Two traffic stops, two outcomes: Comparing Doorley and Taylor incidents
Two weeks after Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley was caught evading police after speeding down Webster streets, Marvin Taylor was pulled over in Rochester for an expired inspection sticker.
Doorley is a white woman. And she wields power as Monroe County's top prosecutor. Taylor is a Black man pulled over in a part of Rochester that historically has limited power and faces heavy police presence.
The two traffic stops could not have gone more differently.
Doorley, who lives in Webster, ignored police lights and sirens for nearly a half mile until she parked in her garage. She rebuffed some of the Webster officer’s requests for information, called him an “a-hole” and walked freely in and out of her home with impunity.
Responding officers, while trying to corral Doorley’s cooperation, showed no signs of force. They did show a deep amount of patience.
Taylor, who lives in Rochester, pulled to the curb within one-tenth of a mile or less after he saw Rochester police behind him. Taylor was almost home; he lives nearby. Police accused him of failing to stop “immediately.”
One officer used that as an excuse to approach his car with his gun drawn. They offered no reasoning for the stop, immediately ordering Taylor to roll down his tinted windows and exit the vehicle. When he refused, asking why, police shattered his window and dragged him to the pavement.
The two traffic stops by two different police agencies have caught the attention of the Rochester-area community, and they reveal differences in how certain individuals are treated by police. The national trend in how police have treated people based on race and gender during America's racist and racially biased history is well-documented by legal experts, news organizations and academics.
More: Webster police chief breaks silence on Sandra Doorley incident. Here's what he said
Would a Black man get the 'white glove' treatment by police?
Days after Doorley’s April 22 stop became public, many in the community noted that few people would be able to evade police and leave unscathed like she did.
Taylor was charged with obstruction of governmental administration following his May 7 traffic stop. Critics of local policing say the charge is sometimes used unjustly when an individual is viewed as rude to police in a way that may simply be annoying to the officer.
Illegal drugs were not found in his car, according to the current charges and body-worn footage. He was not charged with eluding police. And in the police footage an officer admits to Taylor: You have no record.
Taylor said they wouldn’t answer questions about why he was stopped, and with a gun drawn in his direction, Taylor said he was hesitant to exit his vehicle without understanding why he was being ordered to do so.
“When I didn’t want to get out of the car, that triggered them,” he said in a recent interview.
In contrast, Doorley told the officer she didn’t stop for his lights and sirens because she “didn’t feel like stopping.”
She left the traffic stop with a single speeding ticket. But no obstruction of governmental administration charge.
— Includes reporting by Gary Craig and Marcia Greenwood.
— Kayla Canne reports on community justice and safety efforts for the Democrat and Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Two traffic stops, two outcomes: Comparing Doorley and Taylor incidents
