A black police major convicted of resisting arrest during an illegal traffic stop by white officers was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to spend 75 hours teaching young people to respect authorities.
Miami-Dade police Maj. Aaron Campbell, who claimed he was stopped because his race and Miami license tag fit the profile of a drug suspect, was also ordered to pay more than $8,400 in court costs and a $750 fine Monday.The Miami-Dade Police Department, which suspended Campbell without pay after his April 1997 arrest, said after the sentencing that the 27-year veteran can return to his $85,000-a-year job and will probably get full back pay.
A tearful Campbell apologized for his behavior. "I regret that I didn't control my anger better," Campbell told the court.
During the videotaped encounter, Campbell, 55, snatched his driver's license away from an officer and repeatedly refused to obey orders to put his hands up and get on the ground. When he backed away, he was sprayed with pepper spray. He then tried to walk away, and an officer jumped on his back. He walked a quarter-mile before surrendering.
Deputies said they stopped the off-duty officer for changing lanes without signaling and for having an obscured license plate. But Judge A. Thomas Mihok ruled the stop was illegal because Campbell committed no traffic violations.
On April 3, jurors acquitted Campbell of battery charges but found him guilty of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.
Critics charged that the arrest was a case of "driving while black" - that is, he was pulled over because of his race.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department denied it relies on racial profiles in pulling over drug suspects.