A New York Police Department (NYPD) Detective identified as Patrick Cherry was caught on video berating an Uber cab driver prompting his transfer to an anti-terrorism police division.
According to Seattle Pi, the Civilian Complaint Review Board studied the video that was uploaded by one of the passengers in the cab and they pointed out that the comments of Cherry were inappropriate. The NYPD is supposedly to engage peacefully with the public but Cherry did otherwise.
Police Commissioner William Bratton shared in a statement that in any kind of encounter, the discourtesy and the language used by Cherry is not acceptable since he was cursing the driver due to his accent and race.
The video that was uploaded online showed that Cherry hailed the Uber cab this Monday in Manhattan but the reason for the sudden stop is not yet clear. However, in the video, Cherry accused the cab driver that he has committed numerous traffic violations.
At one point, the detective even went outside of the car and threatened the driver of being arrested but points out that he is busy with other things and that the driver is not important enough to be taken into custody.
The detective also asked the driver harshly how long has he been in New York and at one point he shouts at the driver saying that he does not care what he has to say and asked the chauffer if he even understands what he is saying.
The driver's identity and name was not released but the Uber company in the area dubbed the incident as wrong and unacceptable. However, City Detectives' Endowment Association President Michael Palladino came to Cherry's defense saying that the detective in the video is of good character and should not be judged by one isolated incident.
According to CNN, Cherry was recently working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force but is now placed on modified assessment. He is facing suspension, reassignment or even loss of clearance.