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First on Fox: A Los Angeles police union is calling for an investigation into City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson for allegedly calling a school board member in an attempt to get out of a citation after he was stopped earlier this month while driving in a school zone.
Harris-Dawson claimed he was the victim of possible racial profiling when he was stopped on March 4 by a Los Angeles School police officer while on his way to a committee meeting in a government vehicle.
He was pulled over for making a U-turn in a school zone.
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The councilman was issued a $238 citation for a moving violation, the California Post initially reported.
Citing news reports that Harris-Dawson called a Los Angeles Unified School District boss during the traffic stop, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) is asking City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto to look into whether he used his position to avoid accountability for the alleged moving violation near a high school during morning drop off time.
“If this is true, the public deserves to know which school board member Mr. Harris-Dawson called, what was said on this phone call and if the officers involved were contacted by the school board member,” the LAPPL, which represents rank and file officers within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), wrote in separate letters obtained by Fox News Digital to Feldstein Soto and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
“We urge your office to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to determine whether or not Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson violated the law and the public trust with his action,” both letters said.
LAPPL President Ricky Mendoza said it would be “unethical and potentially illegal” for a city leader to use their position of power to attempt to “avoid accountability for their reckless driving in a school zone.”
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“We urge the DA and City Attorney to hold this very powerful elected official accountable if in fact he violated the law,” he said.
During a recent council meeting, Harris-Dawson, who is Black, described the experience as traumatic “as it was when I was 16.”
“In Los Angeles, every single time data is collected on pretextual traffic stops, they are grossly racially biased,” he said.
He said that he’d been stopped four times while driving a government-issued vehicle.
“The first question was, roll down your windows. The second question was, how do you have this vehicle? The third question was, well, you work for the city. What job do you do for the city?” Harris-Dawson told his colleagues.
“In fact, I’m the president of the council,” he added. “I had to explain this on the corner of Main and 25th Street, while I was trying to get to the committee just two days ago.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Harris-Dawson’s office, as well as the offices of Feldstein Soto and the district attorney, but did not immediately receive a response Wednesday night.
Read the full article here
