A Georgia police department with a history of settlements for civil rights abuses has been hit with another lawsuit. The officer in question this time is Dale Laskowski, a member of the Dunwoody Police Department, involving a traffic stop he made in March 2014.
Laskowski stopped Colton Laidlaw, who was 17 at the time, on his way to work for traveling 15 miles over the speed limit, a claim which is disputed in the lawsuit.
The routine stop took a bizarre turn, and the lawsuit (and released dash cam footage) show the officer using serious intimidation tactics against a scared teenager.
After stopping the teenager, Laskowski almost immediately starts trying to strong-arm him:
“Hey, can I ask you a question? Can you be honest with me, 100 percent honest with me. Do you use occasional recreational marijuana?”
Laidlaw tells the officer he does not smoke. Laskowski then tells him he sees white powder on the seat, which he describes as marijuana residue. He tells Laidlaw to step out of the car, begins to search him, and continues the intimidation:
“I don’t want to take that small leaf of that bud right there hem you up on Friday night and make you miss work and go to jail for a little bit of green.”
For thirty minutes, Laskowski searched Laidlaw’s vehicle for marijuana, even claiming:
“You’ve got it everywhere, dude.”
The police report indicates that Laskowski did indeed find and collect a small amount of marijuana. Interestingly, Ladlaw was only given a warning for excessive speed and was allowed to continue to his destination.
He was never charged with any drug-related crime, and whether or not Laskowski ever actually found any drugs is debatable.
The Dunwoody Police Department has paid out $117,000 to three different plaintiffs in unrelated lawsuits. At least one of those other lawsuits involved Laskowski.
Laskowski’s intimidation tactics and general attitude highlight the main problems with the “war on drugs.”
It gives officers free reign to bully and frighten citizens who have generally done nothing wrong.
Police are there to serve and protect, and tearing apart a scared teenager’s SUV fills neither of those definitions.
Feature Image: Screenshot Via WSBTV-Atlanta Channel 2 Video
