Missouri: Police Threaten, Detain Motorist for Parking After Hours

#15 Reply
Posted by jocelyn on 10 Sep, 2007 17:25
Well, the cop was definitely a prick and definitely out of line, but that kid is an idiot. He was obviously trying to provoke the officer, while trying to seem innocuous. I can\'t help but think that the fact that he had all of these cameras, a scanner, etc. indicate that he probably is going around hoping for these opportunities and making the most out of them that he can. Yes, we have to stand up for our rights. But these officers do have a job to do, one which can be stressful at times, and it is foolish to push them. If he HAD been a criminal, and the cop hadn\'t stopped him, and then he had broken into some cars or something, everyone would have torn that cop up, wondering why he hadn\'t bothered to check out a car pulling into a commuter lot at TWO AM. Honestly, I don\'t think the cop was out of line in pulling him over.

Obviously threatening to make up charges is totally unacceptable. That, asking the kid to step out of the car for no reason, and the search were all way out of line.

At the same time, it\'s not excusable, but it is reasonable to expect someone to snap when you push at them. This holds especially true for someone in a position of regularly dealing wth criminals, some of whom are a threat to their safety. If he had told the guy what he was really doing, everything probably would have been fine. If he hadn\'t, he would have still had his cameras rolling so it would have been documented. There is no reason to not assume that the officer was initially just trying to do his job. That kid clearly tried to take the whole affair as far as he could without blantantly inciminating himself.

I agree that one should stick up for oneself, and know one\'s rights. But this kid didn\'t just use his right to remain silent. He gently poked and prodded at the cop throughout the whole conversation. That\'s foolish, and I think it is pretty clear that he was trying to get a rise out of the officer.

That kid also does not know the law that well. Under the constitution, there is no spelled out "right to privacy." It\'s a common misconception. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html

That being said, **** the police.

#16 Reply
Posted by kindm's on 10 Sep, 2007 17:31
Quote from: jocelyn;158018
Well, the cop was definitely a prick and definitely out of line, but that kid is an idiot. He was obviously trying to provoke the officer, while trying to seem innocuous enough. I can;t help but think that the fact that he had all of these cameras, a scanner, etc. indicate that he is going around hoping for these opportunities and making the most out of them that he can. Yes, we have to stand up for our rights. But these officers do have a job to do, one which can be stressful at times, and it is foolish to push them. If he HAD been a criminal, and the cop hadn\'t stopped him, and then he had broken into some cars or something, everyone would have torn the cop up, wondering why he hadn\'t bothered to check out a car pulling into a commuter lot at TWO AM. Honestly, I don\'t think the cop was out of line in pulling him over. Obviously threatening to make up charges is totally unacceptable. It\'s not excusable, but it is reasonable to expect someone to snap when you push at them. If he had told the guy what he was really doing, everything probably would have been fine. There is no reason to not assume that the officer was initially just trying to do his job.

I agree that one should stick up for oneself, and know one\'s rights. But this kid didn\'t just use his right to remain silent. He gently poked and prodded at the cop throughout the whole conversation. That\'s foolish, and I think it is pretty clear that he was trying to get a rise out of the officer.

That kid also does not know the law that well. Under the constitution, there is no spelled out "right to provacy." It\'s a common misconception.

That being said, **** the police.

Actually considering the kid had previously been assaulted by an off duty officer he was smart to rig his car.

And pushing the cop as you call it was him simply not offering up information that he didn\'t want to offer nor does he have to.

Also being pulled over and asked for ID for no reason other than what the cop manufactured after the fact is totally ridiculous. The cop went from 0 to hostile in less than 1 answer. The kid drove in and parked in a commuter lot. It wasn\'t more than 20 seconds before the cop decided to have a confrontation with this kid who wasn\'t out of his car, wasn\'t doing anything.

Also there was nothing to prevent the police officer from staying in his cruiser and watching. Which had he done that would have realized this kid wasn\'t doing anything and he wouldn\'t be looking at charges (hopefully) Also the cop states the parking lot was empty so what car was he supposed to be robbing. Prior crimes committed in a location is not probable cause to stop and search and detain and arrest people for nothing.

There are no laws about driving at 2AM. If there was a law which stated no one in the commuter lot after a certain time thats different but that is not the case here.

This is a very typically interaction with police when people don\'t kiss their ass and know a thing or 2 about there rights. He was arrested. unlawfully. Period. There is NO justification for that.