On June 19, Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala was pulled over by two officers of the Orlando Police Department.
On Wednesday, a video of that stop was released by the police. But because Ayala is black and serves as head prosecutor for an area including Orlando, the video has raised eyebrows.
Believing most of the media reports about the interaction, the police involved seem racist. As CNN commentator Keith Boykin tweeted, “Florida’s only black state attorney Aramis Ayala pulled over by Orlando police even though she had not violated any traffic laws.” Similarly, Boing Boing news tweeted “Watch: White Florida cops racially profile black female driver, then learn she’s state attorney Aramis Ayala.” TV host Roland Martin assured his fans that Ayala would “make sure these cops are dealt with!”
Those comments all fail to offer the true context of what happened.
Don’t take my word for it. Watch the video. When a clearly aggravated Ayala asks the officers to explain why she was pulled over, they offer good reason. When they ran her car tag, the computer did not ping back with a record. When Ayala then asks why the officers ran her plate in the first place, the officer explains that it’s standard procedure at traffic lights.
He is telling the truth. Across the country, officers run plates in order to see if they match up with the car in question. It’s a way to find out whether a car has been stolen, or its plates cloned. The ability of officers on patrol to detect crime rests on such proactive activity.
Regardless, the simple point here is that the police had grounds to pull Ayala over. And in their interaction with her, as proved on camera, they were polite and professional.
Ayala, on the other hand, was somewhat petty. Presumably to make them think she intended to register a complaint, Ayala asked for the officers ID numbers. As is their duty, the officers provided their names and ID numbers without complaint.
Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why Ayala might be skeptical of police stops. The statistics and the anecdotal evidence all suggest that black citizens are more likely than other races to be stopped unjustly. This is a social concern that cannot be ignored. As my friend Clarence Page has eloquently explained, we need to work to ensure everyone trusts that they will be treated fairly by the police.
Yet that’s exactly what happened in this case. The police acted fairly. Again, it’s important to note that we know this because the officers were wearing body cameras (which are a key element of improving police-community relations).
Nevertheless, politics might be lurking below the surface here. Ayala is currently challenging Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to remove her from capital murder prosecution cases. Scott made that decision after Ayala unilaterally announced that she would not pursue the death penalty in any cases. Her refusal to do so has made her a rising star on the Left. And Ayala, it seems, senses an opportunity to bolster her public profile. As Mike DeForest of ClickOrlando.com reports, Ayala has burdened Florida taxpayers with more than $17,000 in public relations fees.
The police must be accountable, but so must all public servants.
