Tyler Perry emerged from a recent traffic stop in Atlanta believing he was the victim of racial profiling.

Now, as Fresh Loaf commenters demonstrated, there are a couple of ways the facts behind Perry's bible-length account of what happened can be interpreted:
— Tyler Perry made an illegal turn, offered a bizarre explanation — "he has to be sure he isn't being followed" — and is annoyed that he was given the third degree because the two white officers who stopped him didn't recognize his famous face.
— The police were reactionary and rude and didn't give Perry an opportunity to explain himself because he's black.

When our original post went up on Monday, it was unclear for which local police department the officers involved in the traffic stop worked. The Atlanta Police Department has since confirmed they were APD officers. They released the following statement ...

“The Atlanta Police Department has confirmed that two officers recently encountered Mr. Tyler Perry during a traffic stop. Mr. Perry’s concerns, as recently expressed by him publicly, will be the basis for referral of the matter to the department’s Office of Professional Standards. OPS has opened an investigation to determine if Mr. Perry’s claims can be substantiated, and whether any departmental policies or procedures were violated during the stop.”

Stay tuned ...

• Courtesy of Lionsgate
• Director. Actor. Producer. Victim.

But according to a long narrative he posted on his Facebook page yesterday, Perry was not recognized by a couple of white police officers during a recent traffic stop. He says he believes he was racially profiled, and then let go once a black officer showed up and told the white officers who he was.

It's unclear in the narrative by which local police department he was pulled over — since he was on his way to the airport, there are a few different jurisdictions he might have been in — but the APD says it's is looking into whether its officers were involved.

Here's Perry's story, edited (just barely) for length ...

A few days before President Obama was supposed to speak at my studio, I was leaving the studio, headed to the airport. Most times when I leave the studio I have an unmarked escort. Other times I constantly check in my rearview mirror to be sure that I'm not being followed. It's a safety precaution that my security team taught me.

As I got to an intersection, I made a left turn from the right lane and was pulled over by two police officers. I pulled the car over and put it in park. Then, I let the window down and sat in the car waiting for the officer. The officer came up to the driver's door and said that I made an illegal turn. I said, "I signaled to get into the turning lane, then made the turn because I have to be sure I'm not being followed." He said, "Why do you think someone would be following you?" Before I could answer him, I heard a hard banging coming from the passenger window. I had never been in this position before so I asked the officer who was at my window what was going on and why is someone banging on the window like that. He said, "let your window down, let your window down. Your windows are tinted." As I let down the passenger window, there was another officer standing on the passenger side of the car. He said, "what is wrong with you?" The other officer said to him, "He thinks he's being followed." Then, the second officer said, "why do you think someone is following you? What is wrong with you?"

Before I could answer the officer on the passenger side, the one on the driver's side had reached into the car and started pulling on the switch that turns the car on and off, saying, "Put your foot on the brake, put your foot on the brake!" I was so confused as to what he was doing, or what he thought he was doing. It looked like he was trying to pull the switch out of the dashboard. I finally realized that he thought that switch was the key, so I told him that it wasn't the key he was grabbing. I reached down into the cup holder to get the key, not realizing that the key had a black leather strap on it.

As I grabbed it they both tensed up and I dropped it as I heard my mother's voice from when I was a little boy. My mother would always say to me, "if you get stopped by the police, especially if they are white policemen, you say "yes sir" and "no sir," and if they want to take you in, you go with them. Don't resist, you hear me? Don't make any quick moves, don't run, you just go."

[...] It wasn't until after I heard her voice that I realized that both of these officers were white. The officer on the driver's side continued to badger me, "why do you think someone is following you?" I then said, "I think you guys need to just write the ticket and do whatever you need to do." It was so hostile. I was so confused. It was happening so fast that I could easily see how this situation could get out of hand very quickly. I didn't feel safe at all. But one officer stopped his questioning and said, "We may not let you go. You think you're being followed, what's wrong with you?" At this point, I told him that I wanted to get out of the car. I wanted the passersby to see what was happening. As I stepped out of the car another officer pulled up in front of my car.
This officer was a black guy.

He took one look at me and had that "Oh No" look on his face. He immediately took both officers to the back of my car and spoke to them in a hushed tone. After that, one of the officers stayed near his car while one came back, very apologetic.

I said all of that to say this: do you see how quickly this could have turned for the worse? Now I know that there are many great officers, patrolmen and security guys out there. I am aware of that. But although we have made significant strides with racial profiling in this country, the world needs to know that we are still being racially profiled [...]

Perry goes on to discuss both the Trayvon Martin case, and another Fla. case in which a black man and a Mexican man went missing after they were placed under arrest by a police officer in Naples.

At the moment, 19,487 people have commented on the post and 109,609 people have "liked" it.

UPDATE: APD investigating Tyler Perry incident

• Joeff Davis

Some specifics:
— 73 percent: People who said they feel the police have a great deal or "some deal" (?) of a "positive presence" in their neighborhoods.
— 70 percent: People who said they feel very or somewhat safe "walking alone at night within a block or two" of where they live.
(Those percentages were the highest since 2003)

— 44 percent: People who said they have great deal of or complete confidence in the APD's ability to protect their neighborhoods.
(I mean, it's less than half, but they say that's the highest percentage in 10 years, so that's good?)

— 59 percent: People who rated the department “excellent” or “good” in terms of response times.

— 58 percent: People who say the department is good at enforcing speeding.

— 54 percent: People who believe the APD is doing an excellent or good job of curbing violent crime.

In recent months, CL has spoken to lots of people — in Southwest Atlanta in particular — who definitely aren't happy with the APD's response times, and many who've said they don't feel safe in their neighborhoods.

Mayor Reed says, “These results clearly show that my administration’s efforts to put public safety first are paying off. I believe putting more officers on the street improves visibility, which in turn reduces crime. We have hired almost 500 officers since I took office, and major crimes are down 22 percent compared to this time three years ago.”

Assuming lots of you didn't participate in the survey (Braun Research Inc. spoke with 600 people who have landlines), what are your thoughts?

• Joeff Davis

These hearings are snoozy (thanks for sitting through it, Jim Burress!), but this is entertaining.

See, the officer in question, Jeremy Edwards, was issued a 10-day suspension — this is on top of his termination for untruthfulness — for making a discriminatory statement, namely, that he thought gay sex was violent.

Here's how he explained himself today:
"My response was, Seeing another man have sex with another man in the ass, I would classify as very violent."

He added, "My personal opinion [observing] any sexual act is violent, whether it's straight or gay."

OK, so it's not discriminatory because this guy thinks ALL sex is violent. I buy it.

The untruthfulness allegations had to do with Edwards' denial that he'd taken and/or emailed pictures he took during the raid. Basically, he says he misunderstood the question . He thought the investigators were asking whether he'd ever emailed the picture — to which he said no — not whether he'd ever taken the picture. The board will rule on Edwards' case within 30 days.

• Joeff Davis
• APD wants you to try riding in the front seat of a cruiser for a change

At 8 a.m. on Monday, they're hosting a job fair at Public Safety Headquarters downtown for "dedicated, community-minded individuals to join our ranks of sworn officers, and become part of our force for positive change in Atlanta."

Important things:

Interviews and testing will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m., 226 Peachtree Street, SW, 2nd Floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Please arrive dressed in business attire with a valid photo government-issued identification card. Anyone arriving after 8:00 a.m. will not be admitted. Please be prepared to be in attendance for at least six hours. Plan accordingly and come early. For additional information please see www.joinatlantapd.org

What, you might ask, will your priorities be as an APD officer. According to the release, they include, but aren't limited to, youth-related crime, domestic violence, and — wait, what's that? — "the perception of crime in Atlanta." GUYS. Again with the perception of crime stuff? C'mon.