A black police officer is now suing for discrimination. It is a hell of a story. Put up the picture full mass. I'm taking you to California. Officer Tyson Crutchfield is suing the Pasadena department after she [00:00:17] claims she experienced retaliation and discrimination while on the job. Her father spoke on her behalf at a press conference, saying Crutchfield wanted to be an officer, quote, [00:00:32] to bridge that gap that exists all over America between police departments and inner city communities. The lawsuit filed by Crutchfield outlined an encounter that happened after the January fatal shooting of Mr. [00:00:52] Charles Towns involving deputies from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. A month later, police reported to a call regarding town's two children. [00:01:08] I need you to follow the story. Town's two children, one of whom was upset over their father's recent death at the hands of law enforcement. According to the reports, one of the colleagues allegedly [00:01:27] put one of the son's face near a cactus like plant. A woman at the scene said to the police, his father just got killed last week. Please stop, okay? [00:01:44] Body camera footage released by the department in June shows Officer Crutchfield shoving the officer gently, actually going back and forth with one of the people at the scene. She's trying to deescalate something she was trained to do. [00:02:04] There's more. Crutchfield's attorney said this, Officer Crutchfield fortunately followed statewide police training and intervened to de escalate the situation. Officer Crutchfield deserved accommodation for [00:02:23] her swift and heroic action, avoiding needless violence, a press release from Crutchfield's attorney said the outlet reported. Instead, she was relieved of duty and punished. [00:02:40] Our lawsuit is about righting the wrong that Officer Crutchfield has suffered from. Put up a picture again. Many times we see these lawsuits from officers who will say, [00:02:56] yes, racism exists, yes, discrimination exists, and they will cite dynamics associated with their administrative job function. This is a little different. [00:03:11] We have a black woman who decided to actively stop another officer in the line of duty from engaging in misconduct against a young citizen. [00:03:28] I am sure this is not the first time Officer Crutchfield has engaged in such a manner. Maybe this is the most high profile case. Maybe it is because somebody caught it on camera and it was exposed. [00:03:45] But she was following the law. She was following her training. And this is why I say often policy means nothing when the culture is adverse to it, because culture eats policy alive every day of the week. [00:04:01] This woman followed policy, but culture got her fired. There's more. The sergeant instructed Crutchfield to go back to the station, and she was placed on paid administrative leave. Understand, she was placed on paid administrative leave [00:04:20] as if she had just shot an unarmed black person, okay? Paid administrative leave without an explanation. However, Officer Crutchfield, who has both a bachelor's and a master's in criminology, was able to return to her position. [00:04:40] The filing also reportedly highlights an alleged racist culture inside the department, including those who use racial slurs, but were still given promotion. Let me give you the statement from the city of Pasadena. In a statement to KKTV, the city of Pasadena polls Crutchfield's claims, [00:04:59] claiming it would be vindicated. The city will vigorously defend itself in this matter, and the facts will prevail, the statement said. The Pasadena Police Department proudly serves the residents and with honor and integrity, et cetera, et cetera. [00:05:18] Proud of our diversity. Put up the chief and the mayor, Eugene Harris. Victor Gordo says state of affairs, right? [00:05:33] So you mean to tell me that we can have police officers that engage in conduct becoming. Becoming of an officer to stop conduct unbecoming of an officer, and the officer who does the right thing, they get penalized. But the officer that did the wrong thing, they are sell. [00:06:01] Sharon, we're gonna follow this case. I'm glad it is public. I'm glad there is a lawsuit. Hopefully, we get some people to testify one way or the other. Your thoughts? >> Speaker 2: Maybe they'll have to be compelled, but, yeah, it needs to be public. [00:06:16] It has to be public. Otherwise, Dr. Ritchie, it's one of two things. Either there is corruption and discrimination in the police department, or we as black people can't do anything right. We're no good at anything. [00:06:31] We can't do anything right. Where you look, we're messing up. >> Speaker 1: That's hell of a point, right? So the woman does what we believe to be, that's the right thing to do, right? All politicians will say no. [00:06:47] You have a duty to intervene. You have a mandate to report. You have to protect citizens when an officer is out of control. So that's your policy? That's your proclamation. And then when an officer does it, the city backs everybody but you insane.