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The chief of police credited an officer with using the “highest level of professionalism” in dealing with a city councilwoman who made racially-charged remarks to him when he issued her a parking ticket.

The incident occurred when Darlington Police Officer Paul Bryant encountered an illegally parked SUV in the area of Oak Street on June 17, WMBF reported.

Officer Bryant later filed a police report about the incident that accused Baccus of verbally harassing him, WPDE reported. 

It wasn’t the first time Officer Bryant had encountered the same illegally-parked vehicle and on the prior occasion, he had only issued a warning.

Darlington Police Chief Kelvin Washington said that the SUV belonged to Darlington City Councilwoman Sheila Baccus.

Baccus came out of the house while Officer Bryant was issuing the $10 parking infraction, WPDE reported.

“Why are you harassing us? You don’t have anything better to do than write parking tickets?” Baccus asked the police officer, according to WMBF.

The police report said that Officer Bryant told the city councilwoman that he wasn’t harassing her and said if she had a complaint, she should take it to the chief of police, WPDE reported.

“Then she said ‘I will, what your name?’” Baccus asked, according to the report. “At that time, she made a call on her cell phone. ‘Why do you have this white officer over here harassing us?’ Then it looked like she ended the call and said to this officer ‘The chief said he will take care of this ticket.’ Then I stated that’s good, I wasn’t harassing anyone.”

That’s when the councilwoman’s nasty tone turned racist, WPDE reported.

“Take your white self back to the white neighborhood,” Baccus told the officer. “You’re probably the kind that would shoot us in the back.”

read more:
https://bluelivesmatter.blue/city-councilwoman-tells-cop-to-take-his-white-self-back-to-the-white-neighborhood/