Gangsters in Blue

Taken from Maddox’s page, the best in the Universe, this article nicely summarizes the growing divide between police and community. Personally, every time I see a blue stripe, window badge, or PBA card displayed in an illegally parked car, I think less of cops. Every time I see an unmarked cop car going 90 with the lights off, I think less of cops. Every time I see officers flicking their ASPs like they’re going to put someone in a coma, same. I’m sure the all black tacticool uniforms are a blast to mince around in and do a great job of intimidating violent criminals, but cops are peace officers, the gun, law, and endless backup are enough intimidation without having to play Berlin 1944 dress up. Bring back sky blue and khaki, wearing black is not a public service.

To the cops, you already have our money, you can’t demand our respect. If you want to be seen more as heroes and less as the guys who have kicked people into ovens throughout history, drop the thin blue line mentality and get back in touch with real people.

I tell any of my friends looking into law enforcement, become a fireman. You’ll get right with god, trading a career full of “goddamnit” for one full of “thank god.”

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=message_to_cops

“A message to cops.”

The point of this article isn’t to judge whether cops are justified in doing what they do. This article has nothing to do with police training. And this isn’t just about American cops. This is about the perception that we, the public, have of you when you perform the following actions. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with these perceptions, because right or wrong, they exist. The point of this article is to simply let you know that we’re watching, and this is how we see things.

1. When ten of you show up to make one arrest, it makes you look like cowards.

On my way home from a bike ride a few weeks ago, I saw three arrests being made in under an hour in a relatively safe part of the city. At one of the incidents, eight police cruisers responded to make one arrest. The guy who was arrested was ejected for being too drunk in a bar. Just one guy, and he was drunk. He had a stupid moustache, hadn’t hurt anyone and was drunkenly walking home when he was tased and tackled by 3 cops before 6 police cruisers showed up in addition to the two that were there, for a total of 8 cruisers and 10 cops. The man was unarmed.

How much backup do you need? It’s one guy. If you can’t handle one drunk guy by yourself, you shouldn’t be a cop. Training tells you otherwise? Well stop being trained by pussies.

2. When you tase somebody who isn’t trying to escape, it makes you look like lazy cowards.

A taser isn’t a remote-control for people. Want to talk to someone? Then walk over to them and talk. Don’t tase them and expect them to cooperate. Also, when someone is being tased and is writhing in cardiac arrest on the ground, they aren’t “resisting arrest” by not getting on their knees and neatly kowtowing to your demands. They’re incapacitated. You look like idiots barking orders at them when they can’t move.

Being a cop has certain risks associated with it. If you aren’t comfortable with those risks, don’t take the job. Always trying to minimize your risk of injury at the expense of others by being a tase-happy dipshit makes you look like lazy pussies.

Tasing everyone you see because they might pose a risk to you is like spraying everything with a fire extinguisher so it doesn’t catch fire. Part of the problem might be that many cops are overweight and out of shape. If you fatasses can’t chase someone down, then you shouldn’t be cops. Studies have shown that not being a lardass is just as effective as using a taser.

3. When you set up speed traps, it makes you look like you don’t have anything better to do.

I get happy every time I see a speed trap, because I assume it means all criminals have been locked up, you’ve caught the guys who broke into my car on three separate occasions and my stolen property will be returned shortly, right shitheads? Good job guys, take a break and make some scratch for the city. Because why the hell else would you be sitting on your ass in a ditch if that wasn’t the case?

People who speed are awesome. The last thing this world needs is more slow drivers. Traffic jams occur because of idiots braking prematurely.

And when you pull people over, how about doing it in a place that doesn’t obstruct traffic? You know what’s just as “unsafe” as speeding? Having to swerve into another lane because your stupid car is blocking traffic. Every time I pass another cruiser parked in two lanes, backing up traffic for miles, it makes me punch myself in the jaw until I pass out.

4. When you give out chicken-shit tickets for rolling through stop-signs at 3 AM, or closing down lemonade stands, it makes us think you’re morons.

We know that “the law is the law.” We also know that you’re not instruction-executing robotic morons. When you harass us with bullshit fees and fines, it makes us question your judgement. We know that this kind of shit is all about money:

The legal age for entering into contract in the United States is 18. So that effort to charge them fees by making them apply for a permit? Illegal. Law is the law, right? Arrest yourselves. And speaking of nepotism…

5. We know you guys use the buddy system to get out of speeding tickets. And it pisses us off.

Cops have a code that basically amounts to always letting fellow cops go. When a cop pulls over an off-duty officer, the officer who was pulled over discreetly flashes his badge to let him know that he’s on the force, and he’s simply let go. You think we don’t know what’s going on, assholes? It’s a courtesy not extended to anyone else, lest the officer is having a particularly good day and isn’t PMSing all over the highway.

Sometimes you write tickets for going 1 over the speed limit, sometimes it’s 10. Then when you get called on doing something stupid like writing a ticket to someone for a law that shouldn’t be enforced and rarely is (like jay-walking in New York), you hide behind your tired mantra that it’s the law and that you have to be consistent. Except when you aren’t.

6. When you flash your lights just to get through intersections, you look like assholes.

I’ve followed cops who’ve done this, only to see them park their cruisers for coffee or lunch. And speaking of lunch…

7. When you park in a red zone to eat, it makes you look like lazy assholes.

The argument can be made that police officers need to be near their cruisers at all times in case of an emergency. Fine, but that doesn’t entitle you to eat at the most popular restaurants. If you want to eat at some trendy restaurant, park at a meter and pay, like everyone else. Can’t find a meter? Tough shit, go someplace else. Doctors, surgeons, rescue workers and security all have important jobs where people’s lives are at stake, and you don’t see their cars popped up on the curb, obstructing traffic and parked illegally so they can fill their fat faces with lunch. We know you’ll never get written a ticket (see #5), it pisses us off, and it makes us trust you less, and cooperate less.

Now this is the part of the article where I say “I know that police officers have a tough job,” but they don’t. Being a cop isn’t hard, it’s dangerous. There’s a difference. Being an engineer, teacher or airline pilot is hard. Being a logger, deep sea crab fisher, coal miner or firefighter is hard and dangerous. Being a cop is dangerous, but usually not hard. Driving around, issuing chicken-shit tickets and filling out paperwork isn’t hard, it’s annoying.

This is also the part where I say “now I know that most cops are good,” but I don’t. I only know two cops in real life, and they’re both badass, but so is anyone I choose to call my friend. Most cops I see abuse their power every day by parking illegally, talking on their cellphones while driving, drifting in and out of lanes without turn signals, flashing their lights to get out of intersections and power tripping like crazy. If you’re a cop who’s reading this, rather than being butt-hurt by people’s perceptions of you, do something to change it. Write a fellow officer a ticket. Stick your neck out for us, rather than your colleague for a change. Do the right thing. We notice.

And as for us: record cops. Record them all the time. Record them even if they’re not doing anything. Cops are cracking down on this and they’re trying to change the laws to make it illegal so they can’t be held accountable for breaking the law. They look up your plates every time they’re behind you at a stop, even if you haven’t done anything, just to check up on you. It’s time we started checking up on them.”

- Der Bular

This post was submitted using CopBlock.org’s submission tab.

A Message To Cops is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Written by Ali Winston

Federal Judge Thelton Henderson and the court monitors overseeing the Oakland Police Department have been frustrated for years by the lack of accountability in the department when it comes to police officer misconduct. Typically, the department places officers accused of wrongdoing on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation. But then if internal affairs recommends an officer be disciplined, or even fired, that recommendation often is overturned later by an arbitrator.

This arbitration system is guaranteed by the union contract between the city and the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, and it often helps cops avoid department recommended discipline or termination. However, Judge Henderson recently indicated that he might add a new way to punish officers who commit wrongdoing. And if he chooses to implement this new disciplinary process, it will be the first of its kind in the country.

Henderson is considering holding officers in contempt of court if they violate a sweeping set of police reforms in the consent decree that stems from the Riders case. These reforms cover nearly every aspect of police conduct, so the judge, in effect, could discipline officers even if an arbitrator says they shouldn’t be.

The judge decided to explore this new path in the wake of an Oakland police officer’s decision to tape over his nametag during a confrontation with Occupy Oakland protesters following the November 2 General Strike. In a January 27 order, Henderson stated that officers accused of misconduct could be subjected to investigation by the Independent Monitoring Team that oversees OPD’s federal consent decree. Henderson also recently granted monitoring team members the power to carry out their own probes into officer misconduct based on their own initiative or at the request of Henderson or John Burris and Jim Chanin, the civil rights attorneys who filed a class action suit twelve years ago against four rogue West Oakland cops.

Judge Henderson’s assertion of the court’s power to conduct independent investigations and mete out contempt of court sanctions outside the normal union arbitration process came in an order relating to the nametag-taping incident involving Officer John Hargraves and former Lieutenant Clifford Wong on November 2. Hargraves was found to have violated policy by taping over his nametag, and Wong was found to have acted improperly by failing to report the incident to internal affairs and also turning off Hargraves’ lapel camera, which video of the incident shows was on when a photographer first raised the issue. The department suspended Hargraves for thirty days and demoted Wong to sergeant, but Henderson may decide to further discipline them through contempt of court proceedings.

The court’s ability to conduct independent inquiries into OPD policy and discipline is a “game changer,” said Rashidah Grinage of the police watchdog group People United for a Better Life in Oakland. Henderson’s order also circumvents the six-year-old barrier on disclosing police officer misconduct that has been in place throughout California since the 2006 State Supreme Court decision The Copley Press, Inc. v. The Superior Court of San Diego County (see “Deadly Secrets,” 10/12/2011), which barred independent police watchdogs from publicly identifying officers in misconduct complaints.

According to Grinage and Chanin, Henderson’s order affirming the court’s right to conduct future hearings on individual officers actions does not violate Copley because that ruling does not apply to court orders. In other words, Henderson’s decision also means that for the first time in six years, Oaklanders may have access to misconduct complaints about individual officers through the federal courts.

OPD’s long struggle to comply with federal reform efforts has already broken new ground in that it is the first department to face the possibility of a full federal takeover. Henderson’s decision to hold officers directly accountable through contempt of court sanctions also makes good on a threat he made last May when he asked the monitoring team to “get me a name” of any officer impeding or counteracting the consent decree reforms.

In addition to Hargraves and Wong, there may be another group of officers who could end up in front of Henderson over their actions during Occupy Oakland protests. This group appears to have acted contrary to departmental policy for how they treated protesters and for shuttering their lapel-mounted cameras during key moments of Occupy Oakland’s protest on January 28. Oakland police officers fired less-than-lethal beanbag rounds and threw tear gas-loaded “stinger” grenades at demonstrators gathered at 10th and Oak streets that afternoon, and once again at a group of several hundred demonstrators that police had surrounded, or “kettled,” at a park on 19th Street just off Telegraph Avenue. OPD’s actions on January 28, according to Chanin, show that the department has backslided from reforms undertaken after OPD fired on peaceful demonstrators at the Port of Oakland in April 2003.

“I think at this point the violations are so massive it’s as if they ripped up the crowd control policy and threw it away,” Chanin said

For their part, Oakland police officers contend that they were attacked with rocks, metal pipes, and bottles on January 28. And footage from dozens of lapel-mounted Vievu cameras, or “Personal Data Recording Devices,” worn by OPD officers could clarify what happened that day.

OPD purchased 350 Vievu cameras in September 2010 at a cost of $540,048. The devices were intended as a transparency tool to hold officers accountable for their actions during interactions with the public, and to deter false complaints against officers. Each device has four gigabytes of memory and can record up to four hours of video. OPD’s official policy for camera use states that officers must keep their cameras on while conducting vehicle or walking stops, and while making arrests. No stipulations are made for crowd control situations in the policy. But department instructions for lapel camera usage in OPD’s operations plan for November 2 stated that officers that had been issued lapel cameras were required to wear them and turn them on “if directly engaged with the crowd (i.e. dispersal order given, skirmish line moves toward crowd or during arrests or physical contact with members of the crowd).” However, videos and images from January 28 appear to show several OPD officers with their lapel cameras off during confrontations with demonstrators and while making arrests, including at least one officer who was photographed firing less-than-lethal rounds from his shotgun at fleeing demonstrators at 10th and Oak streets.

During the January 28 march toward Laney College, Officer Rodney Kirkland was photographed alongside Officer Bryan Clifford. Kirkland’s camera is off, while Clifford’s camera is on — as indicated by the green coloring around the lapel camera’s lens. Video footage shows Officer Kirkland apparently pushing Joanne Warwick, an Oakland attorney, to the ground as she stood in front of police lines with her bicycle on 9th Street near Laney College. Warwick was dragged behind police lines and arrested. Video footage shows that Kirkland’s camera was off during the incident. Kirkland was photographed later that afternoon near the Alameda County administrative building on Oak Street with his camera turned on. Warwick is currently charged with obstructing Officer Kirkland and blocking the street. She is one of eleven people who have been served with stay-away orders from Frank Ogawa Plaza.

When demonstrators advanced on a police line behind homemade shields after an initial volley of flash-bang grenades at 10th and Oak streets, OPD responded with more flash-bangs and shotgun-fired beanbag rounds, scattering the crowd. Among the shotgun-wielding officers of OPD’s Tango team was Acting Sergeant Casey Johnson. Multiple photographs and video show Johnson firing his shotgun at demonstrators — one image shows Johnson with his camera off and shotgun in a firing position, while three adjacent officers have their cameras on.

While OPD’s policy on lapel cameras is not clear-cut regarding crowd-control situations, it clearly states that officers must have their cameras while making arrests. Sergeant Ronald Holmgren was photographed making three arrests on January 28. During the first arrest in the afternoon, his camera is on. During the second arrest, his camera is turned off. Holmgren’s third arrest took place in front of the Rite Aid at 14th Street and Broadway, where a young man was arrested for attempted vandalism. Video and photos show Holmgren and two other supervisors, sergeants David Faeth and Lisa Ausmus, with their cameras off while Officer Bryan Alaura handcuffed the suspect.

OPD spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said officers could have turned their cameras off if the memory was full or if their battery packs had run down. However, Watson also said that Vievu cameras have internal monitors that show if cameras are low on battery, and that data will be crosschecked with footage to see whether officers are following procedure and truthfully documenting their camera usage.

“If officers are found turning off the system when policy requires it be on, that would be a policy violation and would lead to an internal affairs investigation,” Watson said.

According to Sergeant Chris Bolton, chief of staff to Police Chief Howard Jordan, OPD has had problems with non-functioning, lost, and stolen Vievu cameras. Since October, 86 cameras have been sent back to the manufacturer for various problems, and ten cameras have been lost or stolen since last April. When cameras malfunction, officers must immediately report the problem to their supervisor. The Internal Affairs Division is examining lapses in camera use during crowd control situations. However, Bolton said last week that the department had not yet decided whether officers violated departmental policies on January 28. “It would be premature to come to any conclusion for a specific officer or incident at this time,” he said.

Video by Jacob Crawford (Copwatch) and Ali Winston

This post was sent via CopBlock.org’s Submission Tab, click here to submit your story.

Oakland Police Caught Violating Camera Policy is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Walking up Arcadian St. in Waukesha I saw 2 cop cars. I filmed one going through the intersection. She drove by and I decided to film the other. Once he saw me with the camera he stopped cold in the gas station parking lot and starred me down for several minutes. He then adjusted his dash cam to fixate on me. I stood there for a bit and decided to approach this man with most likely, multiple guns, starring me down. I walked down to the crosswalk and the cop pulled out. I got a profile picture of him though he refused to look at me at close range.

The reason I film police is to protect myself and others. Waukesha police have a recent history of beating a 51 year old man with no record trying to comfort his daughter after a bad accident. After repeated requests for the video from the prosecution and defense, the police destroyed the 2 videos. They assure us it was a legit beating but a civil lawsuit is pending. They charged the beating victim but the judge dismissed it after seeing that the Waukesha police bosses and others accessed/showed the 2 videos at least 20 times then deleted them. She stated the custodian of those records acted in, “bad faith” insinuating a coverup.

My concern is that the first amendment to the Constitution is the first for a reason. What I mean is that it isn’t the 5th, the 18th, or even the 21st. Gathering information on government then disseminating it is the core right in this society and that in itself is substantial. People understood 240 years ago that the government will grow and will attempt to repress the natural rights of humans.

With the relative ease of reaching a wide audience with video, citizens now have the ability, and in many cases, the determination to expose the many injustices and violations of rights that occur on a regular basis within the police community. The fact that currently my state to the south threatens to imprison a middle aged man for life for simply recording the actions of police is certainly relevant.

Although my camera which I wear around my neck everywhere I go doesn’t properly capture the look on this cop’s face, the look on my wife’s face told me she was thoroughly fearful. We’re homeowners and have never been convicted of any crimes. We should suffer no more scrutiny by filming police than a child riding her bike. That is not the case in Waukesha WI, though we will try to change that.

-WaukeshaCopWatch

InjusticeEverywhere.com Police Misconduct – The government doesn’t track police misconduct but this site does.

Freekeene.com – Liberty Activism (videos) at it’s best

Waukesha Police Officer Stalks Videographer is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Mark Fiorino filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today against the Philadelphia Police Department, with the help of his lawyer and the PA ACLU. I thought it would be best to update your viewers and let them know the latest, so the PPD doesn’t get off the hook!

I wrote the update over on my blog:

About a year ago today, Mark Fiorino was stopped and threatened by several Philadelphia police officers for openly carrying his firearms, as we mentioned in an earlier blog post.  Fortunately for him, he recorded the entire incident on his voice recorder, which was then put on youtube by our fellow blogger, Timothy Havener.  The youtube video with the most content can be seen here, with parts two and three here and here (the first video contains most of what you’d be interested in hearing).

Back in April of 2011, assuming the docket sheet has the correct date, Mark was charged with disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment by the Philadelphia Police Department and the case proceeded to trial for preliminary arraignment.

In October of 2011, Mark was found not guilty on both accounts.

Today, 2/14/12, Mark filed a federal civil rights lawsuit with the help of his lawyer and the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

The complaint can be viewed here and the press release can be viewed here.

Read more about Mark Fiorino by clicking the links below:

Mark Fiorino Nearly Shot By Philly PD for Open Carrying

Mark Fiorino Update

-Andrew, blogger at Liberty Thinkers

Post sent via submission tab. Feel free to share your stories or concerns about policing with CopBlock.org readers. It’s quick, easy and will inspire others to do the same.

Mark Fiorino Update, Philadelphia Open Carry Case is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Chief Inspector Ian Kibblewhite, Borough of Enfield, London, England, quoted by BBC News:

If you make the wrong decision after tonight, trust me, we are coming after you . . . .

We know who you are.

You might have 100 people in your gang — we have 32,000 people in our gang. It’s called the Metropolitan Police.

— Chief Inspector Ian Kibblewhite

… Right. Look, man, you said it, not me.

(Via Lenin’s Tomb, via Charlie Davis 2012-02-11.)

See also:

• GT 2008-11-26: Professional courtesy, part 2: thugs on patrol
• GT 2007-10-13: Gangsters in Blue
• GT 2009-07-13: Oscar Goodman: Deep Cover Anarchist?
• GT 2007-03-26: Regulatory language

Folks in Keene, NH have been buzzing about the arrival of the “Rescue” vehicle – know as a Bearcat – which was “given” to the Keene Police department thanks to a Department of Homeland Security grant. After blowing off a batch of petitions, the city council (well one councilmen) decided to ask for a hearing – which will take place tomorrow night. Ian Freeman, blogger and radio show host, wanted to show Lenco’s (the manufacturer of the bearcat) promotional video for the armored vehicle. Today he reports on FreeKeene.com that:

I was told today by city staff that I would be disallowed from showing theLENCO video promoting their BEARCAT attack vehicle.

LENCO’s head salesman, Jim Massery admitted on the phone today that he didn’t think it should be shown to the council as it’s intended to market to the police.

Of course, that’s the point. LENCO is not marketing the BEARCAT to police as a rescue vehicle, as the council has been told. The councilors should see how this monstrosity is being promoted. If you haven’t, please watch the video that the city attorney doesn’t want you or the city commission to see. (Also, note that LENCO changed the permissions on their video to make it so it is not searchable and also so it can’t be embedded on other websites…like this one.) Then come out on Thursday evening and speak out against it. It’s our chance to reverse the deal and say, “Thanks but no tanks!”

LENCO’s head of sales also said he’d be attending the Keene committee meeting, which tells me LENCO doesn’t quite think they have this sale in-the-bag.

A short while later, Ian publishes another blog stating the video had been removed:

LENCO has pulled their BEARCAT promotional video offline completely. In the video, militaristic cops fire weapons, release gas into a home, and do other maneuvers that prove this product is NOT marketed as a rescue vehicle, all to an AC/DC soundtrack.

Isn’t it interesting that LENCO decided to pull the video offline this week? Do you think they’ve ever experienced pushback from a community like they have from Keene? They REALLY don’t want the city council to see this.

Luckily someone was on the ball and ripped the video before Lenco removed it. Below is Lenco’s promotional video with an added intro and outro by me.

For more information visit: http://freekeene.com/2012/01/28/bearcat/

Editor’s note: Shall we start the pool on how long it takes LENCO to report this video to YouTube (please mirror it if possible).

Bearcat Manufacturer Pushes Bearcats Against Public Outcry is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

I’m submitting my story because I feel it’s one a lot of people need to hear. I have been getting some negative feedback on CopBlock’s Facebook page from the cops that visit it, so here we go.

I was a member of the united states marine corps for 14 years, I joined in 1996 and left in 2010. My decision to leave is the basis of this post.

When I joined I was 18 and right out of high school, I was given a choice from my parents, go to school, or get a full time job. Neither of these options seemed all that appealing to me at the time, so I wondered, what do I do? My grandfather was a marine in WW2, so I figure this was good option for me because I wanted adventure and was really into testing myself physically. I served my first 4 years and it was exactly what I expected, I got to test myself, had a lot of adventures all over the world. It was the perfect life for me at the time.

Then 9/11 happend and everything changed. I remember being angry and wanted to get those responsible. I got my chance when I was a part of the first marine expeditionary unit that went to Afghanistan. We thought we ousted the Taliban, we came home and I thought it was over. Then we were sent to the northern border of Kuwait for what was going to be the obvious invasion of Iraq, this is when I first started to question what I was doing. I started thinking, what does Iraq have to do with this, what will our mission be? Nevertheless, the invasion came and went, the mission according to “president bush” had been accomplished or so we thought.

Then something happend through the next four deployments to that country. I realized that we had become occupying invaders of another country. I saw the complete devastation, death, and destruction to these people. I started asking questions like, how would me our my family feel if we had foreign occupiers walking our streets and imposing a curfew on me at the end of an automatic weapon. We made the people of Iraq prisoners, we brought an iron fist and death way worse than ever before. These questions were still not enough to make me come to the conclusion I finally came to. I realized that the government was responsible for this, why was I protecting a government like this? I wasn’t protecting the american people, or the constitution I was sworn to protect.

I had two run ins with police when I was home on leave to the things at home, while I was on leave, that ultimately made my decision for me. First, I was working on my fathers classic camero in his garage and having a few beers while I was doing it. I noticed a cop roll by 3 times in about 10 minutes, finally he stopped in front of the house, walked up the driveway came into the garage and aske for my I’d. Now at this pont I started reading quite a bit, especially the constitution, so I knew right away my rights were being violated. I asked him what was he doing on my property and if he new the 4 th ammendment? He then called for back up told me to sit down, which my response to him was to stop trespassing. He then told me that he noticed the car running and I was drinking. I was working on my car in the garage and was starting it periodically because of the work I was doing. He then told me he could site me for DWI! Long story short, I never showed my ID, and after I started quoting the 4th ammendment and my rights they realized that I was an informed citizen and they left, but before he left he said “your a marine were on the same team you should be more cooperative next time”. This about floored me, I was on his team?

Last encounter came a year later. I was at a party it got loud, a neighbor called the police, a female was walking into the party I was walking out, the cops stopped her asked for her ID and she refused to give it because she obviously knew her rights. What happend next astonished me. The crew cut officer put in a half nelson and slammed her head into the ground, she picked her her head up and it was obvious right away that she had a giant gash in her forehead, she looked at me and screamed in desperation for help and that’s what I did. I grabbed the officer off of her and he then began to attack me. My instincts kicked in and I dislocated his elbow. I was arrested for 1st degree assault and obstruction.

Long story short, I got a good a lawyer and because of my distinguished service, and pending deployment, the obstruction was dropped and the assault charge was lessened. I remember being angry through the process, but then came to the realization that my military service helped protect the government and it’s agents from committing crimes against American citizens like this. I wasn’t only on their team, I was the protector of their violence and murder against the citizens I thought I was supposed to protect! I was protecting them! That was it, this was the last straw, I made the most important moral decision of my life, 6 years before retirement I did not reenlist. I felt I was lied to and would longer going to be an enforcer of an unjust government that cares nothing about their citizens or the constitution. I realized all the government and it’s agents cared about was control. Control over us while stealing by taxation and ticket to continue to fund their violence and oppresion at home and around the world. Since I’ve got out and started telling my story I have received positive and negative feedback, usually from the police officers. I am so thankful for this website and all you do, I will keep it up on my end.

- Andy

Videos added by Ademo:

To Serve or Not to Serve. is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDU5rvYNfGo

(Sorry, the first part is pretty shaky) I was dropping off a rental car 1/19/11 in Denver. There are thousands of rental cars in a section of Denver airport. This thug in a blacked out unmarked pickup was targeting visitors and tourists dropping off rental cars. The roads around the area are quite confusing and obviously everyone is from out of town. While pulling in, this man in a police outfit had a different driver pulled over in the drop off lanes of this busy car rental place. He had the other guy stopped in the same area again blocking traffic. In this particular video he is taking up 2 of the car agency’s busy lanes significantly interrupting business. I spoke with the citizen on this video on the shuttle to the terminal and he said he was cited for not coming to a complete stop during a right turn on a red light. His ticket was for $167. He said it was a 4 point violation. He also said he hadn’t had a traffic citation in over 15 years.

by: fromjanesville2waukesha

Send your stories about police abuse, police issues or suggestions on improving police tactics to CopBlock.org, via the submission tab.

Denver Police Tourist Trap is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Patrol Officer Peter Cloutier of Augusta, Maine Police Department knowingly, willfully, and intentionally violated my civil and common law rights as guaranteed by the 4th and 14th Amendments, as well as criminally trespassing on my private home through the use of intimidation, force, coercion and threat of kidnapping and bodily injury.

After Officer Cloutier and his partner left my property (and with their tails stuck prominently between their legs), I sent the following email to Officer Cloutier’s Chief of Police, Robert Gregoire, who then forwarded it to Deputy Chief Jared Mills for an Internal Affairs investigation which was commenced January 19, 2012, verbatim:

Dear Chief Gregoire, and all other interested persons reading this lawful notice:

Attached you will find a raw, unedited, genuine electronic audio recording of your agent, Peter Cloutier’s, unlawful interactions with myself last night under the guise of him responding to a service call placed by my neighbor, Jack Hagop Alahverdian, the basis of which and the outcome of said conversation is very clearly explained on the .mp3 recording attached to this message.

I am sending this email communication to notify you, Chief Robert Gregoire, that your agent, Peter Cloutier, did blatantly violate my civil rights last night at 7:37pm, January 18, 2011, and did trespass on my private property and threateningly forced his way into my private dwelling without permission or license to enter.

Peter CLoutier did, without license or my permission, put his hand on my entrance screen door and opened the door and held it wide open, under the pretense of needing to ‘see me’, although his partner did not articulate having any difficulty ‘seeing me’ through the screen in my door, despite my private porch and my private internal entry being adequately lighted.

Upon Peter Cloutier unlawfully opening the door to and trespassing upon my private dwelling, he then proceeded to try to intimidate me through the use of force, coercion and threat of kidnapping to try to coerce me into allowing him into my private home, clearly under duress and coercion and threat of violence and bodily harm.

I did not at any time give Peter Cloutier permission to physically enter my dwelling at any time.

Peter Cloutier physically entered my private dwelling without license or permission to enter for the purpose of unlawfully violating my civil rights as enumerated and guaranteed by the 4th and 14th Amendments, which I am sure you are well aware do clearly describe the prohibition against unlawful search and seizure, my civil rights to receive EQUAL PROTECTION under the COMMON and STATUTORY LAWS, and my civil unalienable and inalienable right to be free from illegal deprivation of life, liberty or property within the boundaries of my personal physical body and private home.

Peter CLoutier did threaten to kidnap me if I did not allow him to unlawfully enter and search my private home.

I did not at any time give Peter Cloutier permission to enter my home, touch my physical body which he did in fact do with his upper chest with the intention of intimidating me into surrendering to his unlawful violation of my civil rights as enumerated by the 4th amendment of our Bill of Rights.

Peter Cloutier clearly and emphatically denied that he is subject to the lawful prohibitions against illegal search and seizure and he did in fact violate my civil rights to receive equal protection under the common laws as evidenced by him specifically and clearly verbally denying that HE DOES NOT NEED my permission to enter my private dwelling, obviously and blatantly in contradiction to the restrictions enumerated by the 4th and 14th Amendments and being confirmed by HIS immediate physical withdrawal from my property and his failure to return with a search warrant, as he blatantly threatened while he and his partner left my property.

You will be able to experience for yourself the interactions between me and your agents through your immediate review of the attached .mp3 audio file taken at 7:37pm on January 18, 2011 while I stood at all times on the internal side of the threshold to my dwelling place.

Peter Cloutier physically crossed the threshold to my private dwelling by the unlawful use of force, intimidation and threat of kidnapping and bodily harm, in direct violation of my civil rights under the 4th and 14th Amendments to the Bill of Rights.

My private exterior dwelling porch, exterior stairs and front entry door are now posted with “PRIVATE PROPERTY – NO TRESPASSING” signs, which were specifically placed after your agents removed themselves from my private porch. All of your officers and agents are now subject to a $5,000.00 penalty for EACH PERSON and for EACH OCCURRENCE of any and all forms of trespassing upon my private property, including my private exterior stairs, porch, interior entry, and all interior spaces, also including my physical body, and my Toyota Celica which sits in my driveway.

Your agents DO NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION to enter or seize my private property WITHOUT A PROPER SEARCH WARRANT, PROBABLE CAUSE, AND LAWFUL DUE PROCESS.

You have been lawfully notified.

All events of physical trespass by any and all of your agents will be subject, PER PERSON, PER OCCURRENCE, to a $5,000.00 penalty, payable in $1.00 denominations of .999 silver coinage within 7 days of each violation.

Conduct yourselves accordingly.

Gina T.

Recorded Interaction with Police

UPDATE: Link to Gina’s 1hr long conversation with Internal Affairs,  http://mortalsage.org/storage/Audio/Fr33dum/V0125140107.mp3

Send your stories about police abuse, police issues or suggestions on improving police tactics to CopBlock.org, via the submission tab.

Just Say “NO!!” 4th & 14th Amendments is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Recently I was found guilty in my Chalking 8 trial, while highlighting those bogus charges we (Pete and I) met Frank and Mike, who took this video of Manchester Police Officer Murphy. The video went viral and received attention from several news outlets. Instead of taking a serious look at the actions caught on tape the city went into defense mode.

The Police, school and local government officials sought to criminalize Frank, Mike and myself. They expelled Frank from school, charged Mike as an adult (over a teenage fight) and charged me with three counts of wiretapping. Crimes the state says justifies caging me, at your expense, for 21 years.

I’ve been through this before in Greenfield, MA and am confident I can present my case, logically. The problem I face in Manchester that I didn’t have in Greenfield is the personal vendetta those in Manchester seem to have for me. After all, I was given the max sentence (with 10 months of it stayed for 2 years good behavior) for ‘resisting’ my arrest.

With that in mind I’ve thought long and hard about how I’d like to tackle this case. I’ve done all the homework, reading up on New Hampshire’s wiretapping law, talking with lawyers, brainstorming ideas with fellow activist and more and it’s come down to one thing, funding. Which is why I made this video asking for your help.

As stated in the video, I think a lawyer would be beneficial to ensure I have fair pre-trial hearings and ‘proper’ (in their eyes) procedure during trial. Considering this will be an expectation of privacy trial – and that public officials have none – it will be more difficult that my Greenfield trial. Yet, a win here could do wonders for activists in the “Shire” attempting to change coercive government actions.

That being said, I also know, and appreciate, the offensive tactic as well and when done properly, is mightier than the current justice system. In terms of risk, I end up taking more with this tactic, as these actions will be done outside the court room. The best part of this strategy is that the actions the government is trying to distract you from – excessive force, deletion of evidence and criminalization of those who question government – will be front and center. As this issue goes further back than just one phone call, the Manchester police have gotten away with murder (literally) for a while now.

Regardless of how this fund raiser goes, I’ll be in court, speaking the truth and defending my position on filming, recording and monitoring public officials. I would greatly appreciate you donating to either cause as it would help me (and other activists) further the message of police accountability. You can also buy CopBlock.org swag, which help funds our CopBlock activities, or contact me for video intro/outro’s and power post. For those unable to donate, sharing CopBlock.org content and social networks is just as good as FRN’s and I need/appreciate your support as well.

Thanks in advance.

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Ademo’s First Hearing (video) – CopBlock.org
CopBlock Founder faces 20 years – Photography Is NOT a Crime
Ademo Responds to Charges by CopBlock
Manchester’s Chalking 8 by Cop Block
High School Student Catches Excessive Force on Video by Cop Block
Video shows West High student’s arrest by Mark Hayward in the Union Leader
West High student arrest video goes viral by Kathryn Marchocki in the Union Leader
Teen on school arrest: ‘I was goofing around’ by Mark Hayward in the Union Leader
Manchester students say videotape of arrest was not planned by Shawne Wickham in the Union

Defensive or Offensive? That is the Question… is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights