A still from the police car’s dashboard camera

Georgetown student Alexandra Torrens-Vilas is suing police in Hollywood, Fla. after they allegedly faked a police report about an accident involving her and a police officer, according to the Associated Press.

When she pulled over to the side of the road while driving home from a party in February, officer Joel Francisco allegedly rear-ended her car. The AP reports that Vilas admitted to having a few beers at the party, and police officers slapped her with a DUI and accused her of causing the crash.

Things were looking pretty bad for Vilas—she was facing four counts of drunken driving and cited for an improper lane change—until last week when her attorneys obtained video from the dashboard cam of the officer’s car.

The footage shows officer Dewey Pressley faking the police report to protect his partner and foist the blame on Vilas, calling his cover-up “a little Walt Disney.” Turns out Francisco, the officer driving the car, has been involved in seven accidents since 2000, according to personnel records. Although Vilas’ blood alcohol content was reported to be twice the legal limit, the breathalyzer test was administered and recorded by Pressley, and thus is also under question.

Since the tapes were released, all the charges against Vilas have been dropped, five members of the police force involved in the case have been suspended. The case forced her to take time off from Georgetown (she was studying international economics) and she now plans to file a civil suit against the police, according to an interview with the Today Show.

The Georgetown Business Improvement District, an association of neighborhood business owners, is devoting $100,000 to hire off-duty police officers to patrol the neighborhood, according to the Georgetown Current (PDF).  According to the article, the BID is hoping an increased police presence will mitigate the uptick in criminal activity that general accompanies economic downturns.

“Unfortunately when the economy goes down, criminal activity goes up,” said Crystal Sullivan, the vice president of the group’s board …  “The intent is that we will have a greater police presence in the peak hours of the Georgetown community.”

[BID director of operations John] Wiebenson declined to say what times of day the officers are working, saying it could reduce the program’s effectiveness.

The BID already has six officers on foot patrol through its existing reimbursable police detail program. According to some estimations by the Georgetown Metropolitan, the $100,000 would probably cover one additional officer for a year (or perhaps two if the BID is participating in the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration’s matching program). The off-duty officers have full arrest powers.

According to the article, the BID also budgeted $10,000 to study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of installing a camera system.

Via the Georgetown Metropolitan.

Everyone’s got Van Slyke fever, and the only cure is more handguns. GW now has a task force looking into whether to give its police force handguns, and the kids don’t like it.

Now’s a good time to point out that, thus far, no one’s been hurt from DPS pepper spray and batons. Watch this space, though.