It has come to the attention of the HPOU that Attorney Benjamin Crump has made accusations that are completely untrue regarding Officer Shane Privette.  First, Mr. Crump claims that Officer Privette had a history of abuse toward African Americans because he was indicted in 2019 for assault by a public servant. What Mr. Crump fails to say is that Officer Privette was initially cleared by the Department and the Independent Police Oversite Board (made up of civilians) in the incident in question, and was later exonerated by a second grand jury.  The initial grand jury that indicted Officer Privette was only given a portion of the case by the D.A.’s Office and heard no testimony (not even giving Officer Privette the opportunity to appear and testify in his own defense).  The D.A.’s Office later realized their mistake in failing to present the complete case and took the case to a second grand jury, which no-billed the officer after hearing a thorough presentation of the evidence.  The case was subsequently expunged. 

The second statement which Mr. Crump makes that is untrue is that Officer Privette made the statement, “He is not going to live to leave this neighborhood.”  Mr. Crump’s claim is not true and completely misrepresents Officer Privette’s actual/complete statement, which can be heard clearly on his Body Worn Camera recording.  Officer Privette, while hearing the chase of the suspect going around a neighborhood, makes the comment, “He ain’t gonna  liv-leave this neighborhood (correcting a word flub)… he’s going to bail at that…” (Officer Privette is then interrupted by other officers on the radio).  Approximately 20 seconds later, Officer Privette can be heard finishing his thought saying, “ He’s gonna go back to that house.”  This was in reference to the fact that it appeared that the suspect was not going to leave the neighborhood in which he lived, but would instead bail out of the vehicle and run, a common behavior for many suspects. 

It is convenient that Mr. Crump leaves out the entire context in which the statement was made, and inaccurately quotes Officer Privette, who NEVER said “live to leave.”  Mr. Crump’s claim is just not accurate, and we are calling for Mr. Crump to retract his statement and tell the truth.