Officer Issues Ticket Over Passenger's HIV Status
DEARBORN (WWJ/AP) - A metro Detroit police agency is putting its employees through training on HIV and AIDS after a videotaped traffic stop shows an officer telling a woman he's writing a ticket because she failed to reveal she's HIV positive before he searched her vehicle.
Dearborn police Chief Ronald Haddad told The Detroit News he takes the matter "very seriously" and is investigating the Aug. 3 stop.
The 29-minute YouTube video shows the officer telling Shalandra Jones and her driver he's ticketing them because he's "aggravated" Jones didn't disclose her HIV status before he searched their SUV.
In the video, the unnamed officer says he doesn't "want to catch something" and "has a family." He then issued a ticket for a broken tail light.
The Detroit Legal Services firm is representing Jones and said in a statement the firm is "working to ensure that Jones is protected to the fullest extent of the law." It wasn't immediately clear if a lawsuit was being pursued.
Casual contact doesn't spread HIV and AIDS.
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