Pixiq

If I were mayor Denny Doyle, I think it would be my duty to the taxpayers of the city to either call for Spalding’s resignation, or fire him. One large settlement like that is enough, and if the chief didn’t learn his lesson (of course not, wasn’t his money anyway), Doyle oughta shove his boot up his ass before the city has to pay out for another lawsuit that will inevitably follow after such statements.

If not, the taxpayers of the City of Beaverton better crowd up the next council meeting.
Jake Stichler recently posted..Decision Made- Payoff Pending

unflipping believable. Even when the city attorney says they were wrong, they continue to stay the course that will inevitably cost the tax payers more money. Makes me want to drive to Beaverton and start recording officers until I get arrested. Then when I finally end up in court, have my attorney introduce the city attorney’s opinion. The civil lawsuits (State and Federal) should be more than enough for me to retire.

I’m a resident of Portland, of which Beaverton is a suburb. I have resided in Beaverton multiple times thoughout my life.

I just submitted a very long letter to the Mayor urging him to take this situation under his control.

If anyone else is a Portland/Beaverton resident, I would suggest that you do the same:

http://www.beavertonoregon.gov/mayor/meetmayor/askmayor.aspx

What this means is that the police are acting outside the law, making them outlaws (yes, this has a legal definition) which can be arrested at any time by any citizen and if they resist arrest in any way, lethal force may be used to apprehend them should they attempt further criminal arrests.

The police chief can be arrested and charged with aiding and abetting criminal activity now.

This is ridiculous. This is all about, in Cartman’s words cops insisting that you “respect my authoritie!”

Dear Police Chief Spalding:

Sometimes police officers, even higher ranking officers, exceed their discretion and start violating the law and abusing their authority. Normally this would be an internal discipline matter but other times the rot goes right to the top. In extreme circumstances it is necessary to go to the county or state police or even the FBI. Of course, sometimes citizens are all wet and annoy police who are rightfully exercising their discretion with accusations. Where could an honest citizen find good, practical advice on how to tell the difference?

Sincerely,

John Q Public
TMLutas recently posted..This is Profoundly Stupid…

Will there be an auction of city property once the budget is wiped out by the screwy chief of police?

Can his ass.

Don’t you just love this excuse, ie:

“Prosecutors dropped the case against Vang on the grounds the AUDIO QUALITY WAS SO POOR, it might not have qualified as a violation of the law.”

**BLAAAA!!** goes the horn. Wrong answer says Bob Barker. Even when they know they’re wrong, they still fail to admit it.

Tom Joad has it right. I can’t believe more photographers haven’t thought about that very same thing.

Take some “LEGAL” photo’s and get arrested. Go to court and win a big payoff. Go out and do it again the next day. After the second or third winning lawsuit (depending on the amount received), kick back and retire for the rest of your life.. or repeat process until you can.

Hey.. don’t get mad at me if someone does what I just suggested (and your tax’s get raised to cover the lawsuit). If the Cops want to make the same dumb mistake over and over again.. then the governing body gets what it deserves!

Rail Car Fan

Really? How do they come out and say these things and the local people aren’t up in arms? Oh yeah, too much work.
mepsipax recently posted..I like em fluffy

RCF jokes but has it right. People will attempt to get arrested w/ attys. close behind. Awards should go up and the problem will most likely resolve itself.

Win/win for everyone.

Hooray Clap Clap Clap Clap Hooray

Posts above suggest my repeated idea of making a cottage industry by taking money from police that scorn law has caught on.

Go for it. Guarantee that if this results all over the law scorning will cease. (It is, btw, folks, what should happen in general with respect to law breaking: restitution, not incarceration.)

And here we have the widespread announcement that this idiot is going to willfully misinterpret the law, and he even manages to make it sound like a threat.

The next “settlements” are going to be exponentially greater. Too bad they won’t take any from him.
Michaelk42 recently posted..Pogan sentencing- delayed

On the surface, the chief’s statements seem idiotic. However, if you think about it, it all boils down to deterrence.

If the general public is told that it is legal and perfectly okay to record and photograph the police, then every Joe Shmoe with a camera phone will feel comfortable doing just that and recording will become ubiquitous.

However, since he is insisting that anyone doing so will risk facing arrest, that is enough to deter most folks from even trying. Those who will fight for their rights will still continue to record, but they are few and far between — probably less than 5% of the public. By risking a few thousand in settlement fees, the city has greatly reduced the chances of police being recorded. This, in turn, greatly reduces the chances of evidence of police misconduct being captured that could cost the city a lot more in settlements.

The chief has probably done a “cost/benefit” analysis and believes it is worth it.

@hypocrisy rules
No, when you look closer, the chief is still an idiot.

“If the general public is told that it is legal and perfectly okay to record and photograph the police, then every Joe Shmoe with a camera phone will feel comfortable doing just that and recording will become ubiquitous.”
Sarcasm/
Hell, the next thing you know, people will be expecting the right to free speech and , god forbid, the pursuit of happiness. Won’t someone think of the children?!
/Sarcasm

@hypocrisy rules
Not attacking you there…just being a smart ass.

If I had a lick of sense for anything I’d head straight for Beaverton OR and start taking pictures of cops. It’s the closest thing to a guaranteed payday I’ve seen in a long time.

Strange actions by the chief. If the city loses many settlements, I doubt the city management will put up with it. I agree that if he is directing his officers to make the arrest despite direct guidance from the district attorney, this chief is gonna cost his city money.

Yes and his statement can be used as evidence to show intent to violate the law. Very poor judjment on his part.

I agree with many here. We should all head to Beaverton and follow the blue around taking video. Sooner or later one of us will hit the jackpot.

It sounds like the chief and his army are bunch of airheads.

A normal citizen can recognize right and wrong. How come those airheads cannot!

This should destroy the chiefs career. The mayor now has no choice but to fire him, as this statement can, and will, be used to show intent to violate civil rights and is almost an automatic win in any cases. Even if the chief retracts it, his credibility is destroyed. This is one of the reasons for the old ” no comment ” or ” we are investigating ” answers.

Apparently, Berverton has all the money in the world to dish out in settlements. I guess it’s time to move to Beaverton to take advantage of this surplus revenue.

i moved out of oregon because of stuff like this :-/

I think Johnny should move to Beaverton too. He come there to be a cop and I will be there as a photographer.

I need some new lenses – I think I will take a trip to Beaverton and make some money to buy them…

Jim,
Get your point and shoot camera and be there for a day, then you will be able to buy a Nikon D3X, 24-70 VR, 70-200 VR, SB900, and a 2x teleconverter.

After you have all of them, then go back again to wait for Johnny.

They think their badge is a crown. Fire them all.

I think Beaverton just became the vacation capitol of America, at least for photographers. $400 for airfare, $500 for the hotel/meals and $19,000 goes home with you.

lol John Howard… After a statement like the Chief made, $19K is a drop in the bucket compared to what the next lawsuit will yield. Business here in Jacksonville has been really good, though I might just take a trip up to Oregon this fall I could always use a little extra $$$

If large amounts of money don’t deter the Chief, perhaps misprison of a felony will.

“Hey Bubba! We got us a new pivot man in the cell block — used to be a cop!”

The police chief has already committed a crime. There is no valid reason to not arrest him on conspiracy to violate civil rights.

He should be facing a federal jury right now.

Get all over your Assistant US Attorney for the area right now and keep pressing him till he does his job.

And don’t forget to use your iPhone and make sure your pictures are uploaded to facebook right away…
Angelo recently posted..Customized Bash Prompt

I am so going to be heading into Beaverton now daily to take pictures of the police with my Evo4g using qik, instant upload to qik.com, go ahead officer, take my phone, break it, do what you wish, its already uploaded to the web and you cannot get to it.
James recently posted..Profoundly Yours

Dam the pigs for what they have done to this country. May they rot!

I noticed the article says that the city’s insurance was paying the settlement and legal fees, this time. With the police chief having so publicly declared he’s ignoring the advice of his own city’s lawyers, the insurance company won’t pay out again, and they’ll probably cancel the city’s insurance.

Actually that’s a great idea, someone find out who the city’s insurance company is and make sure a copy of this article gets passed along to them — along with noting how many lawsuits this will inevitably lead to. Bet they’ll cancel their policy preemptively, or force the city to do something about the issue.

chief spalding needs to be reminded that the role of the police is not to make, or interpet law, legislators, attorneys and judges do that. the police enforce the law those others make, and they in turn derive their authority from the people and the constitution. if the chief believes his authority supercedes the law it is time he finds another career not involving the law and its enforcement.

Since spalding and his subordinates have been given notice that their actions are not supported by the law, if they repeat such actions they are not acting as agents of the city, but in their private capacity. Therefore, in any legal action, they are NOT entitled to council provided by the city.

That point should be made crystal-clear to the city because if such council is provided any agent of the city involved becomes liable for providing service to private parties.

When fees and damages come from their own pocket…

How in the world can you or would you show these nazies the truth when their pay checks depend on them not knowing the truth?

Portland police have had a bad run lately, loads of scrutiny over shooting too many people. The payout to photogs may be a cost effective way to prevent an unjustified shooting being videotaped, resulting in a much larger lawsuit.

I live the border town of Beaverton. I plan tomorrow to go and record every officer on duty i see. Get myself arrested, then file suit, get $$ from damages, then repeat once a month for a living, until the law changes.

this is also a big F*$k you to all the abusive racist portland police piggies out there.