Proposed discipline to be presented to controversial Cobb officer

The Cobb County police officer at the center of a controversial traffic stop will be informed Monday about the proposed disciplinary action against him, officials said.

The officer, Maurice Lawson, will then have 48 hours “to adequately address the charges” before anything is implemented, Cobb County Department of Public Safety Director Sam Heaton said in a statement Tuesday.

Lawson was transferred to a different precinct following the tense Nov. 16 traffic stop on Mableton Parkway, during which 33-year-old middle school teacher Brian Baker was ticketed for allegedly speeding and failing to maintain his lane. In dashcam video of the incident, Baker, who is black, can be heard asking if he can go.

Lawson, who is white, then says the following, and calls Baker “cuz”: “Leave. Go away. Go to Fulton County. I don’t care about your people, man, go.”

Cobb County police have acknowledged that Lawson violated department policy and, according to Baker's attorney, reduced the tickets Baker received to warnings. On Monday, the department called the traffic stop an "isolated occurrence" and said it was asking the county attorney's office to investigate the handling of the incident.

Though the findings of the internal investigation will be presented to Lawson on Monday, the results will not be released to the public “until the completion of the disciplinary process,” Heaton said in Tuesday’s statement.