TAMPA, Fla. — A newly released Tampa Police body camera video shows an arrest in East Tampa in June of last year.
But it’s not the takedown of a subject seen in the video that has people like Yvette Lewis, president of Hillsborough County NAACP, angry. It’s what the officer, Dukagjin Maxhuni, had to say afterward.
Taunting bystanders in the area, he first brags about the takedown.
“That was one hell of a flying knee for me,” he said in the recording. “You should have seen it. It was good. It’s on body camera. I’ll show it to you.”
Then, he leaves the Ybor Grocery parking lot and crosses 15th Street while continuing to taunt the crowd.
“Come talk to me now. You want to be a tough guy? Come talk to me now, you little b***h boy,” he says, in part. “Hey, come stand up to me. I’m standing right here, m**********r. M**********rs need to know who runs these f*****g streets. It ain’t y’all.”
To Lewis, watching the video produced a visceral reaction
“Very upset that an officer would use that type of language and that tone,” she said.
Thursday, the Tampa Police Department defended its handling of the situation.
Chief Lee Bercaw said an investigation was launched in 2022 after an internal audit flagged the bad behavior.
“The officer was disciplined and removed from his squad and the neighborhood he served,” Bercaw said in a statement.
To Lewis, however, that’s not enough.
“All he received — literally — was a slap on the wrist,” she said.
Regardless of the punishment, Bercaw promised better, but Lewis has doubts.
She thinks a situation like the one captured on the body camera doesn’t just make the police department look bad. Still, it also hurts their ability to solve crimes and protect people, especially in the African-American community.
“It’s not a good impression,” Lewis said. “Why should I trust law enforcement? Why should I work with them? Why should I respect them? Because they obviously didn’t respect the young people that were there.”
Lewis said she wants to see more community policing from Tampa Police. She wants new officers to receive a deeper education about African-American history.
Lewis also wants monthly meetings with Tampa Police. According to Lewis, Bercaw promised those regular meetings but hasn’t delivered recently.
The department is hosting town hall meetings every Tuesday in neighborhoods across the city.
ABC Action News reached out to the Tampa Police Benevolent Association for its perspective on the June 2022 incident but was referred to Bercaw’s statement.
