SURFSIDE, Fla. – About five months after body camera video was released showing Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett interrupting a town police officer during a traffic stop, another clip has surfaced of the mayor involving himself in police activity.
In the latest video, from Thursday, he’s seen speaking to two officers conducting a stop sign traffic detail.
He asks, “What’s the plan? Are you going to stay here? For how long?”
The officer responds, “Is there something I can help you with, sir?”
Burkett later says, “We need to really be focusing on the heavy traffic.”
The officer explains that “a lot of times we conduct traffic details together for our safety, two officers together. It’s very common.”
Burkett then asks the officer if they can “do it separately,” later saying that it “seems odd that you have to tie up two officers.”
“Sir, I’ve just explained to you what we’re doing here,” she responds.
After obtaining the video, Local 10 News reporter Rosh Lowe asked Burkett, “You’re going to have people who look at these videos and say, ‘What in the world is the mayor doing?’”
“The mayor cares about the safety of our residents,” Burkett said of himself.
Burkett explained his actions further.
“She was positioned right in front of where the stop sign was, so anyone coming up to the stop sign from any distance could see one of her parked cars there,” Burkett said.
Lowe pointed out that Burkett doesn’t have police experience.
“I have no police experience, but I’ll tell you what I do have,” Burkett responded. “I have experience. Common knowledge.”
Burkett said the officers were “babysitting a guy who’s got a learner’s permit, and two cops there while we have all the crime going on Surfside. That just kind of bothered me. That’s all, I’m sorry. So if I did something wrong, I’m guilty, but I’ll tell you what: I would have done it again.”
“So I say this with all due respect: What would you say to someone who says, ‘Well, this is really eccentric or odd, what the mayor is doing’?” Lowe asked.
“I don’t think it’s odd at all,” the mayor responded.
A representative from Surfside’s police union said in a statement that “on behalf of the Surfside Fraternal Order of Police, we would like to express our grave concerns and strong condemnation of the actions of Mayor Charles Burkett.”
“These actions are irresponsible, have placed public safety and officer safety at significant risk,” the statement read in part.
Burkett sent Local 10 News a response to the police union statement, which read:
“Anyone can watch the video and clearly see that “the actions of the mayor,” were NOT irresponsible, did NOT place public safety at significant risk, and did NOT place officer safety at significant risk. Not only do we have a very few officers with poor attitudes, but we have a union boss who has trouble with the truth. Surfside can do better.”