Another reason some of us have problems with cops

[High Plains]

Ever tried to file a complaint about police misconduct? CBS 4 TV in Florida did after hearing from the public that, in most local police departments, trying to file a complaint against an officer is at best an exercise in futility, at worst an excuse for police thuggery. The results of their investigation are a revealing view of what, sadly, passes for "serve and protect" among too many police forces.

And I gotta say, it's a sad day when a street thug like Miami Police Chief John Timoney comes off looking like a progressive cop. Jesus Christ, how bad is it in the rest of South Florida?

Here's the link to full story, well worth checking out for the transcripts of the encounters with police. It also has a link to videos of those same encounters. Very educational viewing.

Check it out at: http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_033170755.html

Here's the lead and few paragraphs:

Police Station Intimidation-Parts 1 and 2
Undercover Video You'll Find hard To Believe
I-Team Uncovers Imtimidation In Complaint Process
See The Reaction From Police Officials

Mike Kirsch
Reporting



Most police officers are a credit to the badge, serving the community and the people who pay their salary, getting criminals off the street, making the community safer for everyone. But on occasion, a police officer and a member of the public they serve don’t see eye to eye, and the citizen feels a need to complain. In many departments around the country, the process starts out simply: a person just requests a complaint form.

Police departments around the country, like here in Tallahassee, give citizens police complaint forms all the time, no questions asked. But walk into a police station in South Florida, trying to find out how to file a complaint, and watch what happens. BS4 News found that, in police departments across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, large and small, it was virtually impossible to walk in the door, and walk out with a complaint form.

<snip>

After hearing our undercover video described, in which representatives of different departments were seen refusing to supply complaint forms, and at times, appearing to belittle or insult the undercover tester for asking (see transcripts below), Timoney said at times the behavior seemed inappropriate for his department’s standards.

<snip>

In the I-team’s undercover investigation, there was one incident in which our tester went in to file a complaint. After several times asking for a form, being told "you're not leaving without a form," he was asked to leave and actually walked off the property, to the point where the officer reached for his gun, put his hand on his gun and said, "Take a step closer, and see what happens.".

<snip>

Transcript from attempt at Sea Ranch Police Department:

(Sea Ranch PD
cop; We don't give you -- we don't give you a form. Where do you live?
tester: I don't want to say.
officer: You don't want to say?
tester: Where are you going?
officer: You want to play hardball? We'll play hardball. I want ID.
tester: For what?
officer: I'm asking you for ID right now, that's why. Here, hand it to me. Hand it to me.
tester: Are you kidding me? Here.
officer: I said, hand me your ID. What are you doing here? This is --
tester: I came to ask you how to file a complaint.
officer: This is very suspicious.
tester: Asking how to file a complaint is suspicious?
officer: Why don't you shut up?
officer: I say this is very suspicious, that you pull in here at this time of night --
tester: Eight o'clock?
officer: You're constantly butting in.
tester: I'm constantly butting in?
Mike: Sir, I would like to leave.
officer: I would love it, but he's got your driver's license, so you're just going to have to stay.
Mike: Sir, are you detaining us?
officer: Okay, could I give you a ticket right now for improper backing.
Mike: You can do whatever you want, I suppose.
officer: Okay, that means yes, I guess you're saying, right? ANd for backing up, correct, yes?
Mike: I was backing up, sir, because I was leaving.
officer: But because I'm a nice guy, okay, I'm going to give you a warning. Is that fair?
Mike: Yes, sir.
officer: Okay.)

edited: to fix missing word in headline

[High Plains]

1. Whatever happened to Officer Friendly?

[ret5hd]

2. legalized gangsters n/t

[Poll_Blind]

3. K&R, going to read the full article. Good grief... n/t

PB

[Selatius]

4. ALWAYS QUESTION AUTHORITY

That officer needs his ass kicked for abuse of power.

[dysfunctional press]

30. good credo...

nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Punishist Posse wailing and gnashing of teeth in 5... 4... 3...

[High Plains]

8. I'd like to see what the posse has to say.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

34. Me too. Seems they've chickened out.

Even THEM are having a hard time defending this, it seems.

But you can bet your driver's license they're fuming at the sneaky dirty liberals for having the evil idea of filming their "heroes".

[Occulus]

36. I think more ordinary people should be doing things like this

and putting the videos out for PSP consumption, public viewing, etc.

My suspicion is, this is how many such requests are treated in many locations throughout the country.

[Sparkman]

6. Loses a lot in the translation...why did officer begin to draw pistol?

who was approaching the officer? it said "backing up"
You also don't have to STAY just because they keep a driver's license, still have your keys.
It's a traffic violation to drive without ID, but tell a judge the cops wouldn't return it.
Was Mike a witness? Two testifying is a useful.
I was at a Honda Dealer, they went to copy info off my license, then kept it when I wanted to leave, "can't find it". So I walked out, saying I'll just report it as it happened to the cops.
The salesman found my license in 10 seconds.

[High Plains]

7. The whole encounter is on video at the link provided in the OP.

[alarcojon]

25. Watch the videos (both parts)

and then try to defend these assholes.

[Poll_Blind]

9. After reading it- this is ASTOUNDING...will take 5 min. to read

Really, please read this. You will not believe what you are reading.

Makes me want to set up a sting like this in my own town.

PB

[mrcheerful]

11. I guess you never rode motorcycles. Try having a cop pulling you over

for doing 60 in a 45 zone. Not because you were going 60 but because the cop had to do 60 to catch up with you because you were 2 miles ahead of him when he turned the corner and saw you. Then before he gets out of his car 3 more cop cars show up. Go to court and try to tell the judge what happened. The then cop says he followed you around the corner with his lights on and you failed to stop. See who wins. A $60 ticket ended up costing me over $200 plus 4 points.

[High Plains]

12. Good things cops never lie in court.

[Occulus]

37. Many cops lie in court.

Translation: many cops aren't "good".

[Sparkman]

18. OK, I've got one. In my 60 VW beetle, 36 hp, the officer's ticket said ...

that I was "continuing to swerve from curb to curb" after making a turn at night in the rain.
I did swerve, ONCE for fun, didn't see him til too late. The lie stood, judge ignored it and fined me the $300.

[High Plains]

19. Actually, cops perjuring themselves happens so often there's a

name for it: testilying.

Everybody in the criminal justice system knows it.

[Sparkman]

22. I've experienced the "we may be stretchg it now, but we know you got away

with it many times and didn't get caught" operating theory. The generalization fails, and tends to send victims over the edge into repeat offending, unless an intervention by several caring friends happens. The prisons are testimony to how far things have gotten out of hand, mostly from the profit motive. Decriminalizing victimless offenses is harder than chrome-molybedenum steel.

[Sparkman]

15. Best to hire someone from OUT OF TOWN. Cops can be a bitch if stirred up.

[Poll_Blind]

16. I was -just- reading the same thing at Copwatch. Sounds like good advice!

Thanks for bringing it up...

PB

[ret5hd]

10. kick

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

13. K&R Astounding.

Not.

Typical?

Probably.

[Blue Diadem]

14. Excellent videos at the link..and I have to say this doesn't surprise me

not one bit. Known leo's all my life..some of them are asses.

[Poll_Blind]

17. FYI, appears you need Flash 8 for this video to load properly. n/t

PB

[Rex]

20. "Okay, could I give you a ticket right now for improper backing."

Could you give him a ticket? I dunno, you're the law...what does all that training say? I have a hard time believing most cops are this stupid. Reprimand for stupidity.

[alarcojon]

21. Hmmmmm, I wonder...

.......if it's even harder for someone with a darker complexion to file a complaint against a cop.

[sasha031]

23. Whoa this is good

great investigating reporting:applause:

[mousie]

24. unbelievable!!

and very scary... we ARE becoming a police state. I can't believe some people still voted that forms are not needed!!!

[High Plains]

26. Just to kick this along one more time...

[Us vs Them]

27. It's easy to tell which cops are REAL men and which cops are

just scared little boys with big guns and a badge complex. Sometimes just by looking at them.

[mshasta]

28. The Cops have gotten worse since George Bush stole the presidency

[High Plains]

29. It's the tenor of the times.

Miltarism, jingoism, SWAT teams, Team America, all that crap.

I really hate this paramilitarized stuff. Cops look like Darth Vader.

[dysfunctional press]

31. i had an off-duty cop pull a gun on me over a traffic issue...

i didn't KNOW he was a cop- i stopped the next squad-car i saw, and reported it...later on i got a call from iad- that was when i found out, and when i decided not to push the issue- at the time, i just didn't want to have ANY problems with ANY police for ANY reason...
if it happened today, it would happen very differently.

[misanthrope]

32. Not surprising in the least...

...I've got a list of stories like that. I've been harassed by cops on a few occasions and it sucks because you're effectively helpless since he has the badge and the gun and you've got squat.

I have a friend who lived in New Orleans and he had some memorable experiences with the police there, a lot of whom are basically another class of criminals.

Always regard law enforcement with skepticism and caution.

[Mythsaje]

33. Pretty scary stuff

though it comes as no real surprise. I've met some pretty screwed up cops--thankfully the worst of them weren't particularly sharp.

In one town I lived in and around for years, the cops gotta be corrupt...one of the biggest drug dens in the town is a bar right across the street from the courthouse and kitty-corner from the cop shop.

Of course I'm fully aware that the drug war is a farce, that it produces corruption and criminal behavior in those people who are most susceptible.

[ret5hd]

35. kick for the morning crew

[High Plains]

38. Yeah, let's give it one more kick.

[pitohui]

39. yes i have tried and it is as you say

it makes me chuckle to read such threads as "what happens when america becomes a police state?"

we are already a police state and if you have ever been victim of police misconduct you know you almost never have any recourse

[G_j]

40. just Google: "Amnesty International" FTAA Miami

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-18,RNWE:en&q=%22Amnesty+International%22+FTAA+Miami

below is from the first page, search brings up 27,200 stories


``
FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) - PC(USA) Amnesty International Calls for Probe of Miami Policing from Reuters Go.. Information Warfare in Miami by Ilyse Hogue & Patrick Reinsborough Go... FTAA Ship ...
www.pcusa.org/trade/ftaa.htm - 52k - Cached - Similar pages


FTAA/Miami: Judge: I Saw Police Commit Felonies Published on Saturday, December 20, 2003 by the Miami Herald. FTAA/Miami ... Amnesty International, the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers of America all ...
www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1220-03.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages


Group Wants Investigation of Police Tactics at Miami Trade Talks MIAMI, Nov. 26 — Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an investigation into police tactics during last week's Free Trade Area of the Americas ...
www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1127-02.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.commondreams.org >


USA: Allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment of ... ... review of the FTAA security operation and would produce a public report. ... An event organized by the Miami chapter of Amnesty International during the ...
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511422003 - 22k - Cached - Similar pages


USA: Letter to Governor Jeb Bush - Amnesty International ... Area of the Americas (FTAA) demonstrations in Miami on 20 November 2003. ... Amnesty International notes the announcement by Miami police chief John ...
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ ENGAMR511602003?open&of=ENG-2M4 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages


FTAA Miami Police Violence Draws Criticism by Rachel Milanez Amnesty International, the AFL-CIO, and others are demanding that this collusion ... The Miami City Council adopted several ordinances hours before the FTAA ...
www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=721 - 77k - Cached - Similar pages


Global Exchange : News Updates Amnesty International says the rape was a warning to dissuade union members from ... Panel faults police during FTAA -- A draft report by the Miami-Dade ...
www.globalexchange.org/ftaa/update.html - 49k - Cached - Similar pages


FTAA Miami Roundup: What you may not have read about the FTAA protests. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into police tactics during last ...
www.witherspoonsociety.org/ftaa.htm - 36k - Cached - Similar pages


UU World: UUs mobilize in Miami for FTAA protests UUs mobilize in Miami for FTAA protests ... Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union are investigating apparent violations of civil ...
www.uuworld.org/2004/02/newssocialwitness.html - 4k - Cached - Similar pages


Police Repression and Civil Liberties News and Updates Citizens ... Groups air gripes about police actions, Miami Herald, December 17, 2003 Amnesty International Condemns Police Violence at FTAA Protests, ...
www.citizenstrade.org/ftaa_police.php

[High Plains]

44. That's one of the things that makes this story so disturbing...

Timoney comes off looking enlightened compared to the cops at other local departments. I saw this guy's command style in action in Philadelphia during the 2000 Shadow Convention. He is a thug.

[G_j]

45. yes I remember

a friend was whisked away with others while making puppets.


Timoney has learned a bit of PR. It makes him a more effective fascist.

[LuCifer]

41. I had to move out of South FL partly cuz of the pigs there...

...just looked down on you if you weren't living in a gated community with 2.5 kids and 4 SUVs. Mind you, my dad was a cop FOR 3 DECADES, and even HE agrees (and he's about as conservative and law-and-order as you can get!).
The Palm Beach County Sheriffs are well know for harrassing any guy with long hair or black people. The cops in Delray Beach, Palm Springs, Boca, Boynton, and most all the munipalities are not much better. And they wonder why the crime rate of not just the Palm Beaches, but all of South Florida, is totally out of control. Well gee, you spend all your goddamn time harrassing people cuz you're a closeminded bigot, instead of actually DOING YOUR JOB, go figure.

Lu

[RB TexLa]

42. the suspicious thing, we had someone shot in our parking lot

And the cops when nuts on me saying that I had to call them about it. I informed them that I mind my own business. Said something about it being suspicious, just like the guy in the video. It's suspicious that I mind my own business???

[politicat]

43. That's insane. We have descended into feudal bullying.

I knew Colorado and Arizona were bad - in part because of "performance based promotion" policies for ALL government employees (i.e. cops and other social service workers get promoted based entirely on their prosecution or arrest or similar records, giving them an economic incentive to arrest and prosecute rather than on something rational and reasonable)...