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Westerville attorney claims racial profiling against officers; police call it 'professional and polite'

Emmanuel Olawale, a civil rights attorney, says he was racially profiled on Saturday by two Westerville officers.

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Emmanuel Olawale, a civil rights attorney in Westerville, was dumping trash into a bin he says he owns on July 10 when two Westerville police officers pulled in behind him.

Body camera video released Tuesday by Westerville police shows officers making sure there was no illegal dumping going on. Olawale gives officers his business card and ID in an attempt, he says, to de-escalate suspicion. When one officer handed the ID to the other officer to write down information, Olawale told them no.

“That’s when I told him no you can’t do that,” Olawale said. “You have no right to run my ID.”

On camera, officers tell Olawale they were only trying to make sure everything matched up.

“Then, I told him ‘Why are you escalating this’,” Olawale said.

“Sir, you are turning this into an issue,” one officer says on body camera. “We’re just simply marking down who we’re out with.”

Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler says in a statement that the body camera “shows a professional and polite encounter between our officers and Mr. Olawale.”

The chief says the officers accepted Olawale’s offer to provide identification and “in situations, an officer uses this information to write a report or take a statement. My expectation is that officers provide as much information as possible during any call to assure our actions are justified, legal and professional.”

Chief Chandler says “Mr. Olawale took his complaint to social media and did not file a report or contact WPD to discuss his concerns.”

“Is it lawful for police if they have an ID to run it just to make sure everything matches up?” 10TV’s Bryant Somerville asked Olawale.

“It’s not lawful,” Olawale said.

Olawale believes he was racially profiled.

“I don’t want to question their motivation, but I believe if I wasn’t Black they wouldn’t have tried to go farther,” Olawale said.

Olawale says the situation didn’t need to go that far, saying once an officer has your ID you are legally detained.

“If I tried to drive away in my car they could discharge their weapons,” he said. “If I try to walk away they could say I was fleeing.”

Westerville police officers are trained in many areas including dealing with suspicious persons and diversity and harassment. Olawale says more is needed.

“They went beyond the call of duty that was unprofessionalism,” Olawale said. “It started off being professional, but it ended up not being.”

Westerville police say they are conducting an internal investigation on the matter. Both officers involved are still on active duty.

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