Officer quits amid traffic stop dispute

Cop defends his cursing of grandmother, while politicians seek justice.

An Alpharetta officer caught on video cursing a 65-year-old grandmother during a traffic stop resigned Friday, accusing his police chief of being unable to carry out a fair investigation into the incident.

Dash cam video released to the public late Thursday appeared to show officer James Legg cursing and pulling Rose Campbell as she exited her SUV near Ga. 400 and Windward Parkway.

Alpharetta Police Chief John Robison also released a video statement saying an internal investigation was being conducted.

“There are aspects of the video that you are likely about to watch that simply do not represent who we are as an organization,” Robison said.

In his resignation letter, Legg defended his actions at the traffic stop where he allegedly yelled, “Shut the (expletive) up and get out of the car,” at Campbell.

“Maybe I should not have used profanity, but its immediate effectiveness is not questionable and I do believe I acted reasonably under the circumstances,” Legg wrote to the police chief.

“I do not feel I will get a fair internal affairs investigation from you due to the comments you made on Facebook prior to interviewing any of the other officers, or even me,” Legg wrote. “Rather than let an independent agency or officer review my performance, you have all but issued a statement finding my actions unworthy, unreasonable, and in violation of police.”

Legg said he plans to defend himself during the investigation.

Robison sent a statement Friday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding the investigation: “We want to assure everyone that our internal affairs investigation will continue and that appropriate actions, based on all of the facts, will be taken by the City.”

He added that the GBI will conduct its own investigation.

Campbell, a Lyft driver who had a passenger in her car at the time of the traffic stop, was pulled over by an officer who said she was not maintaining her lane. Legg arrived at the scene later as backup.

Campbell said she just wants justice. “When I was a teenager, we feared getting pulled over to get a ticket,” Campbell said. “Now I can’t trust a blue light. No one should live like that.”

Outraged state representatives surrounded Campbell at the state Capitol on Friday as they called for justice. They said Campbell didn’t do anything wrong, and the situation escalated when she declined to sign the ticket until a supervisor arrived.

“We will not stand for police officers to treat senior citizens like Mama Campbell in this way,” said state Rep. Erica Thomas, a Democrat from Austell. “When young black boys stand before a judge and they say that we are going to make an example out of you, they don’t ask for an apology. They say, ‘15 to 20 (years in prison).’ This police officer needs to be treated in that same manner.”

Campbell, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, was taken to the Alpharetta jail after the incident, where she wasn’t provided with insulin, said her attorney, Mutepe Akemon. “The discretion to esca-

late violence is continually used against our community and folks who look like myself,” said state Rep. Renitta Shannon, a Democrat from Decatur. “Is that how you would treat your grandmother? Then don’t come to our communities and treat our grandmothers that way.”

The ACLU of Georgia also released a statement to The AJC calling the video “extremely disturbing.”