‘I do apologize’: Pompano Beach vice mayor speaks out after cursing at Broward cop
A South Florida vice mayor apologized Tuesday after body-cam footage was released earlier this month showing her cursing at a Fort Lauderdale police officer who had pulled her over in April.
Pompano Beach Vice Mayor Beverly Perkins said in a city council meeting that she was sorry if what she said was perceived as disrespectful.
“If any exchange on my part, in the conversation with the police officer, is perceived as being disrespectful, I do apologize,” she said to city residents and police officers who were in attendance.
But as some residents argued that things were being “blown out of proportion,” not everyone was pleased with her apology.
Barbara Stern, an attorney representing Fort Lauderdale Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 31, took the podium during the public-comment section of the meeting to tell Perkins that “you are not above the law.”
“Your behavior following that stop was deplorable and unbecoming of an elected official,” Stern said.
According to police records obtained by NBC 6 Miami, Perkins was caught driving a white Audi SUV at 60 mph in a 40 mph zone in the 1300 block of West Sunrise Boulevard on April 6. She was ultimately given a written warning and not a traffic ticket, the news channel reported.
In the body-cam footage, released by redbroward.com on July 5, you can hear the officer initially ask her, “What’s going on?” To which Perkins replies, seeming nonchalantly, “Nothing.” After the officer runs her driver’s license, Perkins identifies herself by name and title. She’s handed back her license and is told she is being given a warning, rather than a ticket.
“Miss Perkins, you need to slow down. OK?” the officer says as he hands back her ID, the footage shows.
As the officer walks away, the footage shows, Perkins asks for his name. She then is heard telling the officer that he needed to “find something better to [expletive] do.” Then she drives off.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 9:05 PM.
