City Privatizes Park in Effort to Eliminate Citizen’s Normal Civil Rights

If this sort of thing is unchallenged, it’ll continue and grow. Cities will lease public parks and even sidewalks to private companies, and then pay the private companies to maintain them. Thus, they’ll be able to control who can be on that property and what protests or speech will be allowed.
This is definitely their way of trying to get around our First Amendment rights. The city owns the land, but it’s managed by a private company!!! This must be challenged in court.

Just saw a press conference where the officials said they would crack down on visitors for anything they deem unwanted, not illegal, because they can.

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If anyone would be willing to upvote this in hopes of increasing the likelihood of Jeff responding, I would be incredibly grateful.

 

Can’t wait to hear the rest of this story. I’m trying hard to imagine the relationship of the citizens to a future Urban State where all property is leased to businesses.

 

Interesting trickery to keep out what they consider to be undesirables. Can’t wait for the follow up. Its a sad day when God blessing someone gets you trespassed and possibly arrested. Appreciate all you do.
A small point which may be irrelevant. You’ve requested copies of contracts, but only contracts. (This might be the irrelevant bit – ) I used to work with IBM, and whilst there was a lot of detail in the contracts (aka schedules), the most important docs were Documents of Understanding (DOUs) which were arguably not contracts, but agreements on how the contract would be operated on a day to day basis – i.e. incredible detail. If this system (or similar) is used, you will get a great deal more insight from these DOUs (and other ancillary documents) than you will from the contract, which is normally set out more lofty wording. Hope this helps. More power to you, sir!
I have a feeling that a law firm probably provided a legal opinion stating that they would be legally allowed to trespass for this stuff – so the law firm will need to fight Jeff in order to avoid getting sued by the city and the private company.
They force you to pay for the park while paying for the cops to force you out of the park..
A perfect example of “Privately Managed – Public Property” was Washington, DC’s Union Station. A historical and national landmark. Everyday tourists and commuters would arrive to Washington’s Union Station by train and walk through the station. Since it’s architechture is ornate and historic, visitors would always snap photos of the inside of the building especially it’s ornate domed ceiling. A private company that manages the retail/restaurant vendors inside union station decided shortly after 9-11 that they would prohibit any photographs inside Union Station. They employed a private security force and instructed them to stop anybody they saw taking photos, and if you refused they would escort you out or have DC’s Metro Police or the Amtrak Police forcibly escort you out or arrest you. Word of this unconstitutional restriction reached Eleanor Holmes Norton, a DC delegate to the House of Representatives. She personally sought out the private property managers and convinced them to rescind this ridiculous policy. She explained that just because you’re leasing publically accessible public property, you cannot ban individual constitutional rights. The day after the unconstitutional policy was lifted, a local news crew showed up to interview the property manager in the public corridors of the station about the lifting of the photo ban. As soon as the interview began, two security guards walked up and interrupted the interview and told the local news crew that there’s no photography allowed in Union Station. They had no idea that the rules had been changed and they didn’t even know that the local news crew was interviewing their boss. You simply cannot make this shit up. The video about this was somewhere here on YouTube.
Big insurance company across the street from a public park. They don’t like seeing “undesirables” using it, so they engage with the city in some kind of corrupt semi-privatization scheme so it’s still essentially a public park, but they get top-down power over it like it’s private property. Rest assured that if this model isn’t successfully challenged, you’ll see more and more of it in the future.
Your definitely doing this the smart way, I probably would have taken the arrest on this one. What your doing is of great Service to the community. Thank you from all that value freedom.
This has become a small loophole that a number of cities have used to “control” the homeless.. I ask though, with this particular assessment the city officials say their estimated yearly maintenance of the park is 1.5 million, in which they have always paid from their budget.. Now leasing that land to a corporate institution for $800k a year, cutting “WE THE PEOPLE”s expenses (for this property) by over half.. If homelessness is such an issue in their eyes, will that NOW FREE $800k a year from the city budget, now go to assistance to the homeless.. I venture to say not a single dime has increased in housing, food, or programs for those in need..
“No longer have to put up with homeless populations” Wow what a disgusting way to treat other human beings
“You’re not trespassed, but if you come back you will be arrested.” “Sarge told me to make you leave, but not to trespass to avoid a lawsuit.”
Guy says “You’re making people uncomfortable.” While also saying that he respects it and he’s happy he’s doing it. So who is saying they’re uncomfortable? What exactly is supposedly making people uncomfortable? If he were to go back and just stand without the sign? To walk with it in his hands but say nothing? To walk with it in his hand but down at his side? What if having to watch out for a golf cart makes me uncomfortable?

Good job identifying this problem, Jeff. Please challenge it.

To anyone who thinks this is okay, it may seem like a small matter for some private company to “manage” a public park, but it is still a public park. It is still owned by the city and is still being funded with public money even as members of the public are capriciously denied access to it. If a company wants to put money into making it better, great! We should welcome investment into our communities, just like we would from a volunteer group doing clean-up work or whatever. But at no point should the company or the volunteers become empowered to decide who can and can’t use the park.

If a company wants to own a park, it can make its own park on truly private property. There’s no rule against it. What’s happening here is some kind of unholy alliance between corporations and local authorities who want to be able to do things they’re prohibited from doing under the law. Normally the cops can’t kick Jeff (or any homeless person, or any person period who’s acting lawfully) out of the park, but now all of a sudden they have this new authority thanks to some questionable public-private deal.

 

This is wildly unacceptable. Do we have to worry soon about corporations “managing” public sidewalks and other city services so that they can exclude people at their pleasure?

 

“We appreciate with what you are doing but we are still going to stomp on your rights.” What kind of person prostitutes themselves in this manner? How does a city lease public property out to a private entity specifically to restrict public access to public property? I’d love to see how this works through the courts.

 

How offensive that the city thinks it can ignore the constitution by entering into a public private partnership or that a corporation like Brown and Brown who could use their significant resources to compassionately assist people experiencing homelessness instead choose to bribe the city to allow them to instead banish them. This isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s morally wrong. The city can’t outsource its unconstitutional actions. Their intent was clear in the statements made in advance. They should be ashamed of themselves and be held legally accountable for their egregious violations of the constitution.

 

Privately managed doesn’t make it private property. It’s still public land ☺️ “I understand that’s not your intent…” Intent madders a lot!
“You’re not even being trespassed.” Immediately followed up by: “If you go back on there, you’re going to jail.”
“It’s technically like city property and private property”. That’s some extremely efficient Bee Ess, right there. The security thing should consider a career in energy/physics.
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Civil Asset Forfeiture makes it Legal for Cops to engage in Highway Robbery

Washington Post:  A former Marine was pulled over for following a truck too closely. Police took nearly $87,000 of his cash.

  • ​The officers did not arrest Stephen or charge him with any crime. They just took his life savings and left him on the side of the road without enough money to even afford gas to drive home.

 

  • He is considered guilty of having illicit cash until he can hire a lawyer to prove that he is innocent.

 

Greenville News: Civil Asset forfeiture hurts African Americans most

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  • Stephen is a 39-year-old retired Marine from Lubbock, Texas. He is a devoted father of two teenage daughters and, once a month, he drives from Texas to see them in California, where they live with their mother. Eager to be closer after spending the pandemic in Texas caring for his elderly parents, he has been shopping for a home near the California-Nevada border.

 

  • In February 2021, Stephen was making his usual trip west through Reno when he was pulled over by the Nevada Highway Patrol for supposedly following a tractor-trailer too closely.

 

  • The officer complimented Stephen’s driving, thanked him for observing the speed limit, and explained that NHP was “conducting a public information campaign” to help drivers avoid danger. Confident that the officer was only there to help, Stephen cooperated with his escalating investigation, even volunteering that he was carrying a large amount of cash.

 

  • Ninety minutes later, Stephen had been robbed of his life savings—$86,900—which he carried with him after a spate of robberies in his parents’ neighborhood. The officer who pulled Stephen over wanted to let him go; he was overruled by NHP Sergeant Glenn Rigdon, who ordered the money seized specifically so that it could be “adopted” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

 

  • “Adoption” is a process by which federal law enforcement agencies can take over a seizure by state and local law enforcement. If the federal government is successful in forfeiting the property, its “equitable sharing” program guarantees the state or local agency that seized the property up to 80% of the proceeds for use in the agency’s budget.

 

  • In Stephen’s case, the DEA sat on his life savings for months, ignoring the legal deadlines requiring it to charge Stephen with a crime, begin a civil forfeiture case against his property, or return the money within six months of seizure. The DEA did none of those things. So, on August 30, IJ sued it in federal court on Stephen’s behalf.

 

  • Early the morning of September 1, the agency announced it would return all of Stephen’s money. In less than 24 hours, it had learned of our lawsuit, answered hard questions from The Washington Post, and committed to reviewing its policies for federal adoptions.

 

  • When we learned he would be getting his money back (filled with joy), he told us, “This isn’t over.”

 

  • And it isn’t. At the same time we filed in federal court, we also filed a major constitutional challenge in state court. Our state case aims to make federal adoptions impossible in Nevada as violations of the state constitution’s guarantees of reasonable seizures supported by probable cause and due process of law—not based on mere suspicion or for the financial benefit of the seizing agency. If we are successful, it will be the first time a state court has struck down federal adoptions. And a victory will take the profit motive out of roadside seizures.

Filmed with a Canon C70 with a 50mm 1.2 lens. Aputure 300d, 120d, and amaran.

 

Comments

  • Check out our latest video in our Policing for Profit series. This one is about local police terrorizing a small town. They even got a tank. https://youtu.be/-cil2gdCa-k
  • I spent 33 years in law enforcement I can tell you this is corrupt no matter what the pretense is. If police can’t understand why they are hated by the public look no further then these actions.
  • This is what being transparent,complying and being respectful will get you when the system is corrupt to its core
  • When someone like a cop or detective starts acting nice, that’s the moment you need to call your lawyer.
  • This is why I sometimes regret serving my country during the best years of my life. I’m boiling over this!
  • As a retired Marine myself, I found this to be appalling. I wonder if racism was rooted in this officers decision. He, like I, and being Marines are always respectful of authority. I’m truly saddened that there are law enforcement officers out there with their own self righteous, feel good, look what I did today attitude. I will certainly be less forth coming, but respectful, if I am ever involved in a situation such as this Marine went through. God bless our country…
  • He didn’t trust the banks and now he doesn’t trust police. What a shame.
  • “To protect and to serve, they’re own interests” The fact that it’s not illegal, in their book,should tell you that ethics and morality have little to do with what’s legal and what is not. The DEA agent was surely aware of the high % of cash that drug residue is found on, yet uses this as justification for this,,quite literally no less than highway robbery. When this corrupt practice is considered legal, every (Law) is a crime, and every cop is a criminal.
  • I’m a bartender and I almost got $8k taken from my car once. Had to say over and over to the officer during the stop that I don’t consent to searches. He insulted me up and down with how bad that makes me look but at the end of the day there was nothing he could do about it. I was within my rights.
  • This has nothing to do with “drugs”. Our government hates it when people take back their financial privacy. It’s easy to track people that use their credit card like a good sheep.Lots of power in such information.
  • “He was driving under the speed limit which is odd” “he has his bank receipts which is odd”.. you can’t even do the right legal thing without it being odd
  • This happened to a buddy of mine, also in Nevada (Las Vegas), where the police entered his home due to a loud party he was having. They entered, found some Marijuana and then continued to search the rest of his house and discovered some savings in the amount of 22k. He was a real estate agent, and also did not trust banks. They seized the cash and he had to go through the same process of proving the money was legal gained and not through illicit activities. It was a long battle but I believe he got most of his money back, minus attorneys fees of course.
  • It happened to my 68 yr old brother too. He doesn’t trust banks and he over 10,000 in cash. And he got pulled over and they took it from him stating it looked suspicious to have that much money. My brother lives in a mobile home and works full time in group homes for mentally challenged. He doesn’t do drugs. And he is a loner! He never got his money back.
  • I’m 57 years old and was raised to be pro police as my father worked as an LEO for a few years. I’ve always supported law enforcement, even with financial donations. That ends today. This is a fucking disgrace to a man who risked his life for my freedoms. The cops confiscation motives are driven by a Service Award Commendation related to theft in office. Until things change I have to distance myself from further law enforcement support.
  • once a cop says “give me a second, let me make anphone call..” you know you’re going to be a victim.
  • A former Marine should not only know his rights, he should have invoked his rights. Never talk to cops without a lawyer present, and never consent to a search…ever!
  • That cop acted like he was his friend. How do you be so nice and cordial while stabbing this good citizen in the heart? How much lawyer money did it cost this guy to get his money back? This is sickening.

 

  • ” I don’t trust banks so I keep my own money. “, you’re not the only one, Marine.
  • No cop can search your vehicle unless they have evidence of a real crime, or a warrant, or your permission. I’d Never say yes to a search. They could plant something on you.
  • This makes me as angry as the next guy, that being said I understand why he did what he did. The world we live in now is so bad that you must know there’s absolutely no winning with cops anymore. Good cops are out there but you definitely can’t trust them. The system is rigged against all of us, and it’s getting worse! Thank god this guy got his back..
  • This man was racially profiled. The reason he got pulled over in the first place was completely bogus. Also, if he had refused to have his vehicle searched they would have brought out the drug sniffing dog, signal to the dog to react, and then search it anyway. This man was screwed no matter how cooperative he was.
  • What’s even more shocking is the victim also has a tonne of receipts to prove where the money has come from 🤦
  • As a veteran who doesn’t trust banks as well this really kills me. You serve your country, have friends and family die for your country, then it robs you. This should never happen, and reminds me of other countries I was in over seas.
  • Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors have abused civil asset forfeiture programs in the past. In many cases, innocent Texas residents lose their property because they lack knowledge of civil forfeiture laws and the proper proceedings to challenge them. Many people do not realize that you can lose your property through civil forfeiture even if you have never been convicted of a crime.
  • The police had ZERO intention of getting that money back to him unless they were sued AND given bad PR. Thank you for representing him!
  • You’ll never understand until it happens to you, welcome to the club, safe travels out there people.
  • Same thing happened to my senior citizen parents at the airport when they were going on vacation. They had $10,500 and it was seized because of suspicion of drug money. They were able to get it back after proving how they legally earned it.
  • The same thing has happened to me by the CBP they seized my property while driving on the road without a warrant or reason. Now I have been out of business for more than a month.
  • If cops do this to a vet with a clean record and receipts I can’t imagine how many other people this happens too.
  • If you people understood the level of corruption in law enforcement in the state of Nevada from corrections to highway patrol to sheriff’s departments and P D’s you would be afraid. I’ve also seen unfair treatment like this in California.
  • This will make people never want to trust that the police are “just asking routine questions”. It should’ve never taken a lawsuit to get HIS money back because it should’ve never been seized to begin with, unless they had PROOF of illegal activity. This gives “highway robbery” a whole new meaning! This man fought for the country, but then had to fight the same government 😡

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Was a Racially Motivated 911 Call Responsible for Police Overreaction?

  • Always quick to handcuff and arrest with insufficient evidence. I’m tired of immediately being deemed a criminal and a threat for existing. I am tired of this!!!

 

  • The USA system still baffles me. In my country, if a police officer takes their gun out of the holster, it’s the same as pulling the trigger. It will be investigated, there will be a lot a questions if it was necessary. In the states, it seems to be more normal to point a gun at someone, than saying hello.

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  • These YouTube videos from “Audit the Audit” should be a required course material at the Police Academy.
  • As an African American realtor this is my biggest fear. Thank you for sharing information on this incident.
  • As someone who lives in a country where police have to go through multiple years of training, seeing American police in action is genuinely terrifying.
  • They never commented on the fact that there was no sign of forced entry on the door! That’s pretty easy to see if that had been the case!
  • “WHERE IS YOUR REALTOR ID?” as she pulls out a stack of business cards…these are the cowardly idiots sworn to protect us…oof
    • She wanted his official state issued realtor ID not a business card, and realized that such a thing doesn’t even exist.

 

    • After she figures it out – “Where’s your.. do you have.. like.. ID on you? ” lol
  • “he’s got ID and realty cards on him.”
  • “Pat his groin for weapons”
  • The hell is wrong with these people.
  • The realtor had loose business cards in EVERY pocket. A lack of organization is prominent among folks who are misunderstood. Best hold yourself to a better standard to stay out of trouble.
  • As soon as she saw his ID and his realtor card everything should have stopped and they should’ve been un cuffed. Smh

 

  • Literally the first thing she pulls from his pocket is a stack of his realtor business cards, and then a driver’s license and his friggin’ realtor id. A pure example of “guilty until proven innocent”

 

  • Why is she continuing to search his pockets and keep him handcuffed after she knows he’s a realtor and there was no forced entry? The retired officer should be charged for false reporting.
  • As a real estate agent, I imagine he is in a nice car, wearing nice clothes and well groomed. Seems the witness has tunnel vision.
  • That realtor was quiet after he said “I’m a realtor”. I don’t think I heard a peep, after that. He already knew where he was going with this, much respect. These cops aren’t smart at all — the ones who just quiet up and watch you dig your grave are the ones that KNOW they’re about to win the battle.
  • If I was the homeowner I would sue the neighbor for blocking the sale.

 

 

  • If I was the homeowner I’d be so pissed and sued for lowering the value of my house
  • Imagine the pain the retired police office caused during his service..
  • Imagine how many terrible things that retired cop did back in the day. So upsetting.
  • Just think, this is their “best behavior” (knowing they are on camera) Imagine what it was like prior.
  • Gotta love it when they say they were just going by what was reported. Well taking a witness statement into account without ever thinking it could be false or misleading is the first error, not following proper procedure in turn is even worse.
  • Did any of the cops take 2 seconds to check the MLS lockbox to see if it had been opened with a key, a key that only a realtor would have? Nope, guns drawn and not one word that came out of the 2 men was even considered for a moment. Even after producing realty cards and an ID that matched, it was totally unbelievable to the cops that he could possibly be a realtor. I think the City of Cincinnati got off easy.
  • I’d give a shiny penny just to hear her explain her ‘probable cause’ for drawing her weapon. And I think we all know what it was….

 

  • Apart from the obvious racism in this case and others, do you as Americans realise just how heightened and anxious these encounters are because everyone involved is worried that someone has a gun? As an Englishman, I’ve had and witnessed run-ins with the Police, but there has NEVER been any worry that anyone might have a gun in a glove box in a car or in an inside pocket.
  • I like how the officer says that race car doesn’t fly anymore, when it literally is being proven by them
  • I’m ashamed that this is in my own town
  • As a person from Cincinnati I’m glad you made this video on these officers
  • The fact that she keeps going through his shit after they prove he’s a realtor.
  • The way that female officer said he’s got realtor cards and i.d on him, she sounds so disappointed like damn I though we got em. This was sad.
  • We need to start paying the fines out of the Police pension fund instead of the tax payers having to foot the bill
  • fun fact: Officer Valentino was arrested in 2020 for domestic violence and criminal damaging with her sister. Valentino got crazy drunk and a card game turned into fisticuffs lol
  • We REALLY need bigger penalties for people who lie on 911 calls
  • The caller knew exactly what he was doing, he knew they were probably checking out the house since it was for sale and he didn’t want those poor guys living in that neighborhood so he called his old cop buddies to go and harass them and make them go away. Evil as hell and it’s even worse because his plan worked… and he doesn’t get punishment
  • The worst part of this story is that the jackass that called this in got exactly what he wanted, although likely subconsciously. He clearly didn’t feel that black people belong in his neighborhood, and I doubt that this man wanted to buy a house with neighbors like that afterwards. The retired officer continues to keep his neighborhood the way he feels it should be. I wish there was some consequences for that man.
  • I’m only a minute in and already I can say the 911 caller needs to be charged with a crime. They used the lock box, the way he says “they forced the door open” is already setting it up for the police to come at it thinking it’s a burglary or something. Although I think a lot of these officers seem to lack common sense, part of the problem is the information they are given going in. They will be basically be told two black guys just broke into a house, all based solely on the word of one caller. That’s too much power for one person, to be able to call 911 and make up anything. It can and probably has lead to unnecessary deaths.
  • That retired cop that called it in knew exactly what he was doing, using the precise terminology, “forced entry/forced their way in”, because only then would the police on-scene be SURE to have all the probable cause they need to do what they did. Most people that would call for what they believe to be suspicious activity would just say something like they went into the place and they aren’t sure if they should be there, or something generic like that, but this former cop knew if he said they forced entry that they’d get the full-cavalry treatment
  • I’m a realtor. This is beyond disturbing. How did that agent stay so calm. He is a saint. So let’s just call this what it is. Cop across the street knows they didn’t force open the door. He saw 2 black men looking at a house “for sale” across the street from his house. He figured, “Lets eff with them so they will decide they don’t want to live here”. Objective accomplished. That folks is exactly what happened here.
  • To the cops in this video: Instead of arresting both the realtor and the man who was planning on purchasing the house, you should’ve arrested the retired police officer for filing a false police report and racial profiling.
  • Any officer with functioning eyes can see upon arriving at the scene that the front door was not forced open. 911 caller’s story should immediately become suspect. All they needed to do was knock on the door and asked, “what are you doing here?” “I’m a realtor showing the house to this man.” “Have a good day.” No gun drawn. No hand cuffing. That’s it.
  • Do people not know what an “open house” actually is? It means there is a realtor at the location for any purchasers. No “open house” sign does not mean that the realtor or agency can’t open the house for an appointment. I’m glad this guy got the justice, and hopefully new home, they deserve.
  • It is amazing to me that they did not ask them what their business was for being there before drawing guns and detaining. She found his id and cards proving he was who the other man said he was and yet they still treated them like they were criminals, yet they were adamant that it was not racial.
  • The biggest theme I’ve seen in these types of interactions is in alot of cases the responding officer has the inability to say something along the lines of “sorry for intruding on your day, we got a faulty tip”. Just because the 911 operator said something based on a statement from a random citizen shouldn’t mean it overrides the actual situation upon arrival.
  • As someone from outside the US I always find it weird how everyone says Sir or M’am even when being aggressive. Adding ‘Sir’ before being aggressive towards someone doesn’t negate the fact that you’re being an asshole. Try just being respectful in your actions.
  • I’m so sick of cops saying “we don’t know who you are” like that somehow this lvl assault and detention necessary
  • I’m so impressed about how calm and polite theses guys are while they are being handcuffed for absolutely no reason. As a white person, I never really experienced any discriminations but I know that I would have gone crazy if I was getting handcuffed by police while doing my job. Huge respect to these guys and shame on these officers for not even apologizing to them.
  • As a realtor, that incident ruined his reputation in that neighborhood. Glad the city did the right thing. Unfortunately, citizens will continue to pay the price for poor police conduct.
  • I love how you can hear them pleading their case with the man they put into handcuffs first. “We’re just responding to a call, we don’t know what’s going on when we get here.” Exactly…and you didn’t bother trying to find out. You saw 2 black men and automatically assumed they were committing a crime. This easily could have been resolved by saying “We got a call that someone was concerned the house had been broken into,” and then looked at the f***ing front door and realize that it hadn’t been forced open and then left. These cops should be fired.
  • I am constantly amazed by the sheer number of police you must have in the US. I can see this type of incident being attended by maybe 4 police officers maximum in my country. We just don’t have enough police officers to be wasting time with bullshit like this.
  • This female cop is a danger to the public and should be fired
  • Many realtors conceal carry. This could have gone even worse if that was the case here. Im glad they filed something. I probably would’ve sued the neighbor too based on the fact that he was retired law enforcement. It probably would’ve been dismissed but the inconvenience would have been worth it.
  • Extremely humiliating. These types of experiences leave long lasting anxiety and stress for years.
  • I love how the guy and the realtor became best friends after that lawsuit

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