'We only shoot black people'

  • 31/08/2017
Officer Greg Abbott made the racial comments during a routine traffic stop.
Officer Greg Abbott made the racial comments during a routine traffic stop. Photo credit: WSB-TV

A police officer in the United States has been filmed making "inappropriate racial comments" during a routine traffic stop.

Dash-cam footage shows a woman being pulled over by officer Greg Abbott during a DUI traffic stop in Cobb County, Georgia.

In the video, obtained by Channel 2 Action News, the woman tells Abbott she is afraid to move her hands to pick up her phone because she has "seen way too many videos of cops".

Abbott tells her "But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people.

"All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?"

Abbot has been placed on desk duty over the footage, which was recorded in July 2016.

Cobb County police chief Mike Register said Abbott was "attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an unco-operative passenger", but did not defend his colleague's comments.

"No matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said".

In a police statement, Cobb County commission chairman Mike Boyce said he found Abbott's comments "repugnant and offensive beyond measure."

An internal investigation into the incident has been launched.

Police brutality against African Americans has been a highly contentious issue in the United States for several years.

In 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in an incident that launched the Black Lives Matter movement.

Other highly publicised black victims of police violence have included Eric Garner, Walter Scott and 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot by a police officer while playing in a park in 2014.

Newshub.