A white Chicago police officer has been placed on administrative duty as the city's police oversight agency investigates his struggle with a Black woman who was walking her dog in a lakefront park. Police Superintendent David Brown on Monday directed that the officer be placed on paid desk duty while what happened over the weekend is investigated, the department said, per the AP. Attorneys for the woman allege the encounter became violent and was an "obvious case of racial profiling." The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said Monday that it reviewed the officer's body camera video and recommended that he either be placed on administrative duty or be relieved of his police power while it investigates. "If violations did occur, COPA will hold the officer accountable," interim chief Andrea Kersten said.
A law office representing Nikkita Brown said she was near the lakefront with her dog about 12:10am Saturday when a police officer approached her for being in the area after the park was closed, though there were several other individuals in the park, including a group of about four white people walking behind Brown. In the two-minute-long video recorded by a bystander, the woman appears to confront the officer who is following her closely. Moments later, the officer appears to reach for her phone and then grabs Brown, who can be heard yelling, "Let go!" Attorneys said Brown was "knocked out of her shoes" and groped "for absolutely no reason." After breaking free, Brown was seen on video picking her phone off the ground and walking away with her dog. Her attorneys said she returned home, called 911, and filed a report with a sergeant.
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