NorCal officer reassigned after second excessive force claim surfaces

A Fairfield police officer was administratively reassigned after a second woman came forward alleging the same officer subjected her to excessive force during a traffic stop nearly a year before a violent high school arrest drew public scrutiny, ABC7 Los Angeles reported Monday.

The two recorded incidents involving the same officer — and her uninterrupted service in the period between them — have galvanized community advocates who say Fairfield police have failed to confront a pattern of aggression within their ranks.

Maurice Williams, a high school student, was arrested by a Fairfield officer using what the department's chief described as "distraction strikes." Williams' family described the treatment as brutal, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Video of the arrest spread publicly, triggering immediate outrage from residents and advocacy groups.

That footage prompted Myah Hamilton — who was 18 at the time of an earlier traffic stop — to speak out. Hamilton said her vehicle was pulled over for speeding and failing to yield to emergency lights, and that the same officer used force against her during that stop. "The same thing that happened to that poor boy, happened to me," Hamilton told ABC7 Los Angeles.

Hamilton questioned how the officer continued working between the two incidents. "She should have never been able to continue to be a police officer," she said. "They call you guys peace officers to bring peace, not to sit there and bring commotion and cause more problems than there already was," Hamilton said, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Her prior case remains pending.

Berry Accius, a community advocate with Voice of the Youth, said the back-to-back incidents exposed a systemic failure. "This is a pattern of aggression, this is a pattern of excessive force, this is a pattern that Fairfield PD is allowing to have happen in this community," Accius said, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The Fairfield police chief stopped short of announcing termination. "The officer has been administratively reassigned in the department as we navigate this emotional and challenging time," the chief said. Advocates say a reassignment is insufficient and have called for the officer's removal from the force.

Community advocates continue to demand the officer's termination as Fairfield police face mounting pressure over their handling of both incidents and the officer's continued service in the time between them.