WINDSOR, Va. — An unassuming gas station in Windsor is now at the forefront of national headlines, as well as the latest investigation from the Office of the Attorney General.
“Communities of color receive this kind of treatment from law enforcement all over the country, and it needs to stop," Mark Herring told 13News Now in a virtual interview Tuesday.
The now-viral body camera footage shows U.S. Army Lt. Caron Nazario getting pepper-sprayed by a Windsor Police Officer at a traffic stop in December of 2020. Officer Joe Gutierrez has since been fired by the department, as the story has reached the national spotlight.
The question for many Virginians though, including AG Herring, is whether this is an isolated or continuing incident.
“Is this indicative of a larger pattern of police misconduct? With either the two officers or even the department more broadly? We need to know what kind of discipline and action was taken," Herring said.
The Office of Civil Rights under Attorney General Mark Herring requested the following documents from the Windsor Police Department:
- Records and documentation from the Windsor Police Department regarding the traffic stop in December 2020
- Personnel records for the two WPD officers – Officer Joe Gutierrez and Officer Daniel Crocker
- WPD policies related to use of force, traffic stops and de-escalation and engaging with members of the public
- WPD training programs and/or materials for the last ten years related to any of the aforementioned policies
- Complaints received by the WPD related to use of force, traffic stops and treatment on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin for the last 10 years
The OCR has the power to investigate potential unlawful patterns of conduct by law enforcement.
When asked about a timeline for this particular case, Herring said that it remains unclear exactly how long it could take. An investigation completed by the OCR involving racism in a Virginia school division took nearly a year to complete.
“We need to know answers to these questions, because if there are ongoing problems, then we need to take additional action to make sure it doesn’t happen again," Herring said.
Police reports from the incident have been made available to the public through the Windsor Police Department's website. In them, records show that officers had listed Lt. Nazario as "refusing" to comply.
On top of the investigation, Lt. Nazario has filed a lawsuit against the officers involved in the traffic stop.