Surfside Mayor Criticizes Police Officer for Dismissive Stance Toward Supermodel Gisele Bundchen
SURFSIDE, Fla. – In a letter to the city’s police chief, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett criticizes a police officer for what he calls a “dismissive stance” toward supermodel Gisele Bundchen during a traffic stop on Wednesday.
The officer’s body camera was recording when Bundchen, 43, broke down in tears after being detained by a Surfside police officer and told the officer, who has not been publicly identified, that paparazzi had been following her.
“I have these fucking guys following me, nothing protects me,” she said.
The officer, who had let her go with a warning, told her “there was nothing he could do about it” and advised her to file a report with Miami Beach police.
“I can’t stop them from doing their job, which is taking photos,” he said.
Burkett, who was recently re-elected as mayor of Surfside, expressed his disappointment in the officer’s handling of the situation in his letter to Interim Chief Henry Doce.
“This response is totally unacceptable and does not reflect the values, judgment, and service residents expect from their police,” Burkett wrote. “The dismissive stance toward a resident who is clearly in danger is everything we do not want to see in the way our police interact with and serve our residents.”
Doce, speaking to Local 10 News, acknowledged that the situation could have been handled better.
“I would have liked to see more empathy in the initial contact with what was happening,” Doce said.
“A lot of people I’ve talked to in Surfside say this officer is a great officer,” Doce told Local 10 News reporter Rosh Lowe. “Could we have done better? I think it is a learning opportunity to understand what the dynamics of that situation are.”
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