The Jackson Township Police Department is reviewing a traffic stop captured on video after the driver, a Black man, accused two officers of racially profiling him as he left his apartment complex to buy groceries.

The driver, Jamal Holmes, said in a Facebook post that officers drove past him while he sat in his parked car talking on the phone at the Westlake Mews residential development, then began following him after he pulled out to drive to BJ’s Wholesale Club to pick up groceries for his son. He posted the video he recorded of the encounter on June 2, and it has since circulated widely online.

In the footage, the first officer explains what drew the officers’ attention.

“When we drove by in the Mews, we just saw you; I was a little concerned, it looked like you were reaching down, just like hiding your face when we came by. You’re wearing a sweatshirt in 80-degree weather,” the officer says.
The officer also points to a handicap placard in Holmes’ car and says residents of the development had complained about people parking in handicap spaces.

Holmes challenged the basis for the stop on the recording.

“So you’re conducting a traffic stop because you’re trying to say I look suspicious … while I’m walking out of my own apartment,” he says. “Why? Because I’m Black and it’s 80 degree weather?”

Holmes repeatedly asked the officers to call a supervisor, saying he was entitled to speak with one before stepping out of the vehicle. “By law, if I request that you call your supervisor, you’re supposed to call your supervisor before I get out of the car,” he says, as the officers direct him to exit.

More than two minutes into the recording, one officer notes that the car’s inspection sticker had expired in May. The officers continued to tell Holmes to get out of the car as he continued to ask for a supervisor.

“You’re gonna get locked up for obstruction,” one officer says.

Holmes said he knew his rights and would speak with a supervisor once one arrived. The two sides argued before an officer pulled him from the car and told him he was under arrest. The video ends there.

In his Facebook post, Holmes wrote that after the recording stopped, officers pressed him against his car and twisted his arms, aggravating a back he said holds screws and rods from a spinal fusion two years ago. He wrote that he was taken to the police station, where he asked for a medic and eventually spoke with a supervisor.

When he asked the supervisor what about his clothing made him appear suspicious, Holmes wrote, the supervisor did not answer and told him the expired inspection was the reason for the stop. After the supervisor watched the video, and after emergency responders said Holmes would be taken to the hospital, he was told he was being released, he wrote. He said he later underwent an MRI to check the hardware in his spine. Holmes said he was released without being processed and told a summons would be mailed to him.

Police Chief Mary Nelson said in a statement posted to the department’s Facebook page that the department was aware of the video.

“The Jackson Township Police Department takes all allegations of discrimination seriously,” Nelson wrote. “We are aware of the concerns that have been raised and are reviewing the matter in accordance with our policies and procedures. A thorough and impartial review will be conducted to ensure all relevant facts and circumstances are considered.”

Video courtesy of Facebook/ViBin Mall