Gangsters in Blue

So we know that assault and theft will often not end with a cop receiving a pink slip.  So what will?  Well if you are a cop for the North Miami Beach Police Department, attempting to cast a “magic” spell may very well get you fired.  From the Miami Herald:

Two North Miami Beach employees — one a police officer, the other a department office manager — are in hot water after trying to enlist some supernatural aid in the form of what they believed to be a Santeria practice.

Their alleged target: City Manager Lyndon Bonner, whose plan to slash the police budget prompted protests and union outrage this fall.

Their mystical material: handfuls of birdseed which, according to an internal affairs report, they hoped to scatter in and around Bonner’s fourth-floor office at City Hall.

But when they tried to recruit a janitor to sprinkle the seeds, she balked — and turned them in.

Officer Elizabeth Torres told investigators she meant the manager no harm: “I want to clarify, that it’s nothing malicious and nothing intended to hurt that person.”

She was told last week she faced termination over the August incident, which took place against the backdrop of a contentious budget season. Unionized city employees must go through an appeal process before they can be fired.

Office manager Yvonne Rodriguez, who is not a member of the union, was fired last week for her role in the plot.

While Santeria practitioners have argued that their practice constitutes a legitimate religion and bristle at depictions of the practice as black magic or witchcraft, they acknowledge that public displays of their traditions can spook non-believers. And both adherents and experts say that the Afro-Cuban religion, itself an amalgamation of Catholicism and African spiritual traditions, does not count malice — such as casting harmful spells — as one of its principles…

Torres, a 24-year department veteran, told investigators she was motivated in part because she couldn’t attend union protests over budget cuts due to her work and school schedule. She said she does not practice Santeria but said she was familiar with the religion through family members, according to an internal affairs report released Wednesday.

The report found the women violated city rules with conduct that is offensive toward a fellow employee, conduct unbecoming of a city employee and conduct that brings the department into disrepute or reflects discredit on the individual employee.

Officer Faces Unemployment for Casting a “Spell” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Imagine a man threatened to burn your house down with your kids and disabled, elderly mother inside. You call 911, and attempt to continue to the store you were heading for. Less than 2 minutes after the threat, you are being viciously assaulted, kicked, punched, thrown to the ground, hair ripped from the scalp, by the man’s girlfriend, and her friend. Then, just when you finally think all will be well, the cops are there dealing with it, the officer comes over to talk to you, he opens his mouth, and says, “Ok, I’ve talked to my Corporal, and this is what she said we’re doing. You’re being charged with Battery. You’ll receive a notice in the mail to appear for arraignment.” Um, EXCUSE ME?!

Fact is, it happened. It happened to a disabled woman and her husband, Jason, and Geneva Robinson, on a ‘good’ day for her, one where she was walking, and not forced by pain into her wheelchair. The girlfriend mentioned above, Tina Jones, was quite aware of her disability, as she happened to be the assistant manager of the Dollar General store the couple was walking, to purchase food for their 5 young children. So how is it that a disabled woman can be brutalized in such a manner and the police choose to overlook the obvious facts? Quite frankly the answer is found in the officer’s statement, “…talked to my corporal…”.

Back in January, during a different incident, the woman was sexually assaulted (assault: any unwanted, unsolicited touch or strike) by an officer, Officer Procter, under the command of Corporal Melanie Law. When Mrs. Robinson requested of Corporal Law to file a report, and wanted to press charges on the Officer Procter for his actions, Corporal Law outright refused, and ignored Mrs. Robinson’s requests, finally telling her to just ‘file a complaint’ at the department, Panama City Police Department (Panama City, Florida), which she did. There was some harassment from the PCPD after the complaint was made, from bogus traffic stops to code enforcement (commonly called lawn nazi’s). The assault was the first time, however, that Corporal Law had run across Mrs. Robinson herself.

On the scene of the assault, while sitting holding her ribs, mouth bleeding, and clumps of hair in her hand, Mrs. Robinson, after being informed she was to be charged with Battery, repeatedly requested to file a report, as well as victim statements. Under the direction of Corporal Law, per his own statements, the officer refused, and ignored the requests, sending the Robinson’s to walk home.

SEE PICS OF THE EXTENSIVE BRUISING FROM THE ASSAULT

Currently, Mrs. Robinson has been speaking with Corporal Law’s Lieutenant, Lt. Clayton, and Officer McMillan, the ‘investigative officer’ on the case. At first, they tried to pander around and avoid answering questions. After speaking twice with the local prosecutor’s office, and being told to , “go to PCPD, and get in their faces until they let you file the victim statement”, 5 days after the attack, the Robinsons were finally allowed to file their statements. What hasn’t been answered satisfactorily, is why they were refused on the scene, and had to go to such extremes just to be allowed their basic right. At present, PCPD has still not allowed a report to be filed on the initial verbal threats, which were made by Mr. Jimmy F Bailey, the son, and worker, of his parents’ gas station, Bailey’s Gas Station, from which he was yelling the threats. In fact, during the most recent, and voice recorded, phone conversation with Officer McMillan, Mrs. Robinson was asked, “why haven’t you filed a report on the threats of his burning down your house?”. Point in fact, she made the initial 911 call due to those threats, the assault was a secondary issue that occurred after the 911 call was placed.

NOW AVAILABLE!!

Police Report with the Obvious Inconsistencies

911 Call Log Showing ROBINSON Number as the \’Initiating Call\’

MEDICAL DX FROM THE ASSAULT

Prior Report For BATTERY On Initial Attacker, Katherine Ashton

There remain many questions, and few good answers. It seems as though the longer it goes, the harder the questions PCPD has to answer to the Robinsons. This isn’t just a 3rd hand knowledge issue, either. I, the author, personally witnessed it. More than just witnessing, I am Geneva (Eva) Robinson. My hair was ripped out, I was repeatedly kicked, hit, scratched, and thrown to the ground by 2 women, Tina Jones, and Katherine Ashton. My husband and I were verbally assaulted by Ms. Jones’ boyfriend, Jimmy Bailey. Please, I invite you, look at the ‘witness’ statements (2 alleged witnesses were employees of Ms. Jones, the third was her own boyfriend, Mr. Bailey!), the ‘victim’ statements by Ms. Jones, and Ms. Ashton, and the intrepid Officer McMillan’s ‘Investigative Summary’. I will publish a list of various inconsistencies, though it’s hardly necessary, as even my own 10 yr old daughter can see them immediately. Form your opinion, and please, let me know what you think, and how you feel! I will post a separate post with a more detailed account of all that transpired, as well as an account of the initial incident involving Cpl. Law, and her sexual assaulting Officer Procter. I’m far from alone, this is epidemic everywhere. Let’s work together, and stop this from occurring!

To voice your opinion, and ask WHY this incident was handled in such a manner, please call PCPD at (850) 872-3112.

Molon Labe!

Disabled Woman Assaulted, and They’re Charging WHO With Battery?! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

UPDATE: I highly recommend you take a look at the attitude of Florida cops with respect to this trooper and her enforcement of traffic laws on other LEO’s. This is an extremely instructive forum thread, and you should see it before they hide it from the public:

Trooper Watts HOW DARE YOU?????

Back on October 30th, a Florida State Trooper actually pulled over a Miami Police Department officer in a marked squad car for traveling in excess of 120 miles per hour on the freeway, weaving in and out of traffic, and doing so without lights and sirens, ultimately executing a felony stop, which includes a drawn weapon and loud voice commands requiring the driver to exit the vehicle to and submit to handcuffing at gunpoint. It turns out, the MPD officer was on his way not to an urgent call, but an off-duty event at a school, with some “very important people” present. He was cited for misdemeanor reckless driving, and released, after a lengthy bitching out by the FHP trooper. You can bet your ass that if an average citizen were going 120 on the freeway and weaving in and out of traffic and failing to stop for 7 solid minutes of hot pursuit, he’d get a lot worse than a stint in cuffs and a stern talking to. He’d have his head caved in while the Fox news chopper circled overhead.

It appears that this incident is the culmination of a long-standing situation wherein MPD officers drive at crazy speeds on highways patrolled by the FHP, expecting what is known as “professional courtesy” from the troopers, meaning essentially that speeding laws simply don’t apply to Miami police officers like they do the rest of us. Apparently, Miami PD have worn out their welcome on the freeways of southern Florida and exhausted any “professional courtesy” the FHP was willing to extend.

The fallout from the event has become an even more interesting story than the unusual traffic stop itself. Police officers across the country, and especially the Miami Police Union, have severely criticized the Florida Highway Patrol officer’s actions, but beyond their stern official press release, and internet comments filled with righteous indignation and liberally seasoned with misogyny, they have resorted to some very juvenile retaliation in an effort to express their disgust for this violation of the “code.” In one instance, a load of human feces was spread all over an FHP trooper’s patrol car, and in another, a Miami PD officer pulled over and harassed (but did not cite) an FHP trooper as he was driving in Miami, although, that didn’t work out too well, when it turned out the trooper’s brother is a detective in the Internal Affairs division of the Miami PD. The feud is getting out of hand, and as incidents like this escalate, accompanied by heated rhetoric all over the police-focused blogosphere and social media sites, the Chief of Miami’s PD, Manuel Orosa told reporters at a recent press conference, “whatever issues may be out there have to stop, and stop now,” according to the Miami Herald.

For readers of CopBlock.org, this kind of reaction shouldn’t be surprising. After all, we have whole categories full of stories for this kind of double-standard, where the cops assume they are above the law, and get royally pissed whenever they are held to any sort of account, much less the same standards of behavior and compliance with the law they enforce on the rest of us. But this story is unique in the near universal consensus on the part of police officers across the country that the Florida trooper was in the wrong. Sometimes, when the police have to enforce the law against one of their own, there is substantial division in the LEO community, or at least an acknowledgment that the arrestee did something wrong, whether or not they agree with the collar. There seems to be almost no willingness to admit that the Miami cop was endangering the lives of everyone on that road, just because he was late for an *OFF DUTY* event. I’ve been pulled over for speeding before when I was late for work. I got a ticket and no sympathy whatsoever from the cop, and I sure as hell wasn’t going 120 mph.

The brazenness with which the LEO’s on PoliceOne, YouTube, and Big City Cops, for instance, assert that they ought to be entirely immune from any kind of restraint on their driving, regardless of where they are going or why is almost shocking, until you remember, these are the police. They typically recognize no authority but their own. However, that attitude is particularly ironic in light of recent events in Tucson, Arizona. Just a couple of days ago, a suspect managed to steal a police car and lead the cops and sheriff’s deputies on an 80+ mile high speed chase, on the freeway, at speeds in excess of 120 mph. Hmm. And last year, I wrote about this guy, who stole a cop car and drove recklessly around the city until he crashed into a bus and died as a result. Since that Miami PD officer did not at any point communicate with the FHP trooper via radio, she really had no reason not to assume a crime was in progress (and she was right).

Ultimately, what galls me most is the sense of entitlement to this double standard that pervades the law enforcement community, and the culture of back-scratching, covering up and outright dishonesty that goes along with it. Police can literally get away with murder, and their coworkers are loathe to do anything about it. Honest cops who do stand up and enforce the law against misbehaving fellow officers have their careers destroyed, or at the very least can expect to get no assistance or back-up if their lives are ever actually in danger. They’ll make no bones about it either, they’re happy to declare, out in the open for all to see, that their “brotherhood,” and loyalty to each other is far more important than actually obeying the laws they themselves are charged with enforcing on the rest of us. It absolutely creates corruption, fosters abuse of authority, and guarantees that the worst of the worst ascend to ever-higher positions within the force, while the good guys get run out of their jobs altogether.

Just look at the fiasco in New York City, where several officers are up on charges of corruption, including rampant ticket fixing and even covering up an aggravated assault by an officer. Far from being embarrassed by these cops “tarnishing the badge,” their fellow officers have been out in large numbers at the courthouse nearly every day to support these accused criminals, intimidating the press, and the prosecutor, and telling anyone who will listen that what they supposedly did was “no big deal,” a “courtesy,” and bizarrely, employing the Nuremberg defense, saying they were “just following orders.” Under the circumstances, how can anyone have any respect for the badge, or the men and women who wear it? I know I don’t.

The Perils of Cop on Cop Law Enforcement is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Another great post submitted from HONORYOUROATH (Jeff)

Jacksonville Florida,Chaffe Road and Interstate 10. I was swinging by Mc Donald’s for an un sweet tea when I noticed a large police presence in shopping centers parking lot. Being a CopBlocker my video camera seemed to leap into my hands and next thing I know I’m filming. At first I get some footage of the horses they use for crowd/riot control and then I notice a box truck with what appeared to be some sort censors on the side of it. As I’m filming the truck three JSO officers approach and surround me. It’s not long before Officer Carlson attempts to obtain my ID.

Rights Flexed! CopBlocking Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

This post was submitted by Jeff from HONORYOUROATH.

8/30/2011 Lawtey Florida – Operation Booty Saver!

My intent is both slowing people down for public safety and to save peoples booty from the Lawtey looters/pirates.At 1:52 you can see the Lawtey Police pulling over some one headed north bound 301.I guess I was successful at slowing down southbound traffic so he had catch a north bounder! At 2:40 you can see the South Carolina Deputies I spoke with heading south bound. At 3:05 you can see the Deputies had done a U-Turn and were headed back north. When I was speaking with the Deputies I must have accidentally zoomed my camera to max zoom…sorry bout that. At 3:16 you can see the Lawtey Pirate headed back south driving right by me as I show him my sign!
Waldo and Hampton your next!

Speed Trap Cop Blocked. Operation Booty Saver! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Officer #5032, (I’ll call him by his number since he acts like a robot) an afternoon shift supervisor of the Golden Beach Police Department, tells the man recording, “we can video tape you but you don’t have the right to video tape us without our consent or record us. Do you understand that?” He goes on to say that it’s a felony and that, “I could escalate this but I won’t.”

What a wonderful world this officer must live in. Not only does his boss – the government – force you to pay his salary but it even protects him from being filmed while working for your dollars. When the camera man brought up the (silly) first amendment Officer #5032 said, “You really don’t wanna argue that.” Of course you don’t want to argue that silly thing you took an oath to uphold. Why would you, right?

I decided to call this officer before the video became public to see if I could get a comment, I was successful at connecting with Officer #5032. At one point he stated he doesn’t mind being recorded yet the state laws says there needs to be consent. He also tired to get out of his comments, after taking a break to call a supervisor (IMO), by reminding me that Florida is a two party consent state. I appreciated his attempt but I’m not in a state that requires two party consent. Even if it did until I’m allowed to opt out of paying their salaries, they won’t get the option on whether or not I film them.

If you disagree with Officer #5032 (Robert R.) call him, 305.932.0756 or the chief – Rudy Herbello – 305.935.0940 (rherbello@goldenbeach.us)

Other Golden Beach contacts:

Join the forum discussion on this post

Golden Beach (FL) Police Officer #5032 Threatens Man for Recording is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Hello fellow followers of CopBlock!  I’d like to apologize for the delay in communication first and foremost.  Following the chaotic trend in current events, my life has been a tug-of-war in all directions as of late, but I didn’t want my introduction to be a reflection of such.  Besides my disclaimer on my absence, I’d like to overview the topics of special consideration which I will delve into further as I embark on this new journey with fellow readers and compatriots here at CopBlock.

Life is a strange web of internodes and while avoiding the cliché hippy saying “we are all one, man…”, I will attempt my best at drawing up the relevance between the tangential nodes which my posts will surely implicate.  Previously, my profession was briefly in behavioral neuroscience.  My college path started in the political science field however, but it left my idealistic mind slightly jaded in the wake of the Iraq invasion.  My activist side has reemerged as I look upwards again, out of the micro topics of psycho-biology, and into the more macro realms of human interactions.  I have a deep appreciation for writing and the creative process from which I draws inspiration.  I feel similarly to how hip-hop artist Del The Funkee Homosapien lyrically describes music, in his song titled “Madness”, as existing;

“ But music is there without you or me, we just manipulate. For better or worse so let it situate.”

I feel the writing process is akin to this verse in the way that both creative activities draw upon abstractions embedded in the ether, are then channeled through a human medium, then materialized onto substrate as a concrete testament to withstand the test of time.  I hope to grasp a shred of truth from this absurdity called life and to be able to hear the echoes resounding as they ricochet recursively through the halls of your minds.  I think everything is already determined in life, so I just walk the path and just seek to learn the lessons provided by careful introspection and deliberation.  Activism is an art-form in its own right, and although I often find myself frustrated with current events, I more often than not find myself right back into the turbulent mix of being an outspoken member of society.

This stance is one built upon a foundation of love and compassion for humanity, while attempting to keep rational skepticism close at hand.  I’d argue that I’m a revolutionary at heart, but also see the value of “living to fight for another day,” even if it means losing a battle to have the opportunity to win the war.  The spectre I cast is one which radiates through the prism of writing, to be magnified by societies third eye which yearns for illumination.  I merely bring a new relative perspective to the table.  Truth is what you determine for yourself and those whom bring you happiness.  I can only wish that my posts encourage lively constructive discussions to ensue.

In this post, I feel it important to provide a preamble to readers, so that the connections between seemingly distant nodes can more easily emerge to form a cohesive picture.  My first decade of life called the third world “home.”  Upon relocation, poverty was starkly contrasted against my new American home.  Perplexed about being ridiculed for not “sporting” Nike’s like most of my classmates, I had a lot of resentment at the time for my new American life, but, as with most people who are matured by life experiences, quickly realized misguided people exist on all continents of this planet as do true friends who see through appearances.  Through this lens, my posts will often promote the interests of the underdogs of the world.

College placed me at the crossroads between vastly different interstates leading into the murky future beyond the ever sliding present.  I experimented frequently while always keeping the wise words of a past hippy professor in mind,

“Life is a path, you can sometimes go off that path, but always remember there is a path…”

In spirit with what I have learned thus far on my life journey, I will often draw upon lessons learned on the topics of substances and the ethics of regulations concerning such.  I will discuss my observations living inside a prison nation sheltering a quarter of the worlds prisoners and the crusade called the “drug war” along with the war against a military technique called “terrorism.”  I’ll anchor these subjects within the larger umbrella of economic theory and updates on human abuses committed by those elected to protect the populace.

So for all you prototypes “never even considered for mass production” as Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, I welcome you to embark upon this strange journey with me, towards the weird event horizon of human singularity, and beyond, by checking back with me from time to time…

Warm Welcome From ShadowLegion is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

According to NBCMIAMI.com

A Pembroke Pines man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Davie and three of its police officers, accusing them of police brutality during a 2009 arrest deemed unlawful by the state.

An attorney for Matthew Lawson, 20, filed the $1 million suit on Tuesday, accusing officers Curtis Schock, Steve Ricker and Paul Vardakis of shocking Lawson with a Taser, sending a K-9 to attack and bite him, and punching and kicking his body, causing him to lose a tooth.

Lawson was initally charged with battery on an officer and resisting arrest with violence after the officers questioned him while he walked down the street and he did not stop.

But the Broward State Attorney’s office dismissed the charges, ruling that a person “cannot resist with violence an unlawful arrest” and there was “no reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity on the part of the defendant to justify a stop and detention of the defendant.”

FULL STORY HERE

A person cannot resist with violence an unlawful arrest is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

Cops cutting corners to make arrests, a cop caught providing protection for a load of cocaine, and a police force fired for its misbehavior make this week’s rogues’ gallery. Let’s get to it:

In Houston, a Houston police sergeant was arrested July 27 on charges he took a bribe to provide protection for a vehicle carrying several kilograms of cocaine. Sgt. Leslie Atkins, 46, faces federal charges of aiding and abetting the possession with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and with accepting a $2,000 bribe to provide protection for a vehicle transporting seven kilograms of cocaine. He was arrested after a June 22 indictment was unsealed. The 19-year veteran has been suspended without pay. He faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence on the cocaine charge and could get life, and he faces up to 20 years for the bribery count. He is out on $50,000 bail.

In Oak Hill, Florida, the city council voted Monday to dissolve the police force over a number of issues, including the case of marijuana plants found on the property of 86-year-old Mayor Mary Lee Cook. Cook said publicly she believes the plants were placed there by someone within the department. Police Chief Diane Young and her six sworn officers were asked to turn in their guns and badges, and Volusia County is temporarily taking up some of the law enforcement slack until the city enters into a formal contract for services with the county.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Tulsa man has sued the city and a Tulsa police officer alleging that he falsified a search warrant that led to his conviction and life sentence in prison. DeMarco Williams, 36, filed the lawsuit July 28 in federal court in Tulsa and becomes the fifth person to sue the city and current or former police officers accused of falsifying search warrants and other corrupt practices in a festering scandal that keeps on giving. Williams accuses indicted Officer John Henderson of falsifying the search warrant and thus depriving him of his civil rights. He also accuses the city of Tulsa of negligence for failing to keep its cops in line. Henderson and fellow Officer Bill Yelton were indicted a year ago on a slew of criminal counts and went on trial Monday. Henderson is charged with 58 counts: 22 related to perjury, 20 related to civil rights violations, 12 related to drugs, two witness tampering counts, one firearms count and one attempted bribery count. Some duplicate charges are expected to be reduced during the trial. Yelton is charged with eight counts: four related to civil rights violations, two related to witness tampering, one related to suborning perjury and one count of attempted retaliation against a witness, which was added in September 2010. Yelton is not involved in Williams’ case. Williams spent six years in jail and prison after being charged and convicted. He was released last year as the Tulsa corruption scandal broke wide open.

In New Orleans, a New Orleans police officer resigned last Friday as he was being investigated for allegedly lying about a January drug arrest in the Algiers section of the city. Officer Samuel Birks, a four-year NOPD veteran, was charged in state court late last month with filing false public records and malfeasance in office. Birks and his patrol partner, Joshua Hunt, are accused of falsely arresting Alvin Bean, planting a rock of cocaine on him, and lying about the incident. Hunt resigned in June. The charges against Bean were dropped after his defense attorney was able to convince prosecutors that the officers’ stories didn’t add up. The district attorney’s office then dropped the charges against Bean and filed them against Birks and Hunt. They have both pleaded not guilty.

This Week’s Corrupt Cops Stories is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

by Wendy McElroy
July 13, 2011

Few activities are as dangerous as watching a cop too closely, as John Kurtz knows well. Kurtz is the founder of the Orlando, Florida, branch of CopWatch, a network of activists in the United States and Canada who patrol the streets on foot or in a vehicle to monitor and document police activity in order to spotlight misconduct and brutality.

Kurtz’s recent arrest for “obstructing justice” and conviction for “resisting arrest without violence” spotlight a growing trend in law enforcement. Police are arresting peaceful people virtually at will based on vaguely worded laws that are an invitation to rampant abuse. Such laws have become a standard police intimidation tactic.

Consider “obstruction of justice.” The typical definition as it relates to police officers is “the interference with an officer who is discharging his duty.” Depending on the state, obstruction can include providing a false name, the interception of police radio communication to avoid detection, eluding a police officer, and refusing to assist an officer or to comply with a command.

In reality, obstruction charges have been laid for arguing with a policeman or asking him questions, gesturing in almost any manner, invoking the Constitution, refusing to produce I.D., and recording a police officer even when it is legal to do so.

The penalties vary widely not merely from state to state but also on the type of obstruction being charged. Non-violent obstruction is usually a misdemeanor punished by a fine but some acts are deemed felonies, punishable with jail time. As the case of John Kurtz illustrates, however, both the bringing of charges and the ultimate punishment often depend not on the actual “offense” but upon the desire to pound authority into the non-subservient. Disrespecting authority is fast becoming the worst “crime” in society.

John Kurtz - Currently Jailed for Resisting Arrest (a Bogus charge).

The case of John Kurtz

On January 1, 2011, Kurtz was in downtown Orlando when he observed police officer Adam Gruler arresting a man on a domestic-violence charge. The arrest involved “the use of tasers, a violent take-down and the pepper spraying of a man already subdued and in handcuffs.” Kurtz announced himself, stood to one side, and began recording the incident. Florida law allows in-person recordings in public places where there is no expectation of privacy; it further allows the recording of police officers as long as it does not obstruct the enforcement of law. Nevertheless, Gruler demanded Kurtz cease recording. When Kurtz informed Gruler that he “knew his rights,” the officer threw Kurtz to the ground and arrested him as well.

Kurtz was charged with three offenses: obstruction of a law-enforcement officer; battery on a law-enforcement officer; and resisting arrest without violence. The latter charge can refer to any nonviolent “resistance” to arrest, from running the other way to asking, “What am I charged with?” Resisting arrest without violence is another increasingly popular intimidation tactic used by many police departments. Of the Orange County, Florida, police department that conducted the Kurtz arrest, local news channel WFTV reported as early as 2006,

Defense attorney David Bigney says he rarely sees a case now where resisting isn’t a charge. “All these people want is to know why, what’s going on here, but the officer decides I’m just going to arrest you,” said Bigney. And often it’s the only charge. In more than 25-percent of the 4000-plus cases Eyewitness News tracked, resisting was the only charge. That begs the question: if there’s no arrest for something else how could they be resisting arrest?

Kurtz had an advantage, however; he taped the entire incident. But, somehow, during his subsequent processing at the police station, Kurtz’s camera went missing and never showed up either in evidence or in his returned belongings. Fortunately, a Big Brother street camera captured the incident; it discredited the police account and agreed with several witnesses who claimed Gruler committed the only violence that occurred. The camera evidence was most fortunate because Kurtz faced a 6-year prison sentence for the three charges and, in the absence of hard evidence, the court tends to believe police officers. Gruler’s initial report on the arrest stated that Kurtz was too close as he and another officer restrained the first man (obstruction) and that Kurtz pushed him (assault). With the street camera evidence, however, Gruler’s initial account of the event changed significantly. But, as a press release noted, the street camera “effectively disproves all three versions of arresting officer Adam Gruler’s story as to where, when and how the supposed battery took place.”

Thus, on June 30, a jury found Kurtz not guilty of battery on a law-enforcement officer but guilty of resisting arrest without violence. (The obstruction charge had been dropped.) The judge imposed the stiffest penalty possible upon the unrepentant Kurtz: 30 days in jail (less 7 days served), a one-year probation, and a 12-month restraining order to stay at least 100 feet from police officers engaged in duty. Typically, resisting arrest without violence receives a slap on the wrist; a sentence such as Kurtz’s is almost unheard of. Moreover, Kurtz commented, “In the multiple plea deals I was offered, jail time was never mentioned, in fact my last plea offer didn’t even include probation and this is when I was charged with a felony, as well as resisting arrest without violence.”
Punished for his activism

The stiff sentence had been foreshadowed by the judge’s attitude in court, which Kurtz — an activist for jury nullification — described as “statist bull-crap.” For example, the judge refused to allow disciplinary reports or other evidence of Gruler’s extensive history of police misconduct and brutality. In 2006, the Orlando Sentinel reported, “Adam Gruler is a hunter. That’s one of the nicknames given inside the Orlando Police Department to the young, aggressive cops…. Their job: create a “no-tolerance zone” for crime of all kinds…. He also has become one of the department’s top Taser users….” Gruler has had dozens of complaints lodged against him for behavior similar to that captured in a YouTube of 2007 unlawful arrest by Gruler of another man who had been legally recorded him.

The stiff sentence may have also been prompted by Kurtz’s high-profile acts of local civil disobedience. For example, he is one of the videographers of the recent arrest of members of Food Not Bombs, an organization devoted to sharing food with the homeless. An Orlando ordinance forbids the feeding of homeless people within 2 miles of City Hall. Kurtz and others of Food Not Bombs maintain that the ordinance is an unconstitutional restraint of First Amendment rights. On June 6, the Huffington Post reported, “Over the past week, twelve members of food activist group Food Not Bombs have been arrested in Orlando for giving free food to groups of homeless people in a downtown park.” They have been charged with trespass and “intent to feed.” Kurtz — who was featured at the recent libertarian gathering PorcFest — was instrumental in creating the viral YouTubes of Food Not Bombs arrests, which have embarrassed the police by showing them arresting peaceful “people who are simply trying to help their fellow man.” The title of one YouTube video showing an arrest for feeding the hungry asked police officers, “Do You Really Support What Your Co-Workers Are Doing Here?”

Currently, Kurtz is raising funds to appeal his conviction. The main reason he cites for the appeal is the 100-foot restriction on approaching police officers, which means “effectively ending my participation in Orlando Copwatch.” He is attempting to involve the American Civil Liberties Union on constitutional grounds. A CopWatch press release explains,

Kurtz sights [sic] that the prosecution during closing arguments and judge during sentencing, say that when Kurtz approached the scene with his camera and told the officers “calm down, I am filming you” that act by itself was interfering, obstructing or opposing a police officer, and thus, the form of resisting arrest without violence. Kurtz insists that this form of free speech is absolutely protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution…. This is specifically upheld by the US Supreme Court in case Houston vs. Hill, 1987, and Florida Supreme Court Case, Florida vs. Saunders, 1976, as well as other case law. These rulings have never been overturned.

Private property no defense

Time after time, when punitive arrests or punishments for obstruction or resisting arrest have been appealed, the appellant has won. And, yet, the police continue as though there were no higher authority than themselves. As a lawyer specialized in obstructing justice has stated,

This broadly written law can be the subject of abuse by law enforcement. Even though the courts have made it clear that mere verbal criticism is not enough, police and municipal prosecutors still charge citizens with this offense for minor verbal acts. In cases of police brutality, this charge will often be filed in the hope that a citizen will take a quick plea, eliminating any ability to get compensation later.

In short, police routinely charge people with obstruction or resisting not merely to intimidate but also to give themselves negotiating leverage.

The future of CopWatch may well be a challenging one because it does not matter if the recording is legally performed in a public place; the police are likely to arrest you. It doesn’t ever matter if you are recording the police from your own property. On July 7, the InfoWars site reported,

In a video making a stir on You Tube, an Arkansas man looks on in horror as officers handcuff an innocuous looking woman, and then conduct a TSA-style search of her breasts and other body parts before releasing her. The cameraman filming police across the street from his garage yells “Nazis,” continuing to warn the officers that they were violating the 4th Amendment.

Their response? According to the Infowars site, three police officers enter his property and demand his papers. “They then begin to discuss what they’re going to charge him with: ‘disorderly conduct.’ No, let’s charge him with ‘obstruction of justice.’ The officers then decide to go with ‘racial slur.’ They then grab the camera away from the man and clap on the cuffs. The camera is then turned off.”

Whether you in a public street or on your own property, whether you are peaceful or not, the mere questioning of a police officer can get you arrested. They can charge you with “disorderly conduct” for standing alone in your own driveway. They can charge you with “resisting arrest” if you ask what the charges are. If you gesture, they can interpret that as the beginning of an attack and charge you with “battery on an officer.” If you refuse to assist them in sexually frisking a neighbor, they can charge you with “obstruction of justice.”

Police discretion means a police state.

Wendy McElroy is the author of The Reasonable Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival (Prometheus Books, 1998). She actively manages two websites: http://www.ifeminists.com and http://www.wendymcelroy.com. For additional articles on current events by Ms. McElroy, please visit the Commentary section of our website.

“Put Down Your Rights and No One Gets Hurt” by Wendy McElroy is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"