The Gwinnett County Police Department opened up an investigation into officer Michael Oxford after two TikTok videos went viral on Wednesday .
Prior to the video going viral, the department had already opened up an investigation into the officer, according to the updated press release.
The department called their approach towards investigating the officers actions a “three-pronged” investigation.
“In order to do this, a three-pronged investigation was started that addressed the following concerns: the arrest of Smith, the use of force, and the conduct of Officer Oxford.”
During the first two prongs of the investigations, the department found the officers use of force along with the deployment of his taser justifiable. Due to Smith’s actions during the incident, the department found the arrest of Smith to be justifiable as well.
The officers conduct and how he approached the women were the cause of his termination.
The woman’s mother, Aytra Thomas, was one of the witnesses of Oxfords actions.
“When he came up he said, ‘You all need to shut the fuck up,” Thomas said, according to WSBTV.
Oxford was aggressive, the moment approached the women, Thomas continued.
According to the press release:
“That investigation looked at whether proper de-escalation techniques were used, and whether Officer Oxford violated our policy based on the manner in which he handled the incident. Our policy states that each member of this department shall consider it his or her duty to be of service to the general public and to render that service in a kind, considerate, and patient manner.”
The department also said the officer’s actions went against one of their core values – courtesy.
“The investigation in this case has shown that officer Oxford violated our policy and did not meet our core values.”
Officer Oxford was terminated on Friday and the department released Oxfords body camera footage in an act of public transparency.