According to the arrest documents and a police dashboard camera footage of African American Studies Professor Imani Perry's arrest, Perry was speeding 67 mph in a 45 mph zone.
On Saturday,Perry wroteon her Twitter account that police refused her a phone call before her arrest, conducted a body search on her and handcuffed her to a table at the police station. The video shows that the patrolling officer, however, told her that she can contact her coworkers after reaching the police headquarters and explained that he had to handcuff her prior to taking her into custody.
Perry did not respond to a request for comment.
While the footage for the alleged body search and processing at the station were not released, the video of Perry’s arrest is now public.
According to the arrest report, Perry was stopped for speeding on 500 Mercer Street at 9:07 a.m. this past Saturday. When asked for her identification, she provided her Pa. driver's license but could not locate her registration or insurance card.
Perry was subsequently arrested at 9:33 a.m. on Feb. 6 for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended driver's license and an active warrant that resulted from outstanding parking tickets.
The parking ticket, issued at 9:51 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2012, cites Perry as failing to park within designated stalls. She was initially charged $50, including a $25 fine, but, for unexplained reasons, failed to pay the ticket or appear in court when summoned on Feb. 15, 2013.
Although Perry's license and ticket were from Pennsylvania, there was an active warrant for Perry's arrest from Princeton's jurisdiction. The warrant was approved on Mar. 7, 2013 with a bail of $130.
Perry was charged underContempt of Court 2C:29-9. According to the Statutes of New Jersey, an individual can be charged with contempt when he or she is guilty of a crime, knowingly disobeys a judicial order or hinders the effectuation of a judicial order.
Per Police Department policy, Perry was asked to accompany the officers in the rear seat of the patrol vehicle on her way to headquarters for procedural processing.
"Unfortunately, any time we transport anyone, because you're under arrest, or because of a warrant, we have to put you in handcuffs," Patrol officer Michael Schubert, who stopped Perry for speeding, explained to her in the video.
Schubert then asked whether she wants to have a friend or a family pick up her car before he asked her to exit her vehicle, according to the video. Perry answered in the negative.
After Perry had exited the vehicle and walked to the patrol car to be driven to the police headquarters, she then asked if she could contact others.
"Can I text somebody before I get in the car, to let someone from the University know what's happening?" Perry asked.
"When we get there, you can call them.You can make as many calls as you want," the officer said.
According to the records, Perry was transported without incident. During processing at the police station, she posted the bail waiver, which indicated that she plead guilty to the parking offense and did not want to appear in court for trial. Perry was later released at 10:18 a.m. after posting full bail.
Lieutenant Jonathan Bucchere, a member of the Support Services Division at the Princeton Police Department, did not respond to a request for further comment.
Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., professor of religion and African American Studies and chair of the Department of African American Studies, said the video adds little to the understanding of the situation, nor does it contradict what Perry described in her posts.
"The question, and it should be asked over and over again, is whether or not others, particularly white motorists, are subject to the same treatment," he said.
Glaude added that anecdotal evidence offers a number of personal accounts which suggest differential treatment.
Min Pullan, University media relations specialist, deferred comment tothe Feb. 10 statement of President Christopher Eisgruber '83.
According to Eisgruber's statement, he and Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice had been in contact with Perry over the weekend to offer support. He added that the town has initiated an independent investigation through the Mercer County Prosecutor's office.
The Faculty of the Department of African American Studies also recentlyreleased a letter in support of Perry, primarily in indignation at the way the Princeton police treated her: subjecting her to a pat-down by a male officer in the presence of a female officer and handcuffing her to a table while processing her at the police station.
The letter noted that although the professors were outraged, they were not surprised because incidents like Perry's arrest occur all too often throughout the country. As the letter states, marginalized groups are disproportionately and systematically disadvantaged not only in the criminal justice system, but in many other aspects of life.
Perry closed down her Twitter account earlier this week, citing fears of “hacking” as a reason.
In statement posted on Facebook, Perry wrote that although she was pulled over and arrested for a three-year-old parking ticket, the injustice stems deeper. She writes that she does not believe that she was at fault, and that the police treated her inappropriately and disproportionately.
"I hope that this circle of attention will be part of a deeper reckoning with how and why police officers behave the way they do, especially towards those of us whose flesh is dark," she wrote.
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