Pixiq

Looks as though his Sargent had a piece of him.

Awesome, next time a cop pings me for breaking the law I can just tell him “I’ve had a long day”

Anyone think that would work?

A police officer is one of the types of official specifically covered by Title 18, Chapter 13, Sections 241 and 242 of the US Code. Use of official authority to intimidate someone into not exercising their rights is worth a year in federal prison under the law.

I'd assume other cops were present when he made his confession, how is that cop still free, let alone employed as a cop?

It is rather bothersome to see that these types of incidents are becoming more frequent. My hats off to these gentlemen for keeping their cameras rolling. And to the motorcycle officer… shame on you.

Bully in uniform attempts to intimidate photographer, fails spectacularly.

Looks like win to me!
Michaelk42 recently posted..Unsurprisingly- Pogan gets no real punishment

It is what it is. The video shows it very clearly.

Is this how the police are trained to act?

Hey, I support what this site is doing 100%, but let’s give some credit where it is due. Yes, Mueller deserves a lot of credit for keeping his cool. And so do the other two officers on the scene that act professionally and respectfully.

As for the moto-cop? Yes, he was wrong to intimidate. But at least he apologized.

Let’s not turn this into a cop bashing site – there are plenty of good ones out there.

So what do you suggest, John? Just not even bother mention this story?

To me it seems like another example of police intimidation, where most citizens would back down from the officer’s tactics. But when he realized that he was being filmed without the photographer cowering to his authority he moved to the damage control mode.

Unfortunately I don’t think these incidents are becoming more common… I just think citizens have the technology now to fight back. Anytime an organization has a monopoly (and police have a monopoly on force) you end up with bad results, the way law enforcement is done in this country creates a lot of bad outcomes and perverse incentives.

Law- enforcement definitely should be held to a higher standard but they are people too. They make mistakes such as the officer being very brusque with the individuals. The officer should have absolutely been more courteous and have his sargeant address him to make sure he keeps his cool the next time. It is interesting to note that if a private citizen would have approached a LEO as such he would have been take down to the ground no questions asked without a doubt. It’s disappointing but we have to remember to be easy and stay level headed when faced by bullying on the part of civil servants. It is very scary and unnerving when a guy with a gun approaches you in that way though.
Richard recently posted..The birth of Day Man song – Its always sunny in philadelphia

Intimidation under color of authority. This makes me sick.

Sounds very like what happened with a bunch of firefighters in Staten Island intimidating a bar owner into taking down a mural they didn’t like:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/the-early-end-of-an-apocaly...

I wonder if the chief has watched this officer in action. People can email the chief at policechief@edgewaternj.org letting him know about the actions of his officer and see if he is ok with it.

“You’re in the wrong business then buddy…” haha classic – nice work guys

Is it getting to the point where this is happening everyday now?
The Dude Dean recently posted..Enemy List

Do you see “Liberty On Tour” truck in the background (see 6 minute of the clip) ?

How ironic is that ?

Officer had a bad day. He won’t do this again, he has been giving a “warning”, sort of. Prime example of a situation where you don’t need to sue and make sure the man loses his job. Making sure he lost his job would be surreally stupid.

Gotta say though – this guy tried to talk it out with you afterwards.

There are indeed some people out there that need keeping in line, that cop looks like he’s put some years into it – perhaps it’s just become default mode and the terror laws just add to things.

Unless you were driving shortly before the video started, this whole papers deal must be worse than we thought in the USSA, since when does someone standing in a parking lot / road need to provide a drivers license?

The videographers are showing their experience at this as well – well handled but still way to close to the edge for comfort.
Dan Four recently posted..French police smashing babies on the ground in illegal roundup

Well the cop was chasing people off the private property owned by people who wanted them removed from there private property. If it had been a public park it would have been different. The cop block guys claim to have respect for private property. Do they or don’t they. A parking lot is a extension of the road but at the same time private property.So if the kids in there expensive hot rods get hurt on the private property then they can sue the owners and cash in unless the property owners ask they be removed. The cops mistake is when he Demanded the ID. Instead of phrasing it like a question that is why he had to apologize.
He was on tape using the color of law to force people to cede there 4th amendment rights.
It was his job to chase people out of that parking lot. Unless you want to live in a socialist country where everyone’s property is everyone’s property then you have got to expect this. Anarchist/socialist’s confronting the armed guards of our capitalist society.

Where are you guys getting that the cops failed at intimidation? The sergeants are covering their guy with the “I wasn’t there” excuse, and referred the guys to IA, where the complaint will be trashed.

The motor cop comes back and continues using an intimidating tone and lies, telling them “you’re wrong!” “It’s been a long day” does not excuse unprofessional conduct. McDonalds is always hiring if you can’t hack the job.

I thought cops are supposed to be in the public relations business. I think the officer missed that day at the academy. I felt threatened and I was just watching the video.

The other classic was his response to catching real criminals. We had one today, We had a couple of them today. Which was it.

Man…I really need to get video camera.
mepsipax recently posted..Fucking Furverts

I like how the one officer tries to tell the one watching the video “he’s filming you right now”… Laughable

That tells the police-state attitude is institutionalized in that department, that city, or that state. Looks like prime hunting ground for First amendment activists.

dorkusmalorkus asked , “Is this how the police are trained to act?”

Short answer, yes. Pay attention to the very first part of the video. There’s an enormous amount of physiology in play here.

You’re trained to “command the situation”. This can be accomplished a number of ways, all of which are part of your training. A great example is the officer’s response to being asked, “Am I under arrest?” Officer, “Did I say that?”

You never let anyone else ask questions. By answering every a question with a question, the officer aims to “command the situation”.

If you really want to throw a cop off, keep asking questions. They hate that. Ask them for their name and ID number (not all badge numbers are meaningful.) Ask to see their ID.

Most importantly, before saying anything else, ask “Am I being detained or am I free to go?” Keep asking that until you get an answer. If you’re free to go, walk two steps away and continue what you’re doing. If the officer re-approaches you, repeat the process.

A whole new reason to videotape cops: It lets the cops see themselves as we see them. I suspect this cop is probably not one of the really bad cops. He’d had a long day and probably saw the photographer as egging on the miscreants. But now he knows what he looks like when he comes storming over to someone – and he can make a decision whether to change that behavior or not.

Note: If he’d just calmly asked the person to stop filming, there’d be no story… whether the filming continued or not.

There are NOT any “good cops” out there. IF there were any “good cops”, would be arresting and citing their colleagues who routinely violate the law and their oaths of office. But, NO, they don’t do that. They line up behind them in the “blue line” and defend them or cover up for them. When we start reading of thousands of cops being arrested by their colleagues for violating the civil rights of the citizenry, then we “might” be able to claim there are “good cops” out there somewhere.

LE does NOT have a “monopoly on force.” They only THINK they do because “we the people” have dutifully restrained our abilities, thus far anyway, to exercise our own force option.

I have to admit it appears the citizenry’s patience is beginning to wear very thin.

We the people MUST keep up the pressure on LE at all levels if we hope to avoid HAVING to exercise our force abilities.

This is another classic example of the power of one person asserting their rights in the face of an abusive government agent. I am continually amazed at how powerful it can be when even one person simply says “no” to the abuse of power. The effect is amplified when even a small group of individuals band together to assert their rights (and by extension the rights of all citizens).

The earlier quote from Margaret Mead is priceless and worth repeating:

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

@28, Jim:

Yes, there are.

“There’s no good cops out there”? Bollocks.

Letting the cop off of the hook just because he admitted that he was out of line isn’t good enough. It was misconduct and he fully misrepresented the law enforcement agency that he works for. Something needs to be put in personnel record.

I say give him another chance. Stuff like that can be pretty bad for a man, it could potentially block all promotion, which isn’t really warranted by that.

Give him one chance, if it happens again, then we can talk.

The reason that this videographer was successful was because he was not alone and had backup with his friend’s camera. I don’t think he would’ve been as nearly successful in getting an apology if he was alone. His friend filmed the subsequent interaction with the supervisor so the supervisor was on his best behavior. That wouldn’t have happened if the man was by himself.

The lesson is, to team up if you’re going to film cops.

Also, I’m not sure how I would’ve handled this. It’s incredibly dangerous to talk to police these days, since that supervisor could’ve easily tried to arrest the pair on some bogus charge like “interference in police duties” or something like that. I don’t think I would’ve talked to the supervisor at all. It’s just too dangerous. Plus, this was in New Jersey (where I grew up) and there’s an added element of danger in that the cops might assault you or destroy your camera and claim that you “slipped and fell.” Jersey cops are basically equal to the mob.

@A Norwegian Chap

Give him a chance? By the time something like this is captured on film (and not confiscated, natch) he’s ALREADY been given many chances. Do you honestly think this is the first time this cop has acted like this?

@35: that was going to be my question.

Cops aren’t having more bad days. they’re just being filmed having more bad days. There aren’t more bad cops, more bad cops are being filmed.

Nothing against the profession. Ok, lots against the profession. I am often treated as a criminal in every interaction with them, and i am pretty sick of it.

It might be. It might not be. We don’t know. I deal with what I know.

Grats Adam Mueller.

Oh and keep up the good work Carlos. Personally I see this as a small victory.

One other quick comment about police misconduct and complaints in general. In most states (sorry NJ), police officers are certified and licensed by the state. Complaints to these certifying agencies, usually called Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) or something similar, can be much more effective than complaints to the local agency.

POST agencies can “de-certify” a police officer without regard to any union contracts and/or local policies. I’d encourage Adam, et. al. to learn more about this, as it’s something most police officers won’t voluntarily tell you.

A state-by-state summary can be found here: http://www.pocis.net/policies.htm

“So what do you suggest, John? Just not even bother mention this story?”

Carlos, as I said, I support the fundamental premise of this site. So to answer your question, no. This video is bringing to light a bullying tactic and aggression that needs to be recorded and reported to the proper authorities.

But if this site is little more than a cop-bashing/cop-hating site, than I want no part of it.

@John Flores – While it’s true that not all cops are necessarily evil people just the fact that they are cops enables all kinds of mayhem. Please consider the points I make in these 2 articles:

Drug Prohibition: Law Enforcement Is The Problem
http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2009/04/drug-prohibition...

The Police Occupation of the USA
http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/05/police-occupatio...
Darren recently posted..FIJA Activist Julian Heicklen Busted Again in NY- 8-4-2010

John Flores,

Every few weeks or so, somebody pipes us and accuses me of running a “cop hating site” and announces they no longer want to read it.

While I don’t hate cops and I don’t believe PINAC is a cop hating site, everybody will have their own interpretation.

After more than three years of running it, the site is what it is.

Am I critical of some of the cops I write about? Most definitely.

Do I give people, including cops, an opportunity to present the other side? Without a doubt.

Have I defended cops on this site? Believe it or not, I have.

Ultimately, you do what you have to do.

I’ll still be here regardless.
Carlos Miller recently posted..PINAC reaches 3 million page views launches new product store

“So what do you suggest, John? Just not even bother mention this story?”

Honestly, yes. Carlos, I love your blog and I read it almost every day. I think you do something very important. But I also think you have little concept of editorial judgement. More is not more. Less is more.

This case was a little ambiguous. Did the cop do something wrong? Yes. But you know what? He manned up and apologized. I think that’s a standup guy. Again, not that he didn’t do something wrong, but wouldn’t you prefer a cop like that out walking his beat now? He learned a lesson in a good way.

I hope most people reading this realize that. But some people won’t. Some people will go off now and write angry letters to the Police Chief. Maybe the Police Chief will get him in big trouble — more than he deserves. Maybe someone will edit the video and show the part where he acts like a jackass, and not the part where he’s contrite. The role of the news isn’t to simply report every thing that comes along. That’s not in the public interest. The role of the news is to serve as a kind of gatekepper. If it were the government alone doing that, we would live in a much worse place. But in the US there are many sources of news. Now that your blog is Serious, and has so many page views, you can start acting like it, and choose to report the best stories, not unnecessary ones that could really ruin someone’s life.

Sam and Chap, I don’t think this minor thing is going to ruin anyone’s life.

In fact, I seem to remember another cop that “had a bad day…”

“Around 1 AM, Rybolt says two officers came to his door, one demanding to speak with Squadrito, the other, searching the home no warrant in hand.

“I was crying ‘what’s going on’, didn’t even have my flip flops on , pushed me into the wall, told me I’m going to jail,” says Squadrito.

Squadrito says she wasn’t read her rights and when she complained her handcuffs were too tight, things got even worse .

“He said, ‘if you think that hurts what do you think about this’ and he hit the brakes real hard and I slammed into a cage between myself and the officer,” says Squadrito. ”

…

“After a few phone calls, the couple described what happened to a Sergeant who then spoke with morales.

“The sergeant called and said the particular officer was beside himself, crying, upset,” says Squadrito.

“After getting permission from the couple, accompanied by Sgt. Sam Taylor, the couple says officer Scott Morales showed up at their home again, this time to apologize.

“He came in, took his glasses off, started crying and saying what he did was wrong, he had a bad day, and gave us a lot of personal reasons,” says Squadrito.”

…

Fortunately they didn’t drop it and the victim received a $23K settlement from the city. Morales was also suspended for a whole three days.

If I’m counting off the list right it was only his 13th.

He’s currently serving his 15th, after which…

“When Morales returns from his suspension, he will be permanently transferred off the street as a uniformed third shift patrol officer.”

“Morales will be assigned to a desk job as detective in the department’s investigative division.”

Where I suppose having him off the street will make the public safer, as opposed to simply firing him.

So no guys, I’m going to guess that it would be near impossible to ruin the life of the cop in this story if guys like Morales can stay on the force. I wouldn’t worry too much for them.
Michaelk42 recently posted..Unsurprisingly- Pogan gets no real punishment

Sam, you are so ignorant I don’t even know where to begin. You see there’s a normal reaction to wrongdoing and it’s not, “oh poor baby”.

“He learned a lesson in a good way.”

Riiight. The only leason he learned is to backpedal when you get caught on camera.

“Maybe the Police Chief will get him in big trouble — more than he deserves.”

Are you serious? Have you even spent 10 seconds reading about police abuse? I think not. This particluar video is nothing compared to some of the real evil police are capable of. In fact, Carlos barely touches on the real police abuse. He likes to blog about stuff that promotes good debate. The cop and chief will suffer zero reprimands for their rudeness.

“really ruin someone’s life”

Like I said if you want to talk about ruined lives you really should read a little further on the subject. Start here then see if you can come back and defend the bastards.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/2654.php

http://radgeek.com/gt/2009/08/24/rapists-on-patrol-6/

“Cops Are Here To Protect You”
Defend them at your own peril…

“It is also because the male-dominated State relates to all of its subjects like a battering husband relates to the “household” of which he has proclaimed himself the “head:” by laying a claim to protect those who did not ask for it, and using whatever violence and intimidation may be necessary to terrorize them into submitting to his “protection.” The State, as the abusive head of the whole nation, assaults the innocent, and turns a blind eye to assaults of the innocent….”

http://radgeek.com/gt/2008/02/26/cops_are/

I have to agree with a few of the other comments above. While the cop was wrong to intimidate like he did, we should be giving credit as well as blame. He apologized (yes, because he was filmed, but he still did it. He could have stayed silent and waited for the IA complaint), and the other officers did quite well. They kept their cool, and they listened. They actually listened.

I love reading this site, but the comments do seem to turn into a “all cops are bad, they should all be fired”. This site is focused on the bad cops, plain and simple. When viewed through that filter, it’s easy to think that all cops are the way they appear on this site. They aren’t. I can’t say how many are, but it’s not 100%, I can guarantee that.

In addition to exposing their tactics to the light of day, we also have to be willing to work with them. It does us no good to sit here with a holier then thou attitude and wag our fingers. We have to be willing to work with them as well. That may be volunteering for the training classes (which also helps make sure the class tells the truth), sitting down with the HQ guys and offering to help write policy, etc. etc. etc. Bitch all you want, but if you’re not willing to help fix the problem, then you are not actually helping.

Anyway, my 2 cents.

Sarah, it’s obvious that you live in another world.

But my point is that this is not real police abuse. It’s so minor that it doesn’t warrant being blogged about, when there are more serious things to blog about.

Michaelk42′s example is much more serious. Apologizing alone is not good enough when you falsely arrest someone and physically assault them.

But in this case, there was no arrest, no assault, and I don’t even think there was a real color of law violation, just a public servant being rude and intimidating and then apologizing for it. And we don’t know the reason why. Maybe he was embarrased that it was caught on camera. Maybe his Sgt told him to. Maybe he cooled down and felt bad.

Sam, “abuse” isn’t always the point. Sometimes just standing up to intimidation is.

And this story is a perfect example of this. It’s a perfectly “serious” topic for this blog.

If you want all abuse, all misconduct all the time, http://www.injusticeeverywhere.com is the blog to get your stats for that.
Michaelk42 recently posted..Unsurprisingly- Pogan gets no real punishment