The Springfield Police Department has determined that an officer erred during a November encounter where he apparently tried to take the cellphone away from a citizen who was recording him.
After the citizen, Terry Rucker, posted video online of the encounter, Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams ordered an investigation through the police department s Internal Affairs Unit.
The investigation found that allegations of improper procedure and conduct unbecoming an officer were sustained against Officer Harold Millirons, according to documents obtained by the News-Leader.
Internal Affairs did not find that Millirons or another officer on scene used excessive force.
The portion of the video that Rucker posted to social media showed Rucker speaking with an officer outside of a scene on West Elm Street on Nov. 26 when Millirons got out of his vehicle, cursed, and approached Rucker.
A self-described Missouri “cop watcher” was tackled to the ground by police officers as he filmed them responding to a call in Springfield, Missouri, last month.
Terry Rucker, a 35-year-old Black man, shared video from the Nov. 26 encounter on Facebook and YouTube and it went viral on several social media pages. Now the two Springfield Police Department officers involved are being investigated by the police department’s internal affairs unit.
Terry Rucker (Photo: Terry Rucker/Facebook)
Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams launched the internal affairs review “to determine if there was a violation of Springfield Police Department policy,” agency spokeswoman Jasmine Bailey said in an email Wednesday.