Harrison looked at her from head to toe. His gaze lingered on her face before shifting toward the SUV, and his expression suggested that he had already formed an opinion about her.
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "Step away from the vehicle. Keep your hands where I can see them."
CAMILLE BROOKS: "Of course. Can you tell me what's going on?"
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "I'm asking the questions here."
CAMILLE BROOKS: "I understand. I just need to know why you've stopped me."
Harrison ignored the question and asked her whether the SUV belonged to her. Camille answered immediately, explaining that it was her vehicle and that she could provide the registration and insurance information if he needed to verify the details.
Her straightforward response did not reassure him. Instead, he appeared to interpret her confidence as an attempt to control the conversation.
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "You expect me to believe that this vehicle is yours?"
CAMILLE BROOKS: "You don't have to take my word for it. The documents will confirm it."
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "We'll see about that."
Camille slowly reached toward her handbag, intending to retrieve her driver's license. Harrison immediately ordered her to stop moving. She froze, keeping her hands visible, and explained that she had only been trying to obtain her identification.
He told her to wait until he gave permission.
The exchange was already attracting attention. A man carrying a laptop bag slowed near the sidewalk, while two women leaving a nearby store glanced toward the SUV. None of them knew what had happened before the officer arrived, but the increasingly tense conversation made it clear that something was wrong.
Camille tried to remain patient. She had dealt with difficult people in courtrooms and offices, and she knew that responding to hostility with more hostility rarely improved a situation. She continued speaking calmly, hoping that Harrison would eventually recognize the encounter for what it was: a simple opportunity to verify information.
CAMILLE BROOKS: "Officer, I am cooperating. My identification is in my handbag, and the registration is inside the vehicle. If you check them, this should be resolved quickly."
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "You don't tell me how to do my job."
CAMILLE BROOKS: "I'm not trying to. I'm offering you the information you need."
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "Then stop questioning my instructions."
Camille looked at him carefully. She could tell that he was becoming irritated, but she could not understand what had caused such hostility. She had not raised her voice, refused to identify herself, or attempted to leave. Every answer she gave was direct, and every offer she made was intended to help establish the facts.
Yet Harrison seemed increasingly determined to treat her cooperation as defiance.
He asked her where she had obtained the vehicle, how long she had owned it, and why she had been reaching inside it when he first noticed her. Camille answered each question, explaining that she had purchased the SUV through a dealership and had been retrieving a folder from the passenger seat.
The officer appeared unimpressed.
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "People come up with all kinds of explanations when they get caught doing something they shouldn't."
CAMILLE BROOKS: "I haven't been caught doing anything. I parked my car, got out, and retrieved my belongings."
OFFICER BRETT HARRISON: "You seem awfully comfortable arguing with a police officer."
CAMILLE BROOKS: "I'm comfortable explaining something that I know is true."
For a moment, Harrison stared at her without speaking. Her calmness seemed to frustrate him more than an angry response would have. He was accustomed to people becoming nervous when he adopted a commanding tone, and he appeared to regard Camille's composure as a challenge to his authority.
His assumptions about her became increasingly obvious through the way he spoke. Rather than treating her like a person whose identity and ownership could be verified, he approached every answer as though it were another attempt to deceive him.
Camille recognized the pattern. She had reviewed enough investigative reports to understand how a person's first impression could shape every decision that followed. Once someone became convinced of a particular theory, contradictory information could be dismissed as an excuse, while ordinary behavior could be reinterpreted as suspicious.
She had seen the consequences of that kind of thinking in legal cases. Now she was experiencing it herself.
She decided to make one final effort to resolve the matter before it escalated further.
CAMILLE BROOKS: "Please check the license plate and the registration. If the vehicle is connected to a report, the records will show it."
Harrison stepped closer.