An Arizona State University police officer has resigned after he was caught on camera using physical force on a Black professor nearly one year ago, reports Arizona Central.
Last May, Officer Stewart Ferrin stopped 33-year-old assistant professor Ersula Ore, Ph.D., for jaywalking, as she crossed a street on campus. He requested that she show her ID and Ore refused, demanding an answer as to why she was being held. The encounter escalated and a struggle ensued, with the officer slamming Ore’s body on the pavement. The entire altercation was caught on the car’s dash cam.
After the incident, an independent agency launched an investigation, which found that Ferrin committed multiple violations, including a lapse in “judgment, legal authority, search and seizure and alternatives to arrest and code of conduct.” Ferrin, who has been on leave since May, announced his resignation earlier this week.
“The lack of support, cooperation and downright bias coupled with an agenda to ruin my career has become unbearable, and I will not subject my family to this any longer,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
Ore, who filed a notice in November seeking a $2 million legal claim, issued a statement this week expressing her joy.
“My only disappointment is that Officer Ferrin didn’t take personal responsibility for his unjustified brutal actions and disregard for the truth,” she said in the statement. “His resignation will ensure that no one on the ASU campus will ever again be the victim of his lawlessness and violence.”