The Anchorage Police Department allegedly frowns on deputies kidding and taking pictures with possibly impaired drivers who use a “white privilege” card as proof of identity instead of a driver’s license.
Yes, this is a real thing that happened. The department has just released its findings following an investigation into the July incident in which officers pulled over Mimi Israelah at 3:30 a.m. for zigzagging.
She recorded video of officers Nicholas Bowe and Charles Worland having a good laugh as she displayed the novelty I.D. card, which she later deleted, according to TMZ.
One of the officers described it as “hilarious.” When Israelah’s footage went viral, numerous people on social media were enraged and demanded that authorities in the Alaskan city take action.
For the record, the cops reportedly said Israelah showed no indications of impairment and did not issue her a ticket – but many people assumed they let her go because they absolutely loved her joke.
And if anything, she could have been cited for driving without a license.
“We recognize that the [Facebook] post, what was contained in that post, caused a bit of a public uproar, and there were a lot of people who saw that and did not like that post,” Deputy Chief Sean Case said on Thursday.
While the two officers were discovered to have violated department policy, Anchorage PD refused to go into further detail or say what punishment, if there is any, they face.
Both officers are still reportedly employed by the dept.
Wondering why APD posted a strange mea culpa today? It's because this person reported not being cited for driving without a driver's license after she told police she was in Alaska from out of state for the Trump Rally and presented a novelty "White Privilege" card instead. https://t.co/WfCPImzG6h pic.twitter.com/0srIkn6prw
— sAvE aNcHoRaGe (@SaveAnchorage) July 13, 2022