Pool Patrol Paula

Submission 36,044

Part of a series on White Cop-Caller Nicknames. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Pool Patrol Paula is a nickname given Stephanie Sebby-Strempel, who was arrested for accosting a group of black teenagers while trying to forcibly remove them from a public swimming pool. The incident, which was recorded on video, was compared to other incidents of white women attempting to police black people in public spaces, including BBQ Becky and Permit Patty.

Background

On June 24th, 2018, Facebook ^[1] user Rhe Capers posted a series of pictures and video of Sebby-Strempel verbally and physically confronting several black teens at a public school in Summerville, South Carolina. They wrote, "So yesterday my 15 year old nephew was assaulted while at a pool with his friends by a lady named Stephanie Sebby-Strempel In the video you can see her being extremely aggressive, invading his personal space and calling him and his friends little punks!!! Also in the video you can hear her make contact striking him twice because he was smart enough to record her!!!!" The post (shown below) received more than 4,400 reactions, 14,000 shares and 60 comments in less than one week.

Video of the incident (shown below, right), also posted that day, received more than 1.1 million views in one week.

Development

Online Reaction

Online, people responded negatively to the incident, referring to the woman as racist and coming up with nicknames such as Pool Patrol Paula and Swimming Pool Sally. On June 26th, 2018, Twitter ^[2] user account @Matsamon posted the video with the comment, "White woman in Summerville, SC assaulted black kid for trying to use community pool, shouted racial slurs at him, then bit a cop's arm who came to arrest her. This racist peace of trash deserves to be dragged across Twitter. Her name is Stephanie Sebby-Strempel." The post (shown below) received more than 3,100 retweets and 2,500 likes in three days.

People on Twitter also attempted to the bring the incident to the attention of her employers, Rodan + Fields, a skincare brand (examples below).

Rodan + Fields responded to requests that she be fired with the following statement, "We do not condone violence of any kind and pride ourselves on embracing inclusion and acceptance of all. Please note, this person is not a Rodan + Fields employee, but an independent Contractor. We are reaching out to this individual to reiterate our corporate values."

Several days after the inital statement, Rodan + Fields announced that they would no longer be working with Strempel. They wrote in a statement,^[3] "After assessing statements from law enforcement and determining that this former Independent Consultant’s actions violate our policies, she is no longer affiliated with Rodan + Fields. Note, an Independent Consultant is not an employee of Rodan + Fields."

Arrest

On June 25th, police arrested Strempel at her home. She was charged with third-degree assault and battery for assaulting the teenager. During the arrest, Strempel resisted the officers, pushing one and biting the other. She was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting, beating or wounding a police officer.