“What took them so long?” chapter president Yvette Lewis asked.<\/p>\n
Officer Dukagjin Maxhuni was caught on bodycam video taunting a passerby in 2022 during an arrest, and tasing and taunting a man during an arrest in 2026.<\/p>\n
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Lewis says it took four years too long for the police department to fire Maxhuni.<\/p>\n
“As I watch the videos, I have concern of the officer and his language, but I have more concern of the other officers that were around him that allowed him to say what he said, and do what he do,” she said. “I feel as though Tampa Police Department allowed him to treat us this way.”<\/p>\n
After an internal audit caught the incident in 2022 when Maxhuni antagonized passerby during an arrest, TPD said he was disciplined and removed from his squad.\u00a0After the tasing incident this year, the department said, “Maxhuni\u2019s conduct represented a clear betrayal of the responsibility to treat everyone with dignity and respect.”<\/p>\n
“He was given an opportunity and then by repeating this negative behavior he has shown that he didn’t change his course of action,” Deputy Chief Eric DeFelice added.<\/p>\n
Lewis says that “opportunity” came at the expense of the community.<\/p>\n
“He should never have a badge and a gun with that behavior,” Lewis said.<\/p>\n
Lewis says the officer should not be allowed to serve in Florida law enforcement again, and believes the state attorney should be reviewing the cases of people he’s arrested.<\/p>\n