NYPD detective stripped of badge and gun after vulgar tirade at Uber driver

Officer has been placed on desk duty after video shows xenophobic rant

(Getty Images)

The New York City police officer who was recorded during a vulgar tirade directed at an Uber driver has been stripped of his gun and badge, and reassigned to desk duty, according to the New York Post.

Detective Patrick Cherry was reassigned from the NYPD’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after a video taken from the backseat of an Uber car spread on the internet. That video showed Mr Cherry pulling over an Uber driver and unleashing a rant in which the officer made fun of the driver’s accent.

“No good cop should watch that video without a wince,” NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said at a Wednesday press conference. “Because all good cops know that officer just made their jobs a little bit harder.

“In that kind of encounter, anger like that is unacceptable. In any encounter, discourtesy and obscene language like that is unacceptable. That officer’s behaviour reflected poorly on everyone who wears our uniform.”

The incident allegedly began when Mr Cherry was attempting to park his unmarked police car in Greenwich Village, when the Uber driver swerved around him, honked his horn and flipped off the officer, the Post reported. That is when the officer became enraged and pulled over the Uber driver.

The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau had been investigating the incident, but it has been taking over by the Civilian Complaint Review Board. The CCRB could decide to give Mr Cherry a knock on his record, but reports say Commissioner Bratton is responsible for all disciplinary action.

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