Pine Prairie mayor responds to complaint of racism by officer

By: TONY MARKS
Associate Editor

A resident of Dry Prong, La., was cited for speeding as he drove down Highway 13 in Pine Prairie and claimed racism as the only reason he received the ticket.
Tapas Sarma, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Bangladesh, works with oncologists in the breast cancer industry. He was on his way to the oncology clinic in Mamou on the morning of July 13, 2017, when he was ticketed for going 52 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone.
“I passed up the last 45 mile per hour sign, and the very next sign is 55,” he explained. “I saw what is kind of like a shooting lane for deer hunters on the side of the road, and I thought I saw a vehicle in there. All of a sudden I look behind me and saw a police officer in a white car pull me over.”
Pine Prairie Mayor Quint West defended his officer’s actions. “The individual in question was stopped for one reason and for one reason only because he was speeding,” he stated. “The bottom line is he was speeding. No matter what he uses to get out of the ticket, that’s up to him. The bottom line is he was breaking the law, and the cops have to do their job.”
Body cam footage viewed by The Gazette corroborates the fact that Sarma was pulled over on Highway 13 just passed Judge O’Neil Lane. The video shows the officer approach the vehicle and request Sarma’s license, registration, and information. Sarma obliged and waited until the officer began to head back to his unit to become vocal.
Sarma told the officer he was going only seven miles over the speed limit and that the officer had discretion in giving him the ticket. “You’re not saving anybody, you’re just taking my money,” he said. “I know the law.”
The footage goes on to show the officer return to Sarma’s car with the ticket which he signed. He again waited until the officer walked away before he commented. This time the argument was over race. “You’re a racist,” Sarma said on the video. He then went on to claim that the officer saw a black man drive through town and decided to pull him over to give him a ticket. Adding fuel to the race argument was the fact that the officer listed Sarma as a black male on the ticket.
The officer replied, “we can’t see color” from the police unit. Mayor West agreed with the officer’s reply. “Officers can’t see color from the unit,” West said. “Had he not been speeding, this man would have gone through Pine Prairie and would not have had a problem. He broke the law, and he has to accept responsibility. As adults we have to accept that sometimes we make a mistake. The man was speeding and breaking the law. That’s the only reason he was pulled over.”
Later on the day of July 13 and on the next day, Sarma sent letters to the mayor and the Chief of Police L. C. Deshotel. The Gazette was able to obtain copies of these letters.
In an e-mail addressed to the mayor and the chief, Sarma claimed, “The officer caught me at 52 miles on 45 miles possibly less than a mile where the speed changes to a higher limit. I believe he pulled me over because the town needs money to make payroll for the police or what other reason it might be. I will not travel this path again, and I will share this with all my friends and family in Louisiana not to travel this path so they will not have to pay their hard earned money to make your payroll.”
Sarma changed his tune in an e-mail addressed to the chief. “I got caught in the speed trap this morning at your town by a racist officer in your force. He saw a black man in his mind and stopped me. He put me as a black man. I am Asian, and if you see me any day never in a million years would you think I have black ancestry.”
He continued, “I am just sharing how I felt this morning. Many years ago I was pushed out of a buffet line in Jena at a seafood place in front of my wife and children. I am glad they were not with me today.”
In a formal letter addressed to the mayor, Sarma claimed the following. “It is up to you to act or not to act. I am terribly disappointed, but I will remain hopeful that one day we will rise above the prejudice. Maybe Pine Prairie will catch up one day to the higher cause of this service.”
The mayor and police chief got together and came up with a solution to avoid any other such problem as to a person’s race. “The chief has instructed his officers from now on to call 911 on the traffic stop,” Mayor West explained. “The dispatcher will furnish that information of the race because your driver’s license does not have it.”
“I’m very proud of our police department, and I think we equip them well,” Mayor West said. “Those body cams are a life saver. They don’t only protect that officer, but they protect that individual being pulled over. I think all police departments have to have that. I don’t know what we would do without them. Every time we have somebody that accuses our officers of pulling them over for no reason, we pull up the video that clearly shows what happened. It does protect all parties involved.”