By Jay Conner, The Root
A Nashville police officer who is under investigation for using excessive force during a traffic stop has submitted his resignation.
The Tennessean reports that on July 3, officer Barrett Teague was involved in an altercation with a female motorist after he stopped her for driving with expired tags.
From the Tennessean:
Adreneyonia Ensley, 21, posted on Facebook that Teague parked behind her at the Z Mart gas station at 803 Dickerson Pike because her license plate tags were expired. She said she provided the information and documents he asked for, and when he went back to his car she went to check her tags herself.
In the video Ensley posted, she can be seen walking back to her driver’s side door when Teague grabs her hands behind her back and attempts to restrain her. At one point Teague appears to slam Ensley against the car next to hers.
The following day, Teague was decommissioned after video of his behavior began to circulate on the internet. His resignation, which was submitted on Tuesday, will not go into effect until after his 30-day suspension without pay for conduct unbecoming of a police officer concludes.
As a result of his resignation, the police department’s administrative investigation into his behavior has been closed, and detectives have shifted their attention to conducting a criminal investigation instead.
The Community Oversight Board provided the following statement to WSMV on Wednesday:
The Community Oversight Board said in an emailed statement on Wednesday: “While we are satisfied with this administrative resolution, we believe that it is most important that the MNPD make an immediate request to the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission to full decertify Officer Teague. Decertification will assure that Officer Teague can no longer work as a police officer in the state of Tennessee.
“Officer Teague’s resignation from MNPD effectively ends the Community Oversight Board’s misconduct investigation. However, for civilian oversight to be truly effective, it must identify and address systemic failures rather than proceed solely on a case-by-case basis. Towards that end, the Community Oversight Board will continue to review this incident to determine if there were any systemic issues related to MNPD policy, practice, or training that might have contributed to the conduct depicted in the video of July 3, 2019. If the Community Oversight Board identifies any areas of concern in MNPD policies or practices, we will recommend improvements to deter any similar acts of misconduct from occurring in the future.”
Good riddance.
This article originally appeared in The Root.
