A Maryland mother who says her daughter was called a slur by a police officer wants action.
According to The Capital Gazette, Amy Brown alleges her 13-year-old daughter Jayda, who is mixed, was called the slur by a plainclothes police officer while riding her bike near their home in Millersville, Maryland. After the incident, a group of officers reportedly confronted Jayla and one of her friends, ordering them to stop riding their bikes in the street.
Brown says her daughter was in tears during and after the incident; the child was required to sign a citation by the officers.
Amy filed a grievance with the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Police Chief Timothy Altomare said he assigned the complaint to a Black deputy because he believed the officer would better be able to relate to allegations of racism.
That officer wrapped up the investigation into the incident, but Brown said she wants to know what action the department plans to take to make sure this doesn't happen again. The results of the investigation haven't been made public.
Frustrated with the department's response to her complaint, Brown is now advocating for a police oversight board along with other members of her community. She said she now fears allowing Jayda and her brother to walk around by themselves.
"I'm afraid to let my son walk to the local store," Brown said. "I'm afraid. Because he is Black. He is not like Jayda; he is Black. My daughter has not ridden a bike since the July 6 incident. She has not been outside in my neighborhood to play."
Chief Altomare dismissed the idea the citizens under his protection should be worried.
"We have zero tolerance for racist behavior in this police department," Altomare said. "If someone is wearing a uniform and spouts racist ideology. … It ain’t happening on my watch."
The fact that she's still heard nothing about the department's official investigation has broken Brown's faith in the law, however.
“I feel like I have been lied to because I gave all my trust to the officers,” Brown said. “That they were going to do the right thing.”
According to FOX Baltimore, reports of racist encounters in Anne Arundel County have spiked recently, having risen 34 percent in the past year.
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