LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock Police Department fired an officer Tuesday who was caught on amateur video in March using the term “jigaboo” to a group of young black men in the River Market.
An internal investigation of David Edgmon began after the video surfaced on the Internet in May, said Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings.
Hastings declined to say specifically why Edgmon was fired. He said Edgmon is appealing the action and will appear before the city’s Civil Service Commission on Nov. 18.
On the video, recorded by a group called Ill Legal Productions, Edgmon flashes his police badge after one of the men asks to see it. It’s unclear whether Edgmon, who is not in uniform, mentioned beforehand that he was a police officer.
In subsequent comments to the men, Edgmon uses the racial slur.
Edgmon, 24, joined the force in January 2009. He was assigned to a patrol unit.Attempts to reach Edgmon on Friday by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful.
The 90-second video had been viewed by more than 2,600 people on the youtube.com website as of 6 p.m. Saturday. The clip can be found by searching on the site for “Cop at River Market.”
Edgmon’s mother, Cheryl Edgmon, reached by phone Saturday, said her son was unavailable to comment because his pregnant wife was having a medical emergency.
“I want people to know he’s really a good guy who made a mistake,” she said Saturday afternoon. “Of course he’s sorry for it and wishes he hadn’t done it.”
Cheryl Edgmon said it is difficult to see her son judged for the actions he took during only a few seconds caught on tape when his judgment was impaired.
Her son is a Marine who served in Iraq and has previously worked as an emergency medical technician. Edgmon’s father and brother are both in law enforcement, she said.
David was proud to be in law enforcement, she said.
“It is difficult when anyone loses their job, but civil servants have the added humiliation of public scrutiny of their mistakes,” she said. “While others may criticize this one mistake, we are proud of the good David has tried to accomplish all his life.”
In the video, Edgmon, dressed in casual attire, asks a group gathered on the sidewalk, “Who’s blowing f****** weed in my face?” referring to marijuana. At one point,Edgmon looks at the camera and waves.
Later in the exchange, Edgmon tells the group with slurred speech to “get that Illegal Productions f******jigaboo s*** out of my f****** face.”
As Edgmon walks away, someone in the crowd can be heard yelling, “That ain’t no way to be a police officer.”
Near the end of the video, voices can be heard discussing whether the word “jigaboo” is racist, and Edgmon can be heard asserting that he’s not racist.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines jigaboo as “negro - often taken to be offensive.” Slang-Dictionary.com defines the term as “a black person. This was originally a racist epithet used by whites since the early years of the 20th century.”
Matt Dizzle, a hip-hop music artist, said his production company was in the River Market that night outside Ernie Bigg’s restaurant promoting a new album. Someone else with the company was holding Dizzle’s camera,but he posted the footage online.
Dizzle, who is black, said he was personally offended by Edgmon’s comments and behavior.
“He was using his badge in order to intimidate the public,” Dizzle said Saturday evening in a phone interview.
Dizzle said other officers who were on duty that night had already made the group feel unwelcome because they didn’t appreciate their music style.
“I felt like he was trying to get me to stay away from the River Market,” he said of Edgmon. “We weren’t doing anything illegal. If we were out there promoting country music, there probably wouldn’t have been a problem.”
Dizzle said he’d gotten comments online from people who said he shouldn’t have posted the video because he was “ruining a good cop’s life.”
“I just feel like the police should be able to be held to a higher standard than the average person.”
The 1-minute, 30-second video had been viewed by more than 2,600 people on the website Youtube as of 6 p.m. Friday.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 08/29/2010