A black University of Northern Texas journalism professor, who penned an article accusing local police of stopping her for "walking while black," is now saying she's ready to drop the matter after footage retrieved from a police dashcam shows that the officers were simply advising her to walk on the other side of the street due to safety concerns.
In an piece printed in the Oct. 28 edition of the Dallas Morning News, Professor Dorothy Bland accused police officers of racially profiling her after they stopped her during a morning walk.
"I had no interest in my life’s story playing out like Trayvon Martin’s death," wrote Bland. "I stopped and asked the two officers if there was a problem; I don’t remember getting a decent answer before one of the officers asked me where I lived and for identification.”
As it turns out, the officers did, in fact, give Bland an answer as to why they stopped her. And, as evidenced in the footage picked up on the officer's car's dashcam, it had nothing to do with the color of her skin.
The footage shows the officers stopping Bland and advising her to walk on the other side of the road so that she could see oncoming traffic. During the conversation one of the officers tells Bland, “We didn’t want you to get hit.”
Bland was asked for identification, which she could not produce. After the officers confirmed her identification by radioing in her name and date of birth, she was released and moved to the other side of the street.
After Bland's accusation of racial profiling, the Corinth Police Department released the video refuting her claim. They also wrote a response to Bland, which also appeared in the Dallas Morning News.
“They immediately advised… that it was safer for her to walk against traffic so she could see the cars and jump out of the way if necessary,” wrote Corinth Police Chief Debra Walthall. “Impeding traffic is a Class C misdemeanor, and it is our policy to ask for identification from people we encounter for this type violation.”
Hat Tip: Buzzfeed