I said in the other thread that if the charges are dropped I would appologize. However, I still believe she was in the wrong. Not because she was recording, but because of her proximity to the officers and what was going on. Ive pointed this out before with traffic stops at 2am.
When you get pulled over, you have a 99.9% gurantee that the person stopping you is Law Enforcement. You look for your ID and Proof of Insurance and start to wonder what you did to get pulled over.
We clock you doing 60 in a 45 and initiate a traffic stop. We are asking ourselves who is the person in the car? Are they armed? Emotionally disturbed? drunk / high? escaped convict? A murderer who just killed his family that no one has found yet etc etc etc. While this may be the 1st time in your life you have been stopped, chanes are its our 20th citizen contact for that shift.
I have show youtube video, apparently much to the irritation of people who dont care to see the opposing viewpoint and its validety. However I am going to do it one more time. In the video, 2 officers respond to a store to investigate reports of a robbery.
As you watch, put yourself into the officers shoes and ask yourself what you would have done based on your viewpoint. Just because a person is on private property doesnt mean they are innocent bystanders who just want to watch whats going on.
***WARNING - NSFW - GRAPHIC CONTENT*****
www.youtube.com...
Its incidents like the one in the video that makes us leary of people hovering around and watching. You guys iew it as Police over reaction. We view it as survival.
The death of one civillian is to many.
The death of one cop is to many.
A valid opinion, but the issue with that is you would be tieing the hands of all law enforcement to the extent of we not only could not do our jobs, but it would be absolute chaos.
When we make an arrest, its based on the investigation and evidence collected (whether it be physical / written statements etc). Once we collect that evidence, and conclude our investigation, we are making an arrest based on Probable Cause.
The term Probable Cause does not mean absolute - It is what it says - We have cause based on the facts of X, Y and Z that the person we arrest probably did in fact commit the crime. New evidence can surface that can change the course of the investigation, which means a person that was arrested for the crime is no longer the person of intrest and is released.
Even if I am standing right next to a person just decides to pull out a gun an kill someone, his arrest by me is still based on the facts of Probable Cause. I still have to prove the person did what I observed, and the PA has to prove that in court.
Someone a few pages back made the comment that its the responsibility of Law Enforcement to be current on the laws. We do get quartely updates on case law that affects our jobs, but that process is not all inclusive, which is why the PA and not the Police is the final say in whether charges go forward or not.
The flip side to this story with the lady recording. Just because the PA dismissed the charge, does not mean the officer was in the wrong or taking an illegal action. Based on the Officers view, she was interfering and he felt she met the criteria for the charge. Based on the PA;s review of the information, the PA felt there was not sufficient evidence to support the charge.
@ In general, and not directed at you
Again I find some of the comments in this thread humerous. People scream about the ladies rights, and how those rights were violated, how she is innocent until proven guilty etc etc etc. Yet I see absolutely no one making the same argument for the officer. All I see is he should be fired, sued etc etc etc.
Is he not innocent until proven guilty in a court of law? Or do citizens get preferential treatment over the Police in the minds of the people in the thread?
edit on 27-6-2011 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)
