A Floridian police officer caught on a private webcam exposed his lack of empathy for a lady of the night. Or did he?
I’m a woman. I want to believe Isabella Sky and Lady Godiva, the women who posted a series of videos, are telling the truth.
The following is what I get from the videos.
In the video footage, currently trending on Twitter, an allegedly drunken man attempted to follow a woman into her apartment after she had entered it and slammed the door on him.
She’s standing at the bottom of the stairs with her phone when he opens a sliding door, walks in and says “excuse me.”
When the woman says "I’m calling the police," he walks out again. He sounded polite and sober.
The police officer arrived. We assume the woman has recounted what happened, then something strange happens.
Isabella Sky, living in the house with and owned by a woman called Lady Godiva, told police officer, Joseph Estrada, that the man in the footage is a former neighbor who has been stalking Lady Godiva.
The officer’s response, which could be out of context, lacks belief in Isabella’s story. He attempts to explain that the man wasn’t so much stalking or following her. He just came round the corner.
The presenter calls the exchange between the two women and the police officer a confrontation and a lack of responsiveness.
One of the two women gets emotional because she’s recounting the story of the man jumping out of the bushes at her roommate. The police officer says something to her she might hear if she’d stop yelling at him. The sound is not good. The woman then loses the plot with an explosive, no! The audio cuts off.
The presenter says the footage was absolutely terrifying. Hyperbole.
Lady Godiva nicknames another office Furbie. He sounds calm and placatory compared to the upset woman’s outbursts.
The calm woman asks for a woman or a different officer. Both the upset woman and the officer say no.
The calm woman says we’ll call for another officer. The officer tells the calm woman she will go to jail if she does.
The upset woman asks “I’m going to jail for what?”
“Because you’re screaming at me, waking up the neighbors, causing a disturbance.”
The woman says, “I don’t care.”
The police officer says, “well, I care.” The video cuts.
A war veteran and now, I am guessing, a high-end escort. I’m judging by her description of herself as a wealthy white woman. A woman who once laid her life down for her country now accepts large amounts of money for other people to use her body. When she chooses.
I have no judgement of what a person does for a living. I'm guessing the police officers didn't either.
Did the police officers lack empathy?
Yes. Did they deserve the hyperbole from the presenter? No.
Did the police officers discriminate against the former veteran because of what she does for a living now?
I don't think so. They seemed more upset by the noise she was making outside her house at night.
Did she overreact?
To a man stalking and entering her home. Yes, wouldn't you?
Did the police officers respond to the women’s request appropriately?
They could have said they’d arrange for a female officer to come over and take their statements. Or for Isabella and Lady Godiva to go to the police station the next day.
A man telling a woman, scared by another man entering her home, to stop yelling is only going to go one way. The situation could have been de-escalated.
There's more to this story. But the incomplete videos portray a story with (intentional) holes in it. Intentional to create outrage?
Who are we to judge either party?
The police went there to help. Lady Godiva thought she was being blamed. The officer said he wasn't blaming her. Then the audio cut out.
I want to be on the side of the women and I understand their fear. But what did they expect the police to do right there and then?
The police officers need coaching on their explanations and for de-escalating situations.
The videos are making a splash on Tik Tok and Twitter. The comments are going wild. But where's the voice of reason?
If it were up to me, I would take the story with a grain of salt.
What do you see and hear in the video?
Header image: By The original uploader was Dickelbers at Wikimedia Commons.. - This file was derived from: USA - FLORIDA - Orlando police.jpg, Public Domain
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