Georgia police chief ‘appalled’ at video showing officers use coin-toss app to decide on arrest

'It just hurt to know that these people are supposed to be looking out for you, and it was a game to them'

A police chief in Georgia said he was “appalled” at video footage showing two of his officers using a coin-toss app to decide whether or not to arrest a driver during a traffic stop.

In body camera footage from April that was obtained by NBC, police officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson of the Roswell Police Department, can be heard discussing whether they should arrest driver Sarah Webb, after pulling her over for allegedly speeding.

In the video, Ms Brown can be seen approaching Ms Webb’s vehicle and then heard questioning her about her speed, with Ms Webb apologising and noting she was late for work.

“The ground’s wet, it’s been raining, you’re going over 80 miles per hour on this type of a road, that’s reckless driver ma’am,” Ms Brown said.

As Ms Brown returns to the vehicle, she can be heard admitting to her colleague that she didn’t have “speed detection” when she spotted Ms Webb allegedly speeding. Ms Wilson suggested Ms Brown’s own marked speed to catch up to Ms Webb – which they claim was up to 90 mph – was evidence enough that Ms Webb was speeding.

As it was, Ms Wilson and Ms Brown used a coin-toss app on one of their phones, to decide whether to arrest Ms Webb or administer citations. Ms Wilson appeared to assign “head” to arrest and “tail” to “release”; the app seemingly signalled “tail” but the pair decided to arrest Ms Webb regardless.

The officers’ behaviour has sparked widespread outrage and condemnation from their police chief and the Roswell mayor.

Police Chief Rusty Grant said he had immediately opened an internal investigation into the matter after learning about the alleged incident.

“This behaviour is not indicative of the hardworking officers of the Roswell Police Department,” he said. “I have much higher expectations of our police officers and I am appalled that any law enforcement officer would trivialise the decision-making process of something as important as the arrest of a person.”

Ms Brown and Ms Webb have since been placed on administrative leave.

According to NBC, Ms Webb’s charges were dismissed in court on 9 July, reportedly days after she received a copy of the body cam footage.

Towards the end of the footage, a tearful Ms Webb can be seen being placed under arrest.

“I was very angry and upset, it just hurt to know that these people are supposed to be looking out for you, and it was a game to them,” Ms Webb said.

Roswell Mayor Lori Henry called the incident “inexcusable and unprofessional”.

“This type of behaviour is not and should not be reflective of our police officers in Roswell who protect and serve our community every day.”