Former Robbins Police Chief Carl Scott speaks about beating man, which cost him his job

Former Robbins Police Chief Carl Scott, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to beating a man in an interview room, apologized on Friday and took accountability for what happened.

For more than a year, Scott has been under scrutiny for what played out inside the Robbins police station.

In August, Scott pleaded guilty to battery, and on Friday he broke his silence about a decision which cost him his career. 

On July 1, 2024, Scott beat a man for several minutes in an interview room at the Robbins Police Department, after the man had showed up to file a complaint against him.

Video footage of the incident was released this week, showing shoving the man into an interview room, pushing him against a wall, and telling him to sit down.

Scott then appears to tell one of the officers wearing a body camera to "turn it off," before grabbing the victim by his neck, and continuing to beat and yell at him for several minutes.

"Everybody needs to know the why, not the one-sided narrative," Scott said.

The former chief said he understands the video is damning, and he admitted on that day he should have done one thing: walk away.

"That's something that I could've done. It just didn't happen," he said.

Instead, Scott said he let the man – who CBS News Chicago is identifying only as James – get the best of him.

James came into the station filming and refused to stop recording. Scott said, when he was called down to the lobby, James threatened his family.

"We humanize the badge. So when we humanize that, then we understand … you understand the frustration," Scott said, choking back tears. "You understand what it took, you understand what's at stake, and then you understand what you're protecting. So then badge meant nothing at that point."

His actions cost him his badge, and his law enforcement career, which included 23 years as federal agent before joining the Robbins Police Department.

"It has cost a distrust with the public, it has cost a defaming of my name, and has cost a strike against my integrity, something that I hold high," Scott said.

 But the man on end of those punches described a much scarier situation that day.

"He took me in this room slammed me on this metal plate and he told the two officers to cut the cameras off and they just started beating me," James said last year.

Asked to explain why he told an officer to turn off his body camera, Scott said, "My mind wanted to hold a conversation with him."

"I had zero ill intent," Scott added.

Scott resigned days before the Robbins mayor wanted to terminate him. He said he hopes any cop or person can learn from what he calls a huge lapse in judgement.

"One mistake doesn't define a person," he said.

Scott was sentenced to 2 years' probation for his battery conviction, and has lost his law enforcement certificate, meaning he can never work as a police officer again in Illinois.

The village of Robbins said what was recorded on camera was the reason the mayor immediately placed Scott on leave after the incident. A spokesperson added Scott's behavior was not indicative of village standards.

Neither James nor his attorney responded to Scottt's claims his family was threatened.