An Oklahoma Metropolis Police captain was arrested for driving beneath the affect whereas repeatedly asking the arresting officer to show off his physique digital camera in the course of the investigation.
Capt. James “Matt” French, 55, was pulled over on Sunday morning after an officer noticed the police veteran swerving and dashing in his unmarked, city-owned SUV, Fox 25 reported.
In physique digital camera footage launched by the Oklahoma Metropolis Police Division on Thursday, French is seen sitting in his automobile within the driveway of the house he claims to stay in along with his mom.
Because the officer approaches the SUV, he asks French if he’s been ingesting, to which he replies, “I’m a captain on the police department,” earlier than specifying he serves as a captain in Oklahoma Metropolis.
French then seemingly pointed to his chest and whispered to the officer to “turn the camera off.”
The officer ignored his preliminary request, asking French how a lot he needed to drink.
French, not eager to be recorded, made the identical movement towards his chest, signaling to cease the bodycam footage.
“I’m not turning my camera off,” the officer says in disbelief on the request.
Because the officer started his investigation, French mentioned that he’d been enjoying poker and had “three or four” beers, along with his final drink round midnight — almost two hours after being pulled over.
When requested if it was clever for him to be driving, the captain replied, “No, but I came from four blocks [away].”
French is struggling to finish varied subject sobriety assessments — unable to maintain his steadiness — and asks — for the third time — that the officer “please” flip his digital camera off.
“I know you are aware of our bodycam policy,” the officer informed French. “You know I cannot turn off this bodycam.”
“I do, but I’d like to talk to you,” French mentioned.
The officer tells French — who relentlessly retains asking for the physique digital camera to be turned off — that he’ll flip it off following the conclusion of his investigation, with French reiterating that he’s a Captain.
“I’m a sergeant and I’ve taken an oath to uphold the law. I don’t show favoritism to anyone regardless. I don’t care if you’re a gang banger or the President of the United States,” the officer mentioned.
French was booked on the Oklahoma County Detention Heart and has since been bonded out.
French is a 32-year veteran of the Oklahoma Metropolis Police Division.
Chief Wade Gourley of the Oklahoma Metropolis Police Division praised the arresting officer’s professionalism beneath the barrage of requests to show his digital camera off, the outlet reported.
“The officer did exactly as he should have, and handled it very professionally in my opinion. As far as how the officer responded, he did exactly as he should have,” Gourley mentioned.
The investigation into French’s arrest is ongoing, however Gourley mentioned the captain had been positioned on administrative depart.
“As soon as we were notified of the incident, he was placed on administrative leave with pay,” Gourley mentioned in response to Fox 25. “We do have a process that when criminal charges are filed, per our FOP contract, we do what is called a pre-determination hearing to then put that person on leave without pay, because again it’s a criminal matter. So we can put him on leave without pay, but there’s a process we have to go through to do that.”
Learn the total article here
