Pixiq

Everybody should be wired, video even better. Hahaha.

So now the oinkers are upping the ante. How dare a citizen carry a weapon as a clear affront to the godlike creatures with badges. They have a license to kill at will and make up the circumstances afterward. How dare you not kneel before him on demand.

Another patriot about to get a payday.

I cannot stop laughing when I read up to here:

"For one thing, Evers said, Fiorino could have been shot. Cops who raced to the scene could have gotten into a car accident or injured pedestrians.

Ultimately, the D.A.'s Office decided to charge Fiorino with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct."

It is really bullshit!

Not BullShit...Someone should be charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct....Sgt. Dougherty!

The officer escalated the situation beyond a reasonable level. You hear him state to leave his hands where they are, then later he changed his story to say his hands were in his pockets.

Then his directions to other officers were "GUN!" "Send Backup!" so the Sgt is the one who needs to be punished or re-trained at least.

and they wonder why everyone hates them...?

this incident is a great example of why the advice "always be polite and nice to cops no matter what" really doesn't get you far in the real world. sure, if the cop in question starts out polite and reasonable, maintaining a polite demeanor will reduce the chances of escalating the situation... but in my experience with police, this has been the case exactly TWO times out of the dozens of times I've dealt with them. in my experience, cops start out with a negative attitude, and no matter what one says or does, it goes downhill from there. in each of the two times I was approached in a polite and respectful manner, I wrote a personal letter to the officer in question, but I've far more often sent letters noting the deplorable behavior of officers I've dealt with. I am not saying this is the case with ALL police everywhere, but does seem to be the general trend with those I've encountered.
Fiorino is lucky the cop didn't shoot him.

Smart phone running Qik and uploading to youtube as it records.
May save your ass someday.
Mine is set to go with the touch of a finger as soon as the cops arrive.

Philly made an excellent point. I've listened to the recording. Our protagonist was nothing less than polite and respectful, whilst also making sure he got his (correct) point about the legality of his conduct across.

The officers come across to me as aggressive and unprofessional, most especially in regards to their unwarranted dropping of large numbers of f-bombs and sundry other profanities at a civilian. I've said it before and I'll say it again; if my Chief found that a member had spoken like that in the presence of a civilian, let alone AT a civilian, they would be up on charges.

I agree, the only disorderly conduct I heard was coming from the officer(s) involved; if anyone is brought up on charges, it should be them - oh and the DA, for their shameful agreement to a prosecution that I can only interpret as thinly-disguised - no, UNdisguised - revenge for the posting of a recording showing cops in such a bad light. No immunity for acts that are malicious, remember...

I'd be interested to hear Johnny Law's take on this.

Oh, on the "GUN!" thing, that's reasonable; they even teach firefighters and EMTs to clearly verbalize 'GUN" if they ever encounter a firearm at an incident scene; it's important that everyone be aware there's a gun involved. Standard procedure, don't read anything into it.

Mike

Unlike other cases where such LEO behavior was for "Contempt of Cop", Given officer Doherty's tone of voice, I think he was scared, afraid and ignorant of the law, so instead escalates the incident. Because of his fear, he escalated the situation beyond any reasonable measure. He could have asked Mr. Fiorino to give him the gun, or to throw it our of his reach, but instead decided to make it an unjustified case of police powers. IMHO, the the officer is a total putz, who is so scared at the sight of a firearm, he would have wet himself if not for numerous back-up officers coming code 3 (and needlessly endangering the public) rather than calmly and rationally dealt with the situation at hand. Hopefully this incident will cost the city, and the officer some serious $ so that that they might actually learn the law. I know, I know, but we can have hope can't we?

makes me wonder if those PIGGY morons can even read?

and if they can, do any of them own a PC and have access to the internet?

i would like to think, at least 85% or more can read, own a PC, and pay for access to the WWW!!

but i may be wrong, as i have been in the past and will, no doubt, be also in the future.
the "KEYSTONE COPS" would learn faster then the COPS doing this shit. and what their own co-workers think of them and of what they are doing, let alone the, 'common citizens" they are doing it to! "payback is a mother fucker". i am a firm believer of karma.
what you do in life to others comes back on you, and bites a chunk out of your ass, and you wont see it coming!
well all this is mute anyway, the world is ending MAY/21/2011 and if ya dont believe me, ask carlos!

The police behaved very poorly. I listened to the whole 40 minutes, and it really boiled my blood.

That said, it's important to recognize that these officers gave the audio recorder back and didn't tamper with it, even after realizing that they had been recorded and probably sounded like idiots.

While there are a lot of police officers that need to learn more respect for the citizens they are serving, and need to be educated more on the law, there are others that wouldn't hesitate to tamper with evidence and press false charges. Those are the serious problems.

It would have been much safer for Fiorino to get on the ground, and then have the conversation with Ofc. Doherty.

With a cop pointing a gun at him and yelling to get on the ground, he coulda easily gotten his nuts blown off. Whether he was legally open-carrying was irrelevant to the situation at hand.

Otherwise, the charges sound bogus. I didn't hear or read anything that sounded like Fiorino was recklessly endangering anybody, and I'd love to learn how the prosecutor arrived at that conclusion (anybody got a link the the court papers?)

Sure, the cop overreacted, but he was ignorant. The charge that would probably stick better was not obeying a lawful order from a cop, but I have no idea what's lawful in a situation like that. JL can say better.

Next time, save the bravado for the people you got the permit for -criminals. Do what the man with the gun says, then you can inform him that he's incorrect. You'll live longer.

Here's Fiorino's docket-

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=MC-...

"It was a setup. He's done this kind of thing before" - the prosecutor better have more than this if they want to win the case.

see below

Wow. They are totally making shit up. He never had conduct which places another person in danger (a gun on the hip does not meet that requirements) nor is he disorderly (well, nothing the statute says applies).

Just, FYI, here is the statutes in question:

Reckless endangerment, 18 § 2705.
" Recklessly endangering another person.
A person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if he
recklessly engages in conduct which places or may place another
person in danger of death or serious bodily injury."

Disorderly Conduct 18 § 5503.
" Disorderly conduct.
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of disorderly
conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance
or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
(1) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or
tumultuous behavior;
(2) makes unreasonable noise;
(3) uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture;
or
(4) creates a hazardous or physically offensive
condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of
the actor.
(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause
substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in
disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to
desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.
(c) Definition.--As used in this section the word "public"
means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which
the public or a substantial group has access; among the places
included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons,
apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any
neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public."

I carry, usually concealed but sometimes openly. I have been approached by officers which I expect to happen when I open carry. Never had a problem with them. I carry for protection.

This guy carries for attention. It's guys like this doing crap like this that is going to get laws passed to outlaw open carry. Without seeing what is going on it is hard to say if the cops overreacted or not.Knowing he is recording he could be saying one thing but his actions could be something else. This was a setup and I am glad he is being charged, he wanted attention now he has it.

It is relevant. Purposely going around causing situations like this is going to one day cost me my right to carry. These attention seekers are doing more harm than good.

The attention-seeker can't be blamed here.
If open carry is legal, then he is just
exercising his rights. A "right" that gets you
arrested or shot is just an empty promise by the Gov't.
Blame the ignorant cop for not knowing the law, not the guy who is legally walking down the road.

The "get on your knees" part creeps me out.
Just half a step away from some weird sex request.

I hope he exercises his right to sue the hell out of Philly. Fucking fascists.

I don't know whom is saying he did this to gain attention oh wait was it the same officers who tried to arrest him in the first place. I think police officers are truly beginning to overstep the boundaries would it have been different if he had been an off duty officer from another state trying to show them his id. I am not going to take a policeman's word saying he was trying to draw them into it. I heard the recording.

Un f'ing believable! I will say it again Un f'ing believable. And these stupid, dangerous SOB's are still "serving us" I presume?

We the people need powerful and effective means (other than shooting them) to deal with criminals that wear uniforms. If not it is going to come down to having to shoot them sooner or later.

Well.........

Once again we see the stupidity of uneducated Cops who go around flaunting their "I can do NO wrong" authority.

Let's face it (and the fact is), a lot of cops are just this way. They get bull headed to the point of being close minded when it's pointed out to them they're wrong and instead of admitting it (because they'll be embarrassed if they do), they fall back on trumping up charges to cover themselves.

It'll never change as long as they can get away with it and have (in most cases) the backing of the Union behind them. Even when they get sued the payout $$$$ doesn't affect them because it isn't coming out of their pocket.

As far as I'm concerned the Cops are the biggest "legal" gang of bad guys there is. Who in the non-LEO public could get away with what they do and not have to worry about it.

Rail Car Fan

I cannot support an organization that engages in "reckless endangerment" and then blames the victim. This cop will be supported by his boss, his fellows, and the legal system, e.g., no charges will be leveled against the cop or the DA who files false charges. Citizens have been shot to death, tazered to death, and violated all over the country in every state without penalty. We have a lawless police state and a lawless Federal government.

Look at the statistics. More citizens are killed by cops every year than criminals. So who will protect us from our protectors?

When are the citizens going to learn, it's illegal to show the world that cops are idiots with a badge and a gun.

Sheesh people... get with it.

Hazza:

please show me the law, If everyone starting asking maybe there would be some change, but your not even allowed to ask now.

but that gets back to some other shit, anyone may abuse the system, and how the ones that own the SYSTEM makes me want to vomit! the ESQ., COPS, and of course the judges are the system and the do just about what they want to us, within it. the only way we have any chance is to have an informed JURY!

without a jury doing what they want like puppets, jumping at their every command. they can do nothing to us. and the internet is part of the problem they have! its the end of the "PUPPET juries"!
if they cannot seat an entire jury that does not know about how a jury may nullify a LAW. THEY have lost even before the trial starts, and they know that.

i have seen first hand how they do this to jury's and how the "jury puppets" are created and used by "THEM".
the U.S.District Criminal and Civil court system is a joke, let alone the state level! the FEDS charge and convict for crimes that dont even exist!!!

HAZZA: and as you and I know, the USA is full of sheeple, otherwise known as, aka/puppets

Here are a bunch of comments from LEOs if you are interested:

http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/3704021-Incident-changes...

Thank you for that link. There's a wide range of cop reactions there. Very interesting.

The ONLY reason Fiorino is going to court, is because the audio embarrassed the department, period. That's all this is about. More of the same from the blue light gang.