Phoenix Police Department Phoenix Police Department has opened an internal investigation into detention of an Wall Street Journal reporter who was conducting interviews in the Chase Bank in November.

Reporter Dion Rabouin, who is Black and was working in front of at the banks when he got handcuffed and taken to the vehicle of a police officer, The Wall Street Journal reported in a press release.

Mr. Rabouin's detention occurred on the 23rd of November. 23. However, the incident gained wide media attention when the station ABC15 covered the incident on Wednesday.

A bystander's video shows the victim. Rabouin being handcuffed and sitting in a police vehicle. The officer is heard saying to Mr. Rabouin, "I'm not giving you any more chances." Mr. Rabouin is heard responding, "You're not giving me any chance to prove that I've done nothing wrong."

In an official statement that was released, police said in a statement that the Police Department said that it has initiated the "administrative investigation" after receiving an email from the editor-in-chief for The Journal, which, police claimed, expressed concern about concerns about the "interaction" between Mr. Rabouin and one of their officers.

"Bank personnel contacted police after they received customer complaints that a man was approaching people as they entered the bank asking them personal questions," the department reported. It also said that the conversation of the Mr. Rabouin and the police officer occurred in a private area.

After the investigation has been completed after which it will be publicized The department announced. It was reported that Mr. Rabouin was not charged.

According to a report from the police published by ABC15 the report states that the Chase Bank employee notified the authorities of an "suspicious person outside the bank" who identified himself as a reporter , and refused to leave.

A police officer Caleb Zimmerman, said in the report that he'd talked to bank employees who claimed they had told the Mr. Rabouin that he was creating a nuisance for customers. Officer Zimmerman claimed that he concluded it was possible that Rabouin was trespassing. Rabouin was trespassing.

"He said he was carrying his I.D. at his disposal, yet was unable to show this document" as per the story. "At that time, I told Dion to turn around and put his hands behind his back, which he did not do."

The incident is part of an extensive federal investigation of the actions that police officers from the Phoenix Police Department and whether it was involved in discriminatory or aggressive practices, and also used excessive force.

The Journal declared that they were "deeply concerned" at the treatment of Mr. Rabouin, who is located within New York and covers finance.

"We have asked the Phoenix Police Department to pursue a thorough investigation into the incident and explain why their officers needlessly escalated the situation and took these aggressive steps," The Journal said in the statement. "No journalist should ever be detained simply for exercising their First Amendment rights."

He. Rabouin did not immediately respond to requests for an interview on Sunday. However, he has admitted to the incident on Twitter.

"Things really escalated quickly," Mr. Rabouin said in an interview with ABC15.

He stated that he'd been in Phoenix visiting family members and then went to the bank to talk with people and that he deliberately did choose not to "dress up" -- wearing shorts and a T-shirt as he didn't want customers to think that they were trying to make them buy something.

The station's representative told him that the station was researching a topic and the story was about genuine people and not specialists or economists. He didn't know the subject matter that the tale was.

He stated that he'd been on the street next to an office building at the time that bank workers came out to inquire about what was he doing. He said that he was a journalist. Rabouin told ABC15 that the identity of his client was that of an editor and that person had ever demanded that he leave.

Then, shortly after the incident, shortly after. Rabouin said, a police officer arrived. He claimed that he made an offer to leave but an officer grabbed him, and told the man "This can get bad for you if you don't comply."

Maura Cordova, who is a spokeswoman from Chase Bank, would not discuss further the specifics concerning Mr. Rabouin's arrest.

"We apologize to Mr. Rabouin," she told reporters on Sunday. "I have nothing else to add."

According to the note sent by the Journal's editor in Chief, Matt Murray, Mr. Rabouin had been interviewing pedestrians on the sidewalk near the bank, when he was questioned by an officer who advised the Mr. Rabouin that he was violating the law.

"At no point until then had Mr. Rabouin been asked to leave the sidewalk outside the bank by Chase personnel or anyone else," Mr. Murray said, adding that Mr. Rabouin had a "clear right" to remain on the sidewalk when he was making reports.

He claimed the Mr. Rabouin offered to leave but was then detained and taken into the police vehicle. Video footage revealed the police that the. Rabouin kept "a calm and professional demeanor throughout the episode," Mr. Murray said.

"I am relieved that Mr. Rabouin's interaction with Phoenix police officers ended peacefully," Mr. Murray added. "But I am astonished and worried that the officers of your police department might try to restrict the rights of Mr. Rabouin's constitutional rights to be a journalist and to restrict the presence of anyone at a public place. This kind of conduct is infuriating to the civil liberties."
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