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Sources:
United States v. Robinson- https://bit.ly/38DJAau
Whren v. United States- https://bit.ly/3gX0kyJ
Yick Wo v. Hopkins- https://bit.ly/38NBVXY
Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney- https://bit.ly/3kwePdc
Illinois v. Caballes- https://bit.ly/3aYrksV
Rodriguez v. United States- https://bit.ly/2LS1sqc
Michigan v. Defillippo- https://bit.ly/3ycKfNU
Kolender v. Lawson- https://bit.ly/3F5ep7j
Florida v. Harris- https://bit.ly/3y315Pk
Efficacy of drug detection by fully-trained police dogs- https://bit.ly/39yEFez
Court Records (2018-TR-123713-A-O)- https://bit.ly/3FfATm3
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByoL5…
Real World Police’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChaE…
Comments:
Look at the zeal with which he seeks to find suspicion in an ordinary person’s response to being approached with his level of aggression. Look at how thoroughly his desire to enforce drug busts—which are both profitable and valuable to him as a career move—corrupts his ability to to do his job properly. This entire situation is a ruse to bust someone for drugs. It has no legitimate traffic-enforcement purpose.
On top of that, there’s no actual complaint or meaningful indication of drug activity. This cop just pulled over some guy for a common, minor traffic thing and decided to turn his day into a nightmare, on the excuse that he reacted in a totally reasonable way (nervousness, invoking his rights) to a trap the cops manufactured to go fishing. The truth is that it wouldn’t matter how he reacted. They’d find an excuse to run the dog either way. This young man did exactly the right thing by invoking his rights.
On the cop’s own word, he doesn’t care about the traffic offenses in the least—even though he should, as traffic control is an important function that protects the public. He also doesn’t care about the rights of private citizens—arguably the most important function of his job—as evidenced by his willingness to play out this pretext to bully people into vehicle searches that contravene the spirit of the Fourth Amendment.
I know it sounds extreme, but if the justice system itself won’t fix problems like this, our only peaceful option as individual citizens is to document the abuses and then avoid cities with police like this at all costs. It’s a slow bleed, but it will work. Starve them of taxes, tourism, and fines. Pressure the local government to fix the problem or watch itself gradually turn into a ghost town.
- As a law abiding citizen, I’ve always resented that fact that I feel intimidated every time I see the police, LEO’s need to learn that their job is to protect and serve, it seems these days they’re more concerned with being sneaky and trying to shaft anyone they can because they noticed your brake light burned out before u could.
“Get me your license and registration sir.” reaches for documents “What are you reaching around for? You got guns? Turn off your vehicle!” reaches for key “Why are you reaching around? Undo your seatbelt!” reaches for seatbelt “Stop reaching around!”
- I hate seeing this happen to people. I have been pulled over a few times in my life and each time I get extremely nervous and get a bad adrenaline rush. So much so that isn’t visible to the officers and I have been asked “why are you so nervous” it’s one of the most terrifying questions I have ever been asked by a police officer and even though I didn’t have anything to hide I still couldn’t explain to an officer why I was freaking out so bad, and IM WHITE, and I grew up with a father for a cop. If this is how I feel during a traffic stop then I can’t even begin to image how people of minorities, or other races feel during police interactions. My heart goes out to you and I truly hope that the police in this country get a serious reconstruction because this system is messed up.
- “Roll your window updown.” “You got your license and registration? Why you reaching around all crazy?” Can’t even go 15 seconds into the encounter without cops doing things to intentionally confuse the citizen so they can make a mountain out of a molehill.
- “You’re making me nervous” -the fully armed and armored person with another identically outfitted guy on his side talking to the unarmed guy he just detained for “reaching around” after being asked for his registration.
- this encounter hasn’t “tainted his view towards police officers”. It has set it straight, once and for all.
@kareem Spaulding I’m so sorry you went through this, but I know I not alone in my admiration of you; the way you handled these fucks – and especially the way you handled yourself – would take some serious strength, self-control, and a calm and knowledgeable mind.
- Don’t forget that the cop (I’ll edit the timestamp in) admitted that Spalding’s refusal to answer questions played a part in his decision to search the car. That’s a violation of his fifth amendment rights.
- @Tom Orr Dude do you fucking live in the same world we do? As soon as those cops got out and approached from both sides at once I was terrified for this man. They behaved like predators from zero, escalating at every opportunity until they had him out of the car and on the sidewalk.
“Fruits of the Poisonous Tree”
As a retired Police Officer, I can tell you that the speeding citation will be tossed. I don’t care about his “well calibrated” Police cruiser, because you’re still required to pace the speeding vehicle at least one mile without losing or gaining distance. I heard a Judge once ask a state Trooper who tried to pull this stunt,;
“you’re telling the court…. with your calibrated eyeballs you clocked him at this rate of speed?!”From the aggressive bullying by these officers, I’m fairly sure that the pacing did not happen. Improper Lane change in the intersection? Their PC for stopping this man is suspect at best.
This foolishness of pulling people over just because you can is dangerous! This traffic stop is pregnant for a disaster. He could have shot them or vice-versa.
Wow, they are intentionally escalating everything they possibly can. They are playing, I’m the Good Guy, and I’m Your Friend. Neither is true. This is a guy with power, and he knows how to use it, so he’s going to twist everything he can, to get what he wants. You have no rights while this guy is near you, and I would imagine police hq would agree with that, and with everything he does.
The driver has every reason to be scared of these guys, and yes, they have guns, and it’s takes a second to have that gun out, and killing you. So, the fact that it isn’t in their hand means nothing at all. Just the fact that cops are still acting like this, after everything that has happened in the last few years, is really a problem.
They are actually using the fact, that anyone would be nervous of cops as reason to invade your privacy, and do what they want, in the guise of your being suspicious, because your nervous. Like anyone can really stay completely calm around cops acting like they are. It’s a really shady way to do justice.
The ones actually acting suspicious, are the cops. They are screaming, Don’t Trust Us!!!
This was a fishing expedition, like most police stops like this. They do their best to Escalate anything they can, to give you a ticket, or take you to jail. Either way, they want you feeding money into the system, to fight the system. They want to get you in front of a judge. Nothing else matters, because police do no wrongs, and they never lie.
Sadly, talking to lawyers this is EXTREMELY common. Where cops will try to delay something as much as possible to get a drug dog out there to harass someone.
What they told me is if something like that happens. Tell the officer “am I free to go”, and “I do not consent to stay here longer than a reasonable time for you to do your investigation.” Another is if they say you’re not free to go, say “please tell me when I’m free to go so I can leave. Thank you” Basically, it shows you didn’t voluntary stay there longer than needed for a normal traffic stop. It is likely, if he brought it to court with this body cam and a good lawyer. He wouldn’t have to pay a dime, and he could’ve sued for the extended time being stuck there.From what they told me, if they pull a I smell x. You say, “can you prove in court that you smell x?” They might get PO, but basically it signals that won’t fly in court. They will most likely try to pull a drug dog, and mention “your lawyer will pull up the record of the drug dog training, and all officers involved.” Like they and others will pull BS that saying that forces them to do it. But in reality, by the time they are pulling a stunt with a drug dog or threatening it. They are going to do it no matter what you say, and fear of it not being held up in court is the only way to get them to back down.
#1: I’ll help you- the young Black man (that’s what this is all about) gets an A+++ as he did what a Judge (a relative of mine) told us to do: keep your hands on the wheel or up in plain sight, no movements unless asked to do so, simply ask why you’re being stopped, try to remain calm, let the cops know you’re going to exercise your rights, & that you don’t consent to any searches or seizures. Despite clearly doing this, he is assaulted, handcuffed, harassed, & subject to numerous rights violations during this course of racial profiling.
#2: This is the modus operandi for these cops (seen it & been thru it enough myself) and they clearly stated what their real intentions where while they used the plethora of tricks afforded them by the Courts.
#3: I thought this was going to be another young Black man murdered by cops during a traffic stop for nothing. IF you couldn’t tell, the young man was literally frightened for his life. He was confused by what they really wanted from him/their actions. Their approach, tone, & attitude let him know that “road piracy” wasn’t what this was all about. He did NOT know if he would survive this encounter.
#4: He probably can’t afford a $750/hour attorney (if he could find one) & how many of us can? He paid the ticket as he wanted to be through with this system as much as anything else. Besides, the Courts ain’t gonna listen to him even if these 2 regularly planted drugs on innocent citizens. Period.
#5: He is permanently scarred by this treatment from “those sworn to serve and protect” & will do his best to avoid them forever.Oh, but the system loses as well. He will return to his community & add his fear and humiliation to that of his community which will continue to not trust law enforcement (exactly why should they?).
So, forget about expecting virtually any cooperation when law enforcement needs help from them.
- Why anyone would believe that this type of “law enforcement” is either fair, okay, or sustainable is beyond me. People are beyond tired of this crap…..
- I find it disappointing that when a person doesn’t jump through their hoops in assisting the officers in finding evidence to arrest them on, and politely says they won’t answer questions: the officers assume he’s some “extremist sovern citizen”.
- I’ve encountered cops talking to me like that, too, except for the narcotics stuff.
- Cop “Your acting all nervous, reaching around, rolling up your windows..” Later same cop “You’re making me nervous.”
- This video just infuriates me….this is THE definition of a pre textual stop…..this driver was absolutely mistreated and the only reason the cop didn’t catch an a$$ whoopin is because he IS a cop…..disgusting law enforcement overreach
- The footage is from the bodycam footage of the cops, which was continuously edited, as the breaks are clearly noticeable… The footage did not show the driver’s actual violation, as would have been captured on the cop’s car dashcam… There is not any footage showing anything to the claimed traffic violation… Clearly there is a lawsuit in play, being that we are seeing this on Audit the Audit… The cops violated an array of the driver’s rights, creating false narratives and outright lying… The crooked and racist courts of that jurisdiction will drag the lawsuit… This is police gang behavior, at the expense of taxpayers.
I get a laugh out of the cops that say, “you’re shaking. Why are you nervous?” Idk, maybe because ARMED men are escalating what should be a routine traffic stop for no other reason to try and pin an actual crime on me.
Seriously, cops like this drive me insane. For the record, I’m a law-abiding citizen and even I’ll admit that I get nervous during traffic stops, even though I know I’m not doing anything wrong. Why? Just because you’re innocent doesn’t mean a cop won’t try anything funny, like planting evidence. It does happen and I actually fear the long-term repercussions of such an action more so than the “in the moment.”
There’s also one more factor to consider. It was very obvious from the search that the “suspect” drives for Uber. I can say this as a former Uber driver. I have had clientele accidentally leave and spill drugs in my vehicle that I didn’t see until the end of the day when I was done driving. What would happen if I was pulled over and they ended up calling a K-9 unit? I would get in trouble for my own clientele’s illegal behavior. I did get pulled over once while driving for Uber and it was an absolute baloney stop. Officer claimed I failed to yield at a stop sign at a right turn and I called him out on it because I HAD to stop. There was oncoming traffic coming from the left and I had to wait for that vehicle to pass through the intersection. Cop let me off with a warning but honestly, if he did site me, I would’ve FOIA’d the dash cam footage and taken it to traffic court. The cop had absolutely nothing. I had a passenger at the time too and she actually felt bad for me because she knew I didn’t do anything wrong either.
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If You Come To This Neighborhood, This Officer Wants To Know Why…
“I have to follow the law to some extent” Wait. What?
“I have to fallow the law…..to some extent “ Well that sums it up right there…
- .. Police officers are not trained to handle people who know their rights.
Profiling at its finest. Your in a BMW so you must be the drug supplierThe way things are looking. Pretty soon any person of color is going to have to register themselves at the local Town Hall. Because apparently cops “need to know everything” we do, from going to Walmart, or taking our poodle to the dog groomer :/ Zoinks!
It requires ALL THREE of those elements. If you stop and shut the engine off but remain in the vehicle, that is Waiting, NOT PARKING. If you stop, get out of your car and leave the engine running, that is WAITING, NOT parking. If I stop at a signal light or stop sign, don’t shut off my engine and stay in the car (like EVERYBODY DOES when WAITING for the light to change, IS THAT PARKING?
TAKEN: How police departments make millions by seizing property
It fits the pattern. Black men carry the burden of South Carolina’s civil forfeiture program. Almost two-thirds of people targeted by forfeiture are black males, according to TAKEN investigation data analysis. Yet they represent just 13 percent of the general population.
Hilary Shelton, the NAACP Washington bureau director, said the organization worries the racial targeting in South Carolina is even worse than has been reported.
“Civil asset forfeiture, combined with the historic and consistent problems of racial profiling on our highways and byways, becomes very much part of a troubling equation,” he said. “It’s been used in a racially discriminatory manner. The law must be fully reviewed.”
South Carolina’s legal legacy
The state has a long history of racial discrimination related to property.
Civil forfeiture is a vestige of that history, some critics say. It links to an established trend of targeted law enforcement that puts more police in contact with non-whites, an exposure that can lead to civil forfeiture, experts say.
Some departments have built a money-making machine on the backs of this type of targeting.
It starts with where police use forfeiture. It’s happening in every urban environment in South Carolina. There are only six cities in the state with a population over 50,000. All of them frequently use forfeiture.
In smaller towns, only about half the police forces use the tool at all, and most agencies don’t pursue many cases.
The system is designed to be applied at scale. The more forfeiture is used, the more money police have at their disposal for equipment, training and for undercover drug purchases.
Though the racial disparities in the data exist broadly across the state, the decisions that lead to civil forfeiture are situational. It’s a traffic stop, or a drug investigation that leads to a residence, or increased patrols in low-income or historically black neighborhoods.
The TAKEN team used census data to analyze the widest disparities between the number of forfeiture cases with black subjects compared with the number of black residents in an agency’s jurisdiction.
The largest racial gaps? The highest disproportionate targeting of black people came from the Myrtle Beach Police Department, followed by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office and the Charleston Police Department.
During 2014-2016, there was one black person targeted for forfeiture by Myrtle Beach police for every 50 black residents who live there. If you roughly extrapolated that rate over a generation, one in five black people would have money or goods taken by police in Myrtle Beach at some point over three decades, despite the fact that the city is mostly white.
The city is 69 percent white and just 14 percent black, according to 2014 U.S. Census data.
In Greenville County, black people were targeted for forfeiture at a rate of one per every 587 black residents during our three-year study period.
In comparison, forfeiture affected one white person per every 4,139 white residents in the county. Greenville County is 69 percent white and 19 percent black, according to U.S. Census data.
“It just sort of reinforces an understanding we already knew — that black residents disproportionately come in contact with law enforcement given the way criminal justice policy is oriented in this country,” said Nicole Porter, spokeswoman at The Sentencing Project, a reform advocacy group.
A piece of this policing story is tied to the highway and police behavior and assumptions.
In one case, a Wellford officer pulled over a black man on Interstate 85 for what he said was failure to maintain a lane. When he discovered cash in the car that day in 2012, the officer called in the top Homeland Security agent in Greenville to help seize it. They’d found what police said were “marijuana particles.”
The North Carolina driver, Lee Harris Jr., said it was tobacco. The officers took $7,008 from the glove box.
“I call them pirates,” said Lee Harris Sr., the driver’s father. The elder Harris is a minister and a military veteran who said the money comes from his bank and from documented Social Security and benefits.
Harris said he had left $7,000 in the car when his son went on a trip to Atlanta. He filed a lawsuit, and after a year-and-a-half, he settled. The government kept $2,008 even though Harris’ son was never charged with a crime.
Sometimes police seize cash when the driver is merely ticketed for a minor violation not related to drugs, according to court records.
Ramando Moore was cited for having an open container in Richland County in 2015; he lost $604.
Plexton Denard Hunter was pulled over for a seatbelt violation in 2015 in Richland County and had $541 seized. Tesla Carter, another seatbelt violation, this time in Anderson in 2015. She lost $1,361.
If you’re black and driving in South Carolina, you are more likely to be stopped by police. In 24 states with available race data by traffic stop, the state had the second highest rate of black motorists stopped by state troopers, according to a 2017 study by the Stanford Open Policing Project.
In Greenville County, there were 24 state patrol stops for every 100 black residents of driving age. There were only 15 stops for every 100 white residents in the nine-year study period, according to the project.
Officers have a lower threshold to search black drivers than white drivers, the Stanford research shows, evidenced by data that revealed when officers searched drivers, they found contraband more often on white drivers than black ones.
Yet the scope of action taken by law enforcement and the justice system against black Americans throughout U.S. history makes it easier for an officer to take from a black person than a white person, said Heather Ann Thompson, a criminal justice and African-American history professor at the University of Michigan and author of “Blood in the Water.”
It’s the same reason black people are prosecuted more harshly, are incarcerated more often and for longer sentences and face civil fines and penalties more often than whites. They’re just not as likely to be able to marshal resources to fight back against the justice system, she said.
“It has everything to do with who has access to good defense lawyers and who’s getting pulled over to begin with,” said Thompson, who’s a leading voice in criminal justice reform.
The racial disparity may begin with traffic stops, but it extends well beyond them in South Carolina.
How often are black people in this state the victim of civil forfeiture when the police encounter doesn’t involve being pulled over in a car?
Excluding known traffic stops, police seized money from black people in two-thirds of all cases compared with one-third for whites, our TAKEN data analysis shows. It’s an even more startling fact when considering South Carolina is 69 percent white.
Ella Bromell, a 72-year-old widow from Conway, twice nearly lost her home, though she’s never been convicted of a crime in her life.
Yet the city of Conway nearly succeeded in seizing her house because they said she didn’t do enough to stop crime happening on the sidewalk and in her yard. Young men were using her lawn as a location to sell drugs at night, according to court records.
The fight between Conway officials and Bromell, who is black, began in 2007 and lasted a decade — culminating in court in 2017 when two judges sided with her and wrote that the city “failed to produce any evidence that the residence was an integral or otherwise fundamental part of illegal drug activity.”
Still, Bromell fears the city will try again, despite the police admission in court that they couldn’t say if she was even aware of a single drug sale around her house.
Conway City Manager Adam Emrick said the city has contemplated future seizures in the case of Bromell or similar property owners.
Losing her home would be the end of her, Bromell said. “I don’t want to go nowhere else.”
More: She gave her friend a ride and lost her wages
Thurmond Brooker, Bromell’s attorney, said the law is being warped without the public even noticing. “It’s being used in a way in which innocent people can have their property taken,” he said. “Little old ladies whose property is being trespassed upon can be victimized for a second time.”
Why are black citizens like Bromell facing forfeiture more often than their white neighbors?
One police official said it’s because there’s more drug crime in the black community.
“We go where we’re called,” Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller said. “We police where people are telling us there are problems. We’re not an agency — and I don’t know a police agency — that tries to balance racially its interdiction of drugs off the street.”
The bulk of the drugs and weapons calls the city receives are in minority communities, Miller said. He said he won’t apologize if police tactics disproportionately engage black men and lead to more seizures.
In Greenville County, the Sheriff’s Office initiated 256 forfeiture cases from 2014-2016, of which 150 involved blacks and 85 involved whites.
Greenville city police had 89 cases. Of those, 53 involved blacks and 22 involved whites.
Miller said the city has spent time and money on racial bias training and is working to better track data on traffic stops.
David Smith, one of the architects of the expanded forfeiture laws enacted in the 1980s to fight the War on Drugs, said it’s a great tool for going after significant criminals. Drug lords. White collar masterminds. But increasingly forfeiture has been co-opted by local police forces to take petty cash on the side of the road, he said.
Grant, the Atlanta musician, said he understands how police work and knew right away he would fight to get his money back, even if it cost him legal fees.
“They knew we were young, and we were black,” Grant said. “They pulled us over, gave us a bogus reason. We didn’t consent to search; they searched anyway.”
Grant’s drug charge was dismissed, and though he had proof that he earned his money legally — show schedules, payment receipts, contracts — it could have taken another two years before he could challenge the forfeiture in court. So Grant chose to settle rather than wait.
The state got $500. He got $7,500 back but had to pay his attorney $2,500.
His case was considered a good outcome.
“We’re the ones being railroaded,” Grant said. “It just speaks volumes to where we are as a people.”
More: For years, a SC city tried to seize a widow’s home. It still might.
More: Atlanta rapper fought the law and won
Enjoying the TAKEN investigation series? Please support local journalism by subscribing to The News.
Have you lost property through civil forfeiture? Or do you have information about the practice we should know? We’d like to hear about it. Or about any investigative tips we could work on. Contact our reporters at taken@greenvillenews.com.
Police Create Pretext for “Fishing” by Lying about Turn Signal
Original video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Aj3…
Original video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUkW…
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Sources: Articles-
Segura v. United States- https://bit.ly/3tmc6YQ
Florida v. Royer- https://bit.ly/2N09XjA
U.S. v. Blair- https://bit.ly/3Q6A5oE
Pennsylvania v. Mimms- https://bit.ly/39nFjsF
Arizona v. Johnson- https://bit.ly/39Sba3R
United States v. Johnson- https://bit.ly/3GXqPiq
United States v. Matlock- https://bit.ly/3znj03K
People v. Minor- https://bit.ly/3mqjGxI
Florida v. Jimeno- https://bit.ly/3Mo1lf7
State v. Friedel- https://bit.ly/3thwzOo
Revised traffic stop procedures- https://bit.ly/3tl70Mr
Four cops to stop someone for not using a turn signal, to say that seems excessive is an understatement.
Even if he had failed to use the turn signal, it is simply wrong that all this can be done to him.
This is actually really sad. They were so nice & respectful to those cops & you know those cops thought they were going to find something illegal in their car. I’m glad they sued & won $75k.
When body camera footage shows that the turn signal was activated, the officer should immediately be terminated. It shows the true dishonest nature of that officer. No amount of training will change that officer’s ethics.
“I just want people to be straight up and honest with me.” Says the cop who’s lying his ass off.
The insane part is the officer literally says at 2:50, “I just like people to be honest and straight up with me”, while doing an unjustified & invalid terry stop based off a lie for a working turn signal.
I want to make note that the officers themselves actually ran a red light to pull him over for this illegal stop.
“you’re shaking.” Of course he is and most of us would be. 4 cops stop you for a frigging light. That’s nerve-wracking for any normal person.
If a cop sees a citizen is “shaking like a leaf” the correct response is to DEFUSE the situation. Using it as an excuse to search someone is despicable.
Given the sheer audacity of these cops, 75k is far too little a settlement. At a minimum there should be disciplinary action as well.
The narrator says “I certainly can not fault him for prioritizing his family’s safety over his Constitutional rights“. The fact that in the United States (you know, the land of the free) this is a rational statement reflecting the reality that asserting said rights likely endangers your family is a sad truth indeed.
The control of those two over their emotions during this moment is remarkable. Really think about it, their car was suddenly surrounded by five police officers when they literally did nothing wrong. They were removed from their car and frisked like criminals, and the entire time, their child was in the car watching. If they had raised even the slightest bit of frustration in that moment, which would have been well justified, the situation could have turned potentially deadly for all three of them.
Mr. Parker showed his son how to act respectfully and with dignity, and how to bring real justice upon those trying to abuse their power. Respect.
This is EXACTLY how policing used to be before people started recording them, except it would’ve been been a lot worse. I’m glad they decided to file a lawsuit, and people got to see that racial profiling exists – it’s crazy to think that some people still don’t think it’s real.
As someone who has passed the bar I consider myself a Constitutionalist who loves what our founding fathers gave us. I just want to express my appreciation for the work you do; I know the amount of text you have to comb over to research each of the statutes you present and the time that goes into each of these videos. Your adherence to the facts and the law are impeccable and I appreciate your efforts and the work you do. Thank you.
I am so glad you’re bringing light to these issues. This very thing happened to me. An officer who had a reputation for being dirty, got behind me & put his lights on after I’d made a left turn. He had been behind me for several minutes so I made sure to stop @ the stop sign & use my turn signal. He lied & said I never used my signal when turning & then receded to search my vehicle. When he found nothing he didn’t even write me a ticket bc he knew he was lying & just let me go. I never even thought about how he’d violated my rights until I started watching your channel. This happened many years ago… I would have never thought to file a lawsuit until now. I’m glad you’re giving citizens like myself a voice & instructions on how to handle these situations.
If accountability is such a good thing, why do cops need immunity from criminal/civil consequences? It’s pretty hypocritical to preach accountability while hiding behind a shield of immunity…
>Usually I don’t like to go the whole “they only stopped him cause he’s black!” route, but this is some really damning evidence I’d say.
“your hands are shaking like a leaf brother even your face is” what? Mr.parker was just about the calmest person I’ve ever seen getting pulled over. Seriously impressed with Mr.Parker’s conduct throughout this.
The whole “you can’t criticize the police department and the department will admit no wrongdoing” part of the settlement shouldn’t ever be a thing for police.
You know there’s something definitively wrong when you have to give up your legal rights to stay safe from the people that are supposed to uphold those rights
This is infuriating to watch! This was never a traffic stop, purely a fishing expedition. Every interaction like this demoralizes and is dehumanizing.
If Mr. Parker had tried to assert his rights during this traffic stop, I am quite certain these cops would have escalated it to something much worse and possibly violent. $75k pay day ain’t bad, but as a tax payer, I would prefer the cops do their job appropriately.
I particularly liked the one cop’s admission to the lady: “This is the way we conduct all traffic stops.”
I LOVE how they didn’t get into an argument with the cops. Just let them make their mistakes and then contacted an attorney.
>You know you’re living under tyranny when those in charge of enforcing law can lie to you, but you will be jailed for lying to them.
14:10 I get that both parties agreed to the settlement and that the settlement was reached consensually and without coercion, but come on! The fact that the government would even attempt to negotiation for this during a settlement is just despicable.
I appreciate you adding “Cost Their TOWN $75,000” in the title. Because that’s what keeps these practices going. They’d rather spend taxpayer money to prevent further criticism or claims against a police unit than actually meaningfully change things. The cops need to foot the bill.
Articles:
The city of Louisville has agreed to pay $75,000 to a Louisville couple who say police removed them from their car and frisked them because they were Black and driving a nice vehicle.
But in an unusual condition of the payment, the couple and their lawyers are forbidden from criticizing the Louisville Metro Government or the police officers involved.
The prohibition includes criticisms in statements to the media or on social media, according to a copy of the settlement The Courier Journal obtained under the open-records act.
Michael Abate, a lawyer for The Courier Journal and the Kentucky Press Association, said the stipulations are “totally improper.”
“The city is paying to silence its critics,” he said. “It is paying them off. And it seems designed to impede reform. It is bad policy and really troubling.”
.. Firman was allowed to leave the scene only when it became apparent to the officers that Demetria and her fiancé were personal acquaintances with a colleague of the officers, according to the lawsuit.
.. In their suits, Parker and Firman said when Firman asked what the couple had done wrong, Officer Josh Doerr replied: “This is how we conduct all our stops. We’re a different kind of unit that works a little different than traditional.”
Doerr was suspended one day for violating pat-down procedures, but none of the other officers were sanctioned. The family was eventually released without a ticket being issued.
.. The suit said Parker he had worked full time since 2007 and had no history of violence or felony convictions, while Firman has no criminal history whatsoever. It said Parker is a proud father to his now 10-year-old son and plays bass for his church, where his father is the pastor.
.. In a stipulation in the settlement, the plaintiffs had to agree “not to make or direct anyone to make any statements, written or verbal with the intention to defame, disparage or in any way criticize the personal or business reputation, practices or conduct of Metro Government” and or former Chief Steve Conrad or officers Doerr, Hibbs or former officer Crawford “as it pertains to the underlying facts of this action.”
The settlement also forced the plaintiffs to agree the prohibition applies to any statements made to the news media or on social media.
Additionally, the settlement says any violation would be considered a “material breach” of the settlement and the Metro Government and the individuals cited would be “irreparably harmed.”
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