The Sergeant searched vehicles more often than comparable supervisors.
He removed Black male drivers from vehicles at more than twice the precinct average.
His body camera had failed to activate during nine stops over twelve months.
Seven involved Black motorists.
That did not automatically prove discriminatory intent.
The Commander repeatedly warned investigators against jumping from correlation to conclusion.
"Numbers tell us where to look," he said.
"They don't tell us what happened."
So investigators looked.
They located video.
Witnesses.
Store cameras.
Dash cameras.
Dispatch audio.
One case involved a thirty-six-year-old electrician driving home after a night shift.
The Sergeant had stopped him for alleged failure to signal.
The electrician said he had signaled.
No citation was issued.
But he was ordered from his truck.
Searched.
Handcuffed for sixteen minutes.
Released.
He filed no complaint.
When investigators contacted him, he was confused.
"I thought that was normal."
The investigator paused.
"What part?"
"Getting cuffed while they check everything."
"Had that happened before?"
"Twice."
"With this Sergeant?"
"Once."
The investigator wrote it down.
Another incident involved a twenty-four-year-old graduate student.
The stop lasted forty-one minutes.
No contraband.
No arrest.
No citation.
The student's father had advised him not to complain.
"Nothing would happen," the young man explained.
The investigator asked, "Do you still have the video you recorded?"
The student laughed.
"I never deleted it."
He sent the file.
The Sergeant's voice could be heard clearly.
"You boys always want to argue."
The investigator replayed that sentence three times.
The Commander's complaint was no longer the center of the investigation.
That was intentional.
He removed himself from daily review.
An external internal-affairs team handled the case.
When investigators needed his statement, he gave one.
Then he stopped asking for updates.
The Sergeant hated that most.
He had expected revenge.
He knew how to defend against revenge.
He could claim bias.
Conflict.
Retaliation.
Instead, the Commander gave him distance.
And the evidence kept moving without help.
Two weeks after the appointment, the Commander held his first full supervisory meeting.
Every sergeant and lieutenant attended.
The suspended Sergeant was not present.
The Commander placed a stack of reports on the table.
"Anybody know what these are?"
A lieutenant answered.
"Use-of-force reviews?"
"No."
He distributed them.
"Stops that ended with absolutely nothing."
Supervisors read.
No ticket.
No arrest.
No contraband.
No warning in some cases.
The Commander pointed toward the first page.
"Twenty-eight minutes."
Second.
"Thirty-four."
Third.
"Forty-seven."
A sergeant frowned.
"What's your point?"
"My point is nothing happened."
The sergeant looked confused.