A Virginia officer told black college students that when they turn 18, they will be mine

April 2, 2019, 18:59 GMT

By Janelle Griffith

A cell phone video of a police officer from Richmond, Va., Telling black students last week at a college in the city: "Wait until your asses are 18, then you're mine" opened an investigation.

A spokesman for the Richmond Police Department told NBC News Tuesday that he was aware of the video broadcast on social media.

"The ministry takes these concerns very seriously," the spokesman said in a statement. "The video agent is currently under investigation by the Division of Internal Affairs."

The department did not identify the agent but said that it was white.

The student Cameron Hillard, who recorded the video on March 28 outside Albert Hill Middle School, and her mother, Keisha Curry, explained the incident in a video posted on Youtube.

Cameron, 13, said she was part of a group of students who were heading for an after school program when the officer arrived by patrol car .

The eighth grader said she heard someone say "f — the police", but she said it was not her or her friends. Cameron said the officer had asked the group to "sneak in" and she did not understand why. He then said: "Wait until your donkeys turn 18, then you are mine", before leaving.

Cameron's mother said that when she first saw the video, she got rid of it because of her experience in Richmond.

"Since I was raised and raised in Hillside Court and in the Highland Park area, I found that officers were doing so," Curry said in the YouTube video.

But after seeing her again and talking to her daughter, the mother said that she had become disturbed.

Curry told NBC News Tuesday that she thought the agent should be subject to a reprimand and investigation and that a conversation was to take place between law enforcement, state officials and parents to find a solution.

Curry said that she would be willing to meet the officer "to unite both sides and solve the problem."

"I do not think he's going to lose his job," Curry said Tuesday. "He just should not be on the streets."

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said the type of behavior presented by the agent in the video would not be tolerated by any employees in the City of Richmond.

"I hope the Richmond Police Service will conduct a quick and thorough investigation and respond accordingly," Stoney said in a statement. "This behavior is unacceptable, it reinforces the offensive stereotypes of our communities and harms the relationship between our police service and the citizens they serve."

The City Police Union, the Richmond Coalition of Police, did not immediately respond to NBC News's request for comment.