Lieutenant Greg Abbott’s lawyer said he had made the decision to retire “after 27 years of faithful service” to Cobb County in Georgia, just hours after local police chief Mike Register confirmed that he would be fired for the remark.

The comments were made in July 2016 but revealed on Thursday by WSB-TV, which obtained the video — taken by a dashboard camera — through a freedom of information request.

Mr Abbott told a woman who said she was frightened to lower her hands because she had seen “way too many videos” of police behaviour: “But you’re not black.