Finding nothing, Holloway stepped back and looked at the SUV. I'm going to search your vehicle. Shaw's voice was firm. I do not consent to a search. You have no probable cause.
Holloway smirked. I've got plenty of cause. Expensive car, suspicious behavior. That's enough. Shaw shook his head.
Neither of those things constitute probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. I am clearly and explicitly stating that I do not consent to any search. Holloway walked to the passenger side of the Lamborghini and opened the door anyway. He searched the glove compartment, the center console, under the seats. He found nothing.
Then he walked to the back of the vehicle and popped the trunk. Inside the trunk was a black leather briefcase, a gym bag, and nothing else. Holloway pulled the briefcase toward him and opened it without hesitation, ignoring the fact that searching a closed container without consent or a warrant was yet another constitutional violation. The briefcase contained several documents with the official Parkdale Police Department seal at the top. Holloway picked up the first document and started reading termination notice.
Officer name Eric Holloway. Badge number 4127. Reason for termination: violation of Fourth Amendment rights, conducting unlawful stop and search, racial profiling, pattern of dismissed complaints, indicating bias-based policing. Effective date: today's date. Signed: Chief Dominic Shaw.
Holloway stared at the document. He read it once, then read it again. His hands started shaking. He looked at the signature at the bottom, then looked up at Shaw standing beside the Lamborghini. His face went pale and his mouth opened, but no words came out.
He looked back down at the document, then up at Shaw again, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and disbelief. He was questioning his own reality, not wanting to believe what his eyes were seeing. "You're..." Holloway's voice came out as barely a whisper. "You're the chief."
Shaw's expression didn't change. His voice was calm, cold, and final. Yes, I'm Chief Dominic Shaw, and you just failed the test. Officer Eric Holloway stood at the back of the Lamborghini Urus, holding his own termination letter in his shaking hands, and the reality of what he had just done was crashing down on him with a weight that made it hard to breathe. He looked at Chief Dominic Shaw, then back at the document, then at Shaw again, his brain still trying to process how this could be happening.
"Sir, I... I didn't know who you were. I was just doing my job. I thought..." Shaw cut him off, his voice calm, but carrying an authority that made Holloway go silent immediately.
You thought what, Officer Holloway? You thought that a black man driving an expensive car must have stolen it? You thought that driving through a neighborhood was probable cause for a stop? You thought that refusing consent to a search meant you could search anyway. Holloway tried to find words that would make this situation salvageable, but everything that came to mind sounded like an excuse.
The car looked out of place. I was being cautious. "I've made stops like this before and found..." "Found what?" Shaw interrupted again.
Let me guess. You've stopped other black men in expensive cars, demanded proof of ownership, searched their vehicles without consent, and most of the time you found nothing. But you kept doing it anyway because in your mind, a black man with money must be a criminal. Holloway's face flushed. That's not what I was thinking.
Shaw reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He had been recording audio from the moment Holloway had approached his window and the entire interaction was captured. I have you on recording demanding my license, registration, and proof of ownership without stating a reason for the stop. I have you threatening to arrest me when I asked what I was being arrested for. I have you searching my vehicle after I explicitly stated I did not consent.
All of that is documented. Holloway looked at the phone and the last bit of hope that he might be able to explain his way out of this situation disappeared. Sir, please. I have a family. I've been on the force for 7 years.
I made a mistake, but Shaw's expression didn't soften. This wasn't a mistake. This was a pattern. I reviewed your personnel file before I took this job. You've had two formal complaints in the past four years.
Both from black men driving expensive cars. Both involved the same behavior you just demonstrated with me. Both complaints were dismissed with verbal warnings. And you kept doing it because no one ever held you accountable. Holloway's voice got desperate.
Those complaints were investigated. They cleared me. "Cleared you" doesn't mean you were right, Shaw said. "It means the department didn't want to deal with the problem." But I'm not that kind of chief.
I told the mayor I would clean up this department and that's exactly what I'm doing. Shaw took the termination letter from Holloway's hands and placed it back in the briefcase. Then he pulled out his radio and called for a supervisor. This is Chief Shaw. I need a sergeant to respond to my location immediately.
I have an officer who just conducted an unlawful stop and search and I'm relieving him of duty. The dispatcher's voice came back confused. Chief Shaw, can you repeat that? You heard me correctly. Send a supervisor to my location now.