ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum has been cleared of ethics violation allegations. She was investigated for calling the police chief in the middle of the night, because she believed officers had racially profiled her son in a traffic stop.
Commissioner Daisy Lynum says she knew exactly what to do when her son suspected he was being pulled over by police because he's black.
It's been a three-year ordeal and Friday Lynum said the Florida Ethics Commission decided what she knew all along, that she did nothing wrong.
"It's been a very difficult three years to be maligned, to be represented in the press as some raving maniac," said Lynum.
In 2005, Lynum made a late night call to then Orlando Police Chief Mike McCoy. Her son had been pulled over for a broken headlight.
The commissioner says she was afraid her son was being racially profiled because the officer was being aggressive.
An Orlando resident filed a complaint saying Lynum was abusing her power and trying to get her son out of a ticket.
"Racial profiling is against the law, but we still have a lot of it in Orlando," Lynum said.
However, it's hard to prove. Lynum's attorneys Mark NeJame and Rick Jancha say the Ethics Commission unanimously found Lynum did what every citizen should do. When there's a possibility of racial profiling by police, report it.
"The only way you can address a racial profile stop and real knowledge of whether it's correct or not is to get it immediately when it's occurring, which rarely happens," said NeJame.
"Regarding my son, I would do nothing differently, " said Lynum.
Lynum said she wants to create a hotline so residents can report suspected racial profiling.
Source: WFTV.com
