A white Suisun City police officer is out of a job and, in a social media post, Chief Aaron Roth apologized to the community for the officer’s actions toward a black male resident during a welfare check last weekend at the man’s home, an interaction caught on cellphone video and the officer’s bodycam.
In a brief telephone interview Friday, Roth confirmed that former Officer Cody Marler “no longer works for us,” but declined to say if Marler, who reportedly had been on the force for fewer than 18 months and was still amid his probationary period, had been fired. Marler allegedly said something offensive to the man, whose wife and children and another Suisun City officer, a female, also can be seen on the cellphone recording.
Additionally, Roth confirmed he reviewed Marler’s bodycam footage and a YouTube posting of the incident. He did not identify the resident, who, clearly upset by Marler’s alleged remark, which could not be heard or detected from the YouTube posting that lasted 8 minutes and 13 seconds, told Marler he was a U.S. military veteran who had served nine years.
Marler and the other officer told the man that they had received a call and were at his home for a welfare check but the man said they arrived at the wrong address. The officers, after some moments, appeared to agree. Marler could be seen leaving the man’s front door walkway while the female officer tried to explain why they had responded to the man’s address.
Later, after the female officer left, the upset man went to the side of his residence, where, on the video, two Suisun City Police patrol cars could be seen parked in the street.
Roth said there would be no further investigation about the incident because Marler left the department.
“It’s pretty cut and dried,” he said, alluding to the bodycam footage audio, then added, “It appeared to support the community member’s statements.”
The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/CcuJ65RH8Xg.
In a Facebook posting Wednesday evening, titled “Message from Suisun City Police Chief Aaron Roth to the Suisun City Community,” Roth wrote: “I was very disappointed to learn about the actions of one of our officers during an interaction with a resident over the weekend. The incident and the officer’s behavior are not indicative of the values of this organization, nor are they a reflection of the hard work of the women and men of this department.
“We have worked hard over the years to show our community we value them and want to partner with them. Our partnership with the community is vital to the work we do.”
In his post, Roth called the incident “unfortunate,” and said it would be used “as a learning opportunity to do better as we continue to work with our community to make Suisun City a better place for everyone.
“On behalf of the Suisun City Police Department, I would like to publicly apologize to the residents involved in this incident and to the entire community.”
“We are trying to acknowledge the incident,” he said at one point during the telephone interview.
