Cops Flipped Coin To Decide On Making Arrest

ROSWELL, GA — Two officers with the Roswell Police Department have been placed on paid administrative leave after body camera footage obtained by a local news outlet showed them using a coin flip app on a cell phone to decide whether to arrest a motorist during a traffic stop.

Roswell police confirmed the report and said officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson are on leave pending an internal investigation. The Roswell Police Department said the traffic stop and coin-flipping controversy occurred during a traffic stop on April 7, 2018.

According to an incident and arrest reports released by the agency, Brown was patrolling the area of East Crossville Road near Crabapple Road when a black Mercury Sable "drove at a high rate of speed past me."

"I sped to catch the vehicle, reaching 85 MPH before activating my blue lights and sirens," Brown wrote in her incident report. "As I reached 88 MPH, the vehicle had slowed down enough for me to catch."

The vehicle came to a stop on East Crossville Road at Bent Grass Road. East Crossville Road, which is also known as Ga. 92, has a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour. Brown approached the vehicle and asked the driver, identified as Sarah Ashley Webb of Lawrenceville, if she knew how fast she was going. Brown made note that the road conditions were wet at the time.

Webb told the office she was "running late to work at a hair studio in Duluth," according to the report. Brown explained to the motorist that there was no reason for her to be traveling so fast due to the road conditions and the 45 miles per hour speed limit.

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Webb provided the officer with her license, turned off the vehicle and gave her car keys to Brown. But it's what happened inside the officer's patrol car that's causing such a firestorm. According to an investigative report done by WXIA-TV, Brown and Wilson are recorded debating whether they should make the arrest.

According to WXIA, Brown did not have a speed detection device, and Wilson noted she didn't have tickets. Brown, the news station said, pulled out her cell phone and opened a coin flipping app on her phone. They can be heard on camera indicating A, for arrest, would be head, and R, for release, would be tail.

The coin is "flipped," and Wilson asks if the coin landed on tail. Brown responds in the affirmative and asks if they should release the driver. Wilson replies with "23," which is the code for arrest. You can read more of the story here.

Chief Rusty Grant said after he became aware of the incident, he ordered an internal investigation and placed both officers on leave.

"Since this is an open internal investigation, I cannot discuss the details of the incident until the conclusion of the investigation," he said in a prepared statement. "This behavior is not indicative of the hard working officers of the Roswell Police Department. I have much higher expectations of our police officers, and I am appalled that any law enforcement officer would trivialize the decision making process of something as important as the arrest of a person.

An arrest report shows Webb, 24, was charged with reckless driving, too fast for conditions and speeding. The station's report also notes the driver's charges were dismissed.

Image via city of Roswell