Surfside Mayor Says Cop Was In Wrong For Not Helping Gisele Bündchen

The mayor of Surfside, Fla., is calling out the police officer who pulled over a frazzled Gisele Bündchen for his behavior on Wednesday as the supermodel complained about being stalked by paparazzi.

Charles Burkett sent a letter to the town's interim Police Chief Henry Doce saying the interaction between the unidentified cop and Bündchen was "wholly unacceptable" and didn’t reflect what residents expect from police as the officer showed a "dismissive posture."

The ex-wife of Tom Brady had been pulled over for a traffic violation. Newly released body cam footage shows Bündchen crying and pleading for help. 

"I was just trying to stay (away) from that guy," Bündchen told the cop as she pointed toward a paparazzi vehicle that she said was tailing her. "I’m so tired. Everywhere I go I have these f-cking guys after me. Nothing protects me. I can’t do nothing. I just want to live my life."

The officer told her there was nothing he could do, and he let her off with a warning.

Charles Burkett Responds To Police Interaction With Gisele Bündchen

"I was dismayed yesterday to watch a video interaction of one of our residents speaking to one of our police officers," Burkett wrote in the letter obtained by WPLG. "As one watches the video, it becomes clear very early that the resident is upset and frightened. The frightened resident tells the Surfside officer that she believes a stalker is following her and that she is afraid."

Bodycam footage showed the officer dismissing Bündchen's safety concerns and instead referring her to the Miami Beach Police Department.

"I can’t prevent them from doing their job, which is to take pictures," the cop told her, to which she responded, "I don’t know how that’s allowed."

(Gisele Bündchen. Photo by MEGA/GC Images)

The mayor wasn't happy about that.

"This response is wholly unacceptable and not reflective of the values, judgment and service residents expect from their police," Burkett wrote. "On the contrary, our police department’s paramount job is to keep our residents safe!

"The dismissive posture towards a resident who is clearly in distress is everything we do not want to see in the way our police interact and serve our residents."

Burkett said the interaction with Bündchen reminded him of a meeting with the town’s police union boss Tammy Campbell, who recently attacked local politicians for requesting the department to "step up patrols and engage with residents."

"What I saw on that video and the actions of the Surfside union boss at our recent meeting indicate that the past command staff leadership and union leadership, have lost sight of their mission," Burkett said. "We are all counting on you to refocus our police department’s primary mission back to serving our residents."

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett

(Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Police Chief Doce said the officer in question is "phenomenal" but admitted he should have conducted the stop differently after seeing Bündchen in distress.

"I would have liked to have seen more empathy at the initial contact to what was going on," the police chief told Local 10 News.

It is unknown if Bündchen filed a complaint with the department.