I-Team: Revere Police officer caught on camera using racial slur
REVERE - A Revere police officer is facing an internal investigation after the I-Team obtained a video that appears to show the white officer using a racial slur interacting with a young man.
Cell phone video appears to show Revere Police Officer Andrew Lauria shouting a racial slur during a confrontation with a teenager outside a Walgreens store. Residents the I-Team spoke to said the word was offensive and that it shouldn't be used by police.
Ed Davis, the former Boston Police Commissioner and WBZ security analyst agrees, calling the video troubling. "The bottom line is you should not be uttering that word as a police officer in uniform," Davis said.
The I-Team has learned Lauria responded to Walgreens on Broadway on June 13 at about 3 p.m. In the short video, it appears the young man may have used the offensive word first and Lauria may have in response, accused the man of calling him that slur.
"It's still inappropriate and it sort of comes out of an angry response to something, so police officers have to control their anger," Davis said. "So, it's problematic on two levels. The language that was used and also the rage that drove using the language. Both of those things have to be looked at."
Federal court records show Lauria was sued in 2012 for excessive force and civil rights violations. The civil complaint alleges Lauria in full uniform beat up his neighbor's friend without provocation. Lauria denied the allegations. The case was later settled by the city for $45,000.
Lauria has been a police officer for more than two decades. Revere police opened an internal investigation in this case after the I-Team started asking questions. Residents tell the I-Team, the officer's conduct was unprofessional. We brought those concerns to acting mayor Patrick Keefe.
"I don't like that type of interaction," Keefe said. "We want our police officers to be more role models. But the video certainly has what I have seen so far, could be taken out of context and I want to make sure that we get the whole scope of everything before I make any real decisions."
As for the officer, he remains on the job while the investigation is ongoing. In the end, Keefe says the appropriate action will be taken.
Revere police do not have body cameras. WBZ asked Walgreens for its surveillance video but did not hear back. We also reached out to Lauria through the unions that represent him, but no one responded.
