Montgomery County

Montgomery County Police Release Full Footage Involving Officer Using N-Word

Full footage of an arrest involving a Montgomery County police officer using the N-word was released on Friday. 

The three-hour long video was posted to the department's YouTube channel after the Montgomery County Council demanded that the entire video of the controversial police stop be shown.

"I also want to emphasize that you will hear on this tape language from our officers that is decidedly unprofessional," said Acting Police Chief Marcus Jones.

A Montgomery County police officer used the racial slur during an arrest of four men outside a McDonald's in White Oak in May. At least one of the men could be heard using the word as well.

"I would still say it because what I'm doing is repeating your words," the officer said in the video.

Nine officers remain under investigation and may face disciplinary action, Jones said.

The officer who used the N-word was assigned to desk duty, while the others remained on the street, he said.

Jones said officers are getting re-trained on professional conduct. 

But the stop should not have happened in the first place, members of the Silver Spring Justice Coalition said. 

"A lot of re-training needs to happen," said Katie Stauss, a member of the coalition. "I think officers do have a really difficult job and I understand that they do a lot of good, but the ones that don't do the right thing are really making the rest of them look badly."

Four men were arrested for trespassing at the McDonald's. They accused the officers of racially profiling them. 

But the chief said that wasn't the case.

The McDonald's has had problems with loitering and drug activity, he said. When an officer asked the four men to leave, they refused, leading to the arrest. Two of them had marijuana, Jones said. 

"This is not what some people call a random stop and frisk action," he said. 

Contact Us