A district attorney in upstate New York is being reprimanded by the public and state officials after being caught on bodycam video quarreling with a police officer who attempted to pull her over for speeding.
The town of Webster, New York, released bodycam footage showing the encounter between a local cop and Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley on Monday, April 22.
That afternoon, an officer tried pulling Doorley over for driving 55 mph in a 35 mph zone. Instead of pulling over, Dooley opted to drive home and park her car in her garage before getting out and starting a combative exchange with the officer who followed her home.
Doorley starts the dispute by telling the cop that she’s “the DA” and doesn’t “really care” that she was speeding. She then proceeds to call Webster Police Chief Dennis Kholmeier and tells the cop to talk to his boss.
“This is ridiculous,” she says as she hands the officer her phone. “Just go away.”
Instead of dismissing the traffic stop, Kholmeier told the cop to call a supervisor to the scene.
As they wait for a supervisor to arrive, Doorley refuses to comply with the officer’s orders and remains antagonistic towards him. At certain points of the encounter, she walks in and out of her home despite being ordered to stay by her vehicle, tells the officer, “Get out of my [expletive] house,” and calls him a “f–ing a–hole.”
“You know what I’ve been dealing with all day? Three murders in the city. And do you think I really care if I was going 20 mph over the speed limit?” Doorley tells the officer. “Just write me the f–ing ticket. I really don’t care because I’m the one that’s gonna prosecute myself.”
Once the supervisor arrives, he and Doorley talk. The cop who conducted the traffic stop issued her a ticket. Once she’s handed the citation, she reiterates, “I’ll take care of it since I’ll be prosecuting myself.”
Since the footage started circulating online, many people called Doorley out for her entitlement and the privilege she tried to exercise as a district attorney to get out of a citation.
“The privilege is absolutely disgusting!! I wonder if her circle of friends and family would agree with her or if they would chastise her as they should?” one person commented on Instagram.”
“I can name about 7 things she did that has gotten bl(ac)k men unalived by an officer. She kept driving, went home, pulled in her garage, walked in and out of her crib, told the officer what she wasn’t going to do, reached in and out of her car, and called freely on her cell phone,” another Instagram user wrote.
“Man, write the ticket. So she can get it tossed out. You’re wasting time. But this is privilege at its highest example,” another person stated.
“She needs to be arrested for using her position as a way to do wth she wanna do!” another comment reads.
In a video statement she released Monday morning, Doorley admitted that she pleaded guilty in court to speeding and apologized for her behavior, which she attributed to “stress.”
“What I did was wrong. No excuses. I take full responsibility for my actions. I fell short of the values I’ve held for my entire 33-year career. I didn’t treat this officer with the respect he deserves. All police officers deserve respect,” Doorley said. “If one of my assistant district attorneys had acted this way, I would’ve disciplined them. So, I’m disciplining myself. I will take ethics training to remind myself that professionalism matters. I’ve been humbled by my own stupidity, and I’m fully to blame. I will make this right. I ask for your forgiveness.”
Since the video’s release, local and state officials have demanded a full investigation, calling attention to Doorley’s “abuse of power” and how she brazenly acted “above the law.”
A unanimous letter from the Rochester City Council was sent to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office stating that Doorley’s conduct appeared to violate standards of ethics, accountability, and respect for the law.
Four Democratic state assemblymembers and a state senator also released a statement condemning her behavior and requesting a full investigation.
“At a time when traffic stops are too often capable of becoming deadly for both law enforcement and the driver, including recently in Syracuse, the ramifications of her actions cannot be ignored,” their statement reads.
On Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stated she referred Doorley to the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.
“District attorneys are responsible for prosecuting criminal and traffic offenses, and must perform their duties with the highest ethical standards,” Hochul said in a statement. “I referred the Monroe County District attorney to the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct following the release of police bodycam footage showing her claiming she is above the law, attempting to use her public office to evade responsibility, and acting unprofessionally towards a police officer simply trying to do his job. In doing so, she was in contravention of her responsibility as a District Attorney and undermined her ability to hold others accountable for her violating the law.”
