focus his efforts on serving the South Orange community to the best of his ability — which he has proudly done for 30 years.
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/soma/articles/south-orange-village-president-issues-statement-a
Emphasis added for (a) no call made for ticket help, and (b) request to meet for apology prior to the publicity.
Was the meeting requested before she was contacted by reporters for comment? That would be the relevant question.
A good stand up reply from Sheena Collum though. Every time I hear from her I am reminded how happy I am to have her leading our community.
nohero said:
Jackson_Fusion said:Portion of Sheena Collum's statement on this, as reported by TAPInto -
Walter Fields states that this happened 3 weeks ago.
When did she apologize to those young men?
That will tell me everything I need to know about her sincerity.
Next, the question has been raised about whether or not the school board member had used her status as an elected official or references to contacting me as a means to seek privilege. A call to me never occurred and I assure you that I have not nor will I use my position of influence to alter the outcome of any police operation.
Lastly, a derogatory and hurtful comment was made about our Police Chief at the conclusion of the traffic stop. A meeting had been requested by the board member prior to this incident becoming public and has since occurred. An apology has been made both privately and publicly and accepted by our Police Chief. While he has opted not to make any public comments to date, he has conveyed to me his personal desire to move forward together and focus his efforts on serving the South Orange community to the best of his ability — which he has proudly done for 30 years.
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/soma/articles/south-orange-village-president-issues-statement-a
Emphasis added for (a) no call made for ticket help, and (b) request to meet for apology prior to the publicity.
Thank you. I had not seen that.
Walter has upped the ante. Now he wants anyone on the school board to resign if they “knew” about this, so I imagine he’ll be showing up with timelines and a whole production.
I cannot help think that his pushing of this story had to do with upcoming board votes regarding his lawsuits.
Jackson_Fusion said:
Thank you. I had not seen that.
Story was posted after your earlier post. Think of it as instant action.
From reading the various reports, letters, statements, apologies, etc it has become obvious that all the key players knew about the incident before it was made public earlier this week. It's extremely disappointing that they were all prepared to keep it private and quiet.
"A meeting had been requested by the board member prior to this incident becoming public and has since occurred. "
So she requested the "skinhead" meeting without any knowledge of the existence of the recording? Or was it after gaining knowledge thereof and of the impending release?
I take (sometimes significant) liberties with speed limits on the interstates & GSP. I NEVER speed on residential streets, where kids, pets and other innocents can appear out of nowhere.
To the several who feel that going 37 in a 25 zone 'is not that bad': It is only 48% over the posted speed limit. In other words, a ticket is not only justified, but actually called for.
sprout said:
I'm not suggesting that we don't have traffic control.
I'm suggesting that there might be creative ways to make the routine act of making traffic stops less stressful for BOTH the cop and for the person being pulled over.
Is it common for a cop to deal with someone going off the rails during a routine traffic stop? I assume it occurs several times a week, if not several times a day. And I would also bet that it stresses out the cop to deal with these instances. We don't want stressed out cops -- they become more likely to make bad decisions that end up as videos on national TV.
Will blaming the individuals in every 'situation-gone-bad' fix the issue? Or is a better approach prevention: Find ways for this common interaction to go more smoothly more often.
Think of it as a project manager looking for ways to improve operational outcomes. And start with "What is the desired outcome?"
Here is an initial idea to try to reduce stress, and increase smooth interactions at traffic stops: When the officer walks up to car, they could first state something like:
"I just want to inform you that our cameras and microphones are up & running to help us make this as friendly a traffic stop as possible."
This may:
1. Let everyone know that they are being recorded (hopefully encouraging both sides to be on their best behavior, and maybe even encouraging greater standardization of outcomes).
2. Start off the meeting with an informative tone and an expectation of a friendly interaction, rather than starting off with what the driver did wrong and an expectation of a confrontational interaction.
3. Helps provide context of 'just a traffic stop', and not something worse.
"I just want to inform you that our cameras and microphones are up & running to help us make this as friendly a traffic stop as possible."
I think this would be a great way to make this a much more stressful situation. It seems to me that the SOPD Officer did a good job of trying to keep the situation as calm as possible by speaking in a calm tone and showing concern for the motorist when she expressed how stressful the situation was for her.
With the increasingly prevalent use of dash cams and body cameras, I think the expectation going forward is that encounters of this nature will be recorded. While some might find the use of these cameras a very "Big Brother" invasion of our privacy, others will see it as a way to increase police accountability and to provide a reviewable record in the event of charges if inappropriate behavior by police officers. The trend is definitely controversial.
DaveSchmidt said:
dano said:Despite my best efforts, I forget to clip the new card from the last page of the insurance packet and put it in the car maybe two out of every three years.
How hard is it to make sure you have proper insurance cards in your vehicle.
I’ve probably driven as fast as 37 in a 25 m.p.h. zone at least once, even with a kid in tow.
I’ve definitely said things I’ve regretted, and otherwise acted less than adult-like, in stressful situations.
This might be a good time to promise I’ll never seek to serve the community as a member of the BOE.
I think you should resign from MOL. Your incessant reckless wordplay is hazardous.
(and I defy any poster in this thread to assert they've never driven 37 in a 25)
ml1 said:
in all the FB and MOL posts I haven't seen anyone express the reaction I'm having to this. I'm a little bothered by a police department using dashboard cam video to embarrass a member of the public who misbehaved. The cop wasn't in danger, he wasn't assaulted. He's rightly being recognized for staying calm and professional in the moment. But he got his revenge in the long run. He apparently told enough people about this encounter that someone filed an OPRA request, got the video and released it to the media. And now, imho there's a backlash against Ms. Lawson Muhammad that is way out of proportion to her offense. The video has literally gone international. She was wrong to call the chief of police a skinhead. She shouldn't have dropped the VP's name to try to get out of a ticket. But does she deserve to be notorious all over the US and in the UK for doing it?
exactly.
drummerboy said:
ml1 said:exactly.
in all the FB and MOL posts I haven't seen anyone express the reaction I'm having to this. I'm a little bothered by a police department using dashboard cam video to embarrass a member of the public who misbehaved. The cop wasn't in danger, he wasn't assaulted. He's rightly being recognized for staying calm and professional in the moment. But he got his revenge in the long run. He apparently told enough people about this encounter that someone filed an OPRA request, got the video and released it to the media. And now, imho there's a backlash against Ms. Lawson Muhammad that is way out of proportion to her offense. The video has literally gone international. She was wrong to call the chief of police a skinhead. She shouldn't have dropped the VP's name to try to get out of a ticket. But does she deserve to be notorious all over the US and in the UK for doing it?
Hooray for objective thinking............could not agree more
author said:
drummerboy said:Hooray for objective thinking............could not agree more
ml1 said:exactly.
in all the FB and MOL posts I haven't seen anyone express the reaction I'm having to this. I'm a little bothered by a police department using dashboard cam video to embarrass a member of the public who misbehaved. The cop wasn't in danger, he wasn't assaulted. He's rightly being recognized for staying calm and professional in the moment. But he got his revenge in the long run. He apparently told enough people about this encounter that someone filed an OPRA request, got the video and released it to the media. And now, imho there's a backlash against Ms. Lawson Muhammad that is way out of proportion to her offense. The video has literally gone international. She was wrong to call the chief of police a skinhead. She shouldn't have dropped the VP's name to try to get out of a ticket. But does she deserve to be notorious all over the US and in the UK for doing it?
Little stories like this fill out the news everyday, especially when there's video. It doesn't make much of an impression when it isn't your town. As for the idea that the backlash is out of proportion, I would just re-emphasize that when a public official tries to throw her or his weight around to beat a ticket (or arrest, or whatever), its no longer a private matter, assuming a police-public interaction is ever a private matter.
joan_crystal said:
"I just want to inform you that our cameras and microphones are up & running to help us make this as friendly a traffic stop as possible."
I think this would be a great way to make this a much more stressful situation.
What about the usual thing we get on phone calls?:
This is being recorded to improve customer service / for training / for quality assurance purposes"
I watched the video of this incident. The idea that Ms. Lawson Muhammad was "obstructing justice" is pretty absurd. She mentions her name and being member of the BOE basically to identify herself. There's no hint of "do you know who I am?" imho. Then later she tells the cop she's "calling Sheena." Which she doesn't actually do.
She's trying to get out of a ticket and court appearance. I'm guessing the vast majority of people pulled over by a cop try to do whatever they can to talk their way out of a ticket.
To me the worst of it was calling the chief a skinhead. Then she apologized to him and he accepted. I think it's time for people to consider giving up their outrage over this and move on.
Or maybe daveschmidt and I are the only ones to have ever driven over the speed limit, forgot to put our new insurance ID in the car, or said anything we ever regretted later. I know I have, and I'm just glad no one took video of it and put it on the internet so people who don't know me personally could berate me and call for me to quit my job.
ml1 said:
I watched the video of this incident. The idea that Ms. Lawson Muhammad was "obstructing justice" is pretty absurd. She mentions her name and being member of the BOE basically to identify herself. There's no hint of "do you know who I am?" imho. Then later she tells the cop she's "calling Sheena." Which she doesn't actually do.
She's trying to get out of a ticket and court appearance. I'm guessing the vast majority of people pulled over by a cop try to do whatever they can to talk their way out of a ticket.
To me the worst of it was calling the chief a skinhead. Then she apologized to him and he accepted. I think it's time for people to consider giving up their outrage over this and move on.
Or maybe daveschmidt and I are the only ones to have ever driven over the speed limit, forgot to put our new insurance ID in the car, or said anything we ever regretted later. I know I have, and I'm just glad no one took video of it and put it on the internet so people who don't know me personally could berate me and call for me to quit my job.
I drive over the speed limit, like most people do, and have been pulled over on very rare occasions. When I do, I keep my mouth shut and hope I get away with a warning. Sorry, saying "I'm a member of the BOE" + "I'm calling Sheena" = "do you know who I am." The only ID a cop needs is your drivers license.
as if cops don't hear this all day long -- the mayor is my friend, I know the chief of police, my brother is a cop, etc., etc.
I don't think it's that big of a deal.
ml1 said:
She's trying to get out of a ticket and court appearance. I'm guessing the vast majority of people pulled over by a cop try to do whatever they can to talk their way out of a ticket.
Arguing that you were not speeding is legit. Threatening to call you friend the Mayor is not. Simple stuff, you don't need an advanced degree in ethics to figure it out.
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My impression from the video is that her call ended up being to her spouse to try to get a photo sent to her phone of her current insurance card. And part of her frustration was that even if she could present it, she still had to go to court since the ticket could not be rescinded.