What caused these two Miami cops to throw down in public?
Well, a routine traffic stop. Sort of.
Miami patrol officer Mark Jackson pulled over Lt. David Ramras, of the Internal Affairs unit, for speeding.
However, Jackson did not know that his senior officer was in fact a cop.
Meanwhile, Ramras was not pleased that he was getting pulled over and made what appeared to be an aggressive move toward Jackson while getting out of his vehicle.
Jackson responded by throwing Ramras to the ground while other officers arrived on scene helping Jackson to subdue Ramras — until they realized Ramras was a fellow law enforcement officer.
“I had to like, sling him to the ground,” Jackson said to another officer, according to WPLG-TV. “Bro, I thought I was going to get into a shooting.”
WTVJ-TV has reported that Ramras told Jackson to “get the fuck in your car,” further asking him, “Do you know who the fuck I am?”
In addition to the video footage, Jackson recorded the incident on his phone, violating the department’s policy.
During that conversation, Jackson allegedly said, “I’m like, ‘Yo, I don’t know who you are, bro. Don’t jump out on me.’ “I said, ‘I don’t care if you’re a lieutenant or who you are.’”
Following the incident, Ramras was reassigned. Jackson, on the other hand, was suspended with pay pending an investigation.
“Time will tell how this will play out,” Javier Ortiz of the Fraternal Order of Police told WPLG. “I believe that Officer Jackson was acting in good faith when he pulled over Lt. Ramras. Once the contact was made between the officer and the lieutenant, that’s where things get sketchy.”
Though, part of the reason Jackson was suspended was due to the phone recording he refused to turn over to investigators, as Chief Manuel Orosa told the Miami Herald.
“An officer recording traffic stops with a private camera, the rules say you can’t do that,” said Orosa. “We’re liable for what he does at work and [the video] needs to be stored for safekeeping. If it’s destroyed, that’s a no-no.”
Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado appeared to be embarrassed by the situation, calling it “a shame.”
We know what the f-bomb is, but we don’t need to see it. Use “f—” or “CENSORED”, ok? There was a time when journalists used discretion, and had a code of not letting it all hang out in a family newspaper.
I find it such a shame when an officer of the law has to record a conversation, simply to protect himself from retaliatory action from some, full of himself scum bag.
I’m real surprised they didn’t laugh it off and call it a training exercise.
No big deal.
Sounds like you’ve had some experience in this area…. “be prepared.”?
Ya, plenty.
I stay calm and alert.
I also obey the law, and comply with LEOs requests no matter what they are.
It all works out in the end that way.
1) IA Lt. was speeding.
2) ALL agencies teach that when you are in plain clothes, you are subservient to the uniform officer until he is comfortable with knowing who you are…no exceptions.
3) The take-down was appropriate.
4) The agency already “took action” on the Lt. by reassigning him and unfortunately that is how they cover for management. Nothing more will happen to him.
5) Unfortunately they are going to “make an example” out of the office because he covered his but by recording the incident on his own cell phone. Probably in case the car dash-cam “malfunctioned”.
Welcome to the politics of management in law enforcement. The officer should be commended, slapped on the hand for violating policy (a policy made to protect mgmt. in that agency) and the Lt. should be placed on a suspension.
What really amazed me was how fast 3 other cops got there!!. Once called local police to stop lesbian neighbor’s from fighting in their front yard at 1:00 AM. took them 1 1/2 hours to get there
Cops are so angry and trigger happy these days, they even beat up each other! If the cop from internal affairs doesn’t wanna be pulled over for speeding, he should do what’s required of all of us and DON’T BREAK THE LAW!!! And to his answer, “do you know who the fuck I am?” Uh yeah, you’re a douchebag who thinks you’re above the law…obviously! Should be fired!!!
Uh…..cops are, as you say, trigger happy, because the public is. These guys want to go home at night to their families. If you don’t think society is more violent, then you aren’t reading the newspaper.
You are too uninformed to be commenting here or anywhere.
Violent crime as a whole has been on a downward spiral for the last 30± years. It is just reported is a much more extravagant manner than it ever was and you bought the BS.
This was wrong! The Officer that pulled the Lt over for speeding gets suspended and the Lt is simply re-assigned? To what? Just about anything is better than IA! Does this Lt think is is above the law? All that would have been required was to do what he was told and present his DL and registration and also inform the Officer that he was also a LEO and a Lt. The Officer then would probably use discretion and issue him a written warning or even verbal providing the speeding was not excessive. This Lt. simply thinks he is above everyone else and a real prick. Okay, the Officer did wrong by recording it on his personal phone but maybe he refuses to turn it over because it is his only defense about what really happened! The Lt needs to have some time off without pay and maybe even a reduction in rank as well as reassignment. The Officer will have to answer for his private recordings and then it would depend on WHEN he started that recording, before or after he stopped the Lt. If he started before he knew who he was then he did wrong and needs some time off. If on the other hand he started recording after the Lt went ragin on him then I can understand he was attempting to ensure the vehicle recording of the stop did not accidentally get lost.