Youtube for evidence?

granfire

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
15,980
Reaction score
1,594
Location
In Pain
Blogs as truth?

I am guessing the police released the footage, or the courts, since it is the body cam and dash-cam from the police men on duty...but we have certainly entered a new era in this type of deal.

In any case: The body cam. I did not watch the whole thing (barely the beginning, really)
what struck me funny, the gentleman is waiting outside of his vehicle with cellphone in hand, filming the officers as they make the stop. Not haha funny...but certainly unusual behavior.

The dash cam

I have not watched either footage, so I am ignorant of the content.


But I really would like to know if the cops were out of line.


Yes, there is a back story. In essence the gentleman being stopped is accusing the department of being corrupt.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

jks9199

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
23,473
Reaction score
3,795
Location
Northern VA
What's concerning you? Looks like it was an investigatory stop stemming from activity and trespassing at a rodeo event. They detained him long enough to identify him, to advise him that he was banned from the property, and to run his driver's license. Not a problem, from what I'm seeing.

The guy is an activist. At a guess, from context, he was videotaping or taking pictures in an area where he wasn't permitted to do so at the rodeo, and probably has a history of it. It looks like the deputies were being used by the rodeo to deal with him -- but everything seemed to be within the law.
 
OP
granfire

granfire

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
15,980
Reaction score
1,594
Location
In Pain
Thanks.

The story is that the rodeo board and the police department are corrupt...
The activist gent is of course crying abuse. not of the physical kind...
The transcripts do read to some like the cops 'know' they are in the wrong.

Woud they not know who they have to expect looking at the license plate?
But then again the activists in this field make huge bank, enough to rent cars for the weekend...

How do LEOs generally react when they come upon an individual like this?
I mean, leaving the car with the camera like this, that IS asking for trouble, no?


I was basically interested to hear how the guys in the business view this incident.
The activist is certainly taking 'I'll have your badges' to a new level.
 

jks9199

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
23,473
Reaction score
3,795
Location
Northern VA
The car was a rental; the only information that the tags would give is the rental company. You can sometimes, with a cooperative company, backtrack to the person it was rented to at a particular time, but the same car may be leased to different people on the same day -- especially at an airport rental facility.

The cops were in a vague situation; they were essentially following up on the trespass complaint. They actually didn't stop the guy; he was on the side of the road, stopped for them in the first place. They did effect a detention when they took his license and rental paperwork, but all that is required to detain someone is reasonable suspicion. They didn't prolong the detention more than necessary to determine what action the rodeo wanted, and what was up.

What's my response if someone's videotaping me? It's a little circumstantial. A case like this -- I let them. I've got nothing to hide. If they're being unsafe, or compromising an investigation, or compromising my safety, I'll deal with it differently. Safety issues get addressed as appropriate. It might be "Sir, you can't videotape us from the middle of the road; please stand on the curb/get behind the police line/whatever-is-appropriate." It might be "GET BACK INSIDE!" If they're compromising my safety by their actions, I'll address the concern. For example, if they're shining a light and silhouetting me -- they'll have to turn the light off. In rare circumstances, I'll tell them to stop, either because they're compromising and investigation, or because they're posing a major threat to my safety -- or putting themselves in danger. If they're simply being tasteless (like videotaping a fatal crash scene with the body on the road still...), I may ask them to stop and explain my reasons -- or deter them by requesting the video so I can examine it for evidence. But, in general, if they aren't breaking the law in some fashion -- they get to record it.
 
OP
granfire

granfire

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
15,980
Reaction score
1,594
Location
In Pain
But it certainly indicates he his hoping you trip up and he can nail you....
 

arnisador

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Aug 28, 2001
Messages
44,573
Reaction score
456
Location
Terre Haute, IN
But it certainly indicates he his hoping you trip up and he can nail you....

Yeah--that's the rub. I support being able to videotape an encounter but I am no fan of jerks randomly crashing sites where police are in hopes of goading them into doing something that makes them look bad.
 

EddieCyrax

Blue Belt
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
290
Reaction score
77
Location
Kentucky, USA
I understand this is not the point of your topic, I am not in Law Enforcement, but what exactly is illegal that this weirdo is trying to prove?

Cops rolled up on scene at request of a rodeo (not sure where that is as it appears the dude is on the highway). Dude is hanging out with his recording devise.

Cops ask him questions, check his credentials, make fun of him in their cruiser (perhaps not too professional, but nothing I wouldnt do myself), send him on his way......

Mark it off as yet another wacko on the highway.....
 
OP
granfire

granfire

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
15,980
Reaction score
1,594
Location
In Pain
well, I was curious to hear what the resident LEOs had to say about this stop.

And I was wondering if this is becoming the standard procedure to release footage like this via youtube. I am guessing it had to have been obtained through channels, since it was the official body/dash cam footage.


As to the gent:
He has an arsenal of axes to grind.
He frequents rodeos and films them in the hope that something goes horribly wrong and he can cry abuse.
Many facilities and organizers have allowed the audience taking stills, but no video. So this gent is violating the agreement he entered by buying the ticket, hence the trespassing.

Of course now he is also intimating that the police department was harassing him and is corrupt....

The context in which I found the videos was that 'the cops knew they were doing wrong' going by the transcript from the camera audio. I am sure 'we are in a world of hurt' could be a remark regarding the vehicle pulled over on it's own accord, with the driver waiting outside, recording the arrival of the cops...as I said/asked: It reeks of intend.

But from what I gather and the people who humored me to look at this, the stop isn't what his side claims it is...
 

Tgace

Grandmaster
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Messages
7,766
Reaction score
409
The dept released the youtube vid? If so that would be up to the dept/city/town/etc and their policy. If nobody was arrested and/or no crime was comitted its not "evidence".

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 
OP
granfire

granfire

Sr. Grandmaster
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
15,980
Reaction score
1,594
Location
In Pain
The dept released the youtube vid? If so that would be up to the dept/city/town/etc and their policy. If nobody was arrested and/or no crime was comitted its not "evidence".

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2


considering the stink this gent is raising, you know, accusations of corrupt cops etc, I'd think it would be part of the package.

That is just something I am trying to wrap my head around.
 

Tgace

Grandmaster
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Messages
7,766
Reaction score
409
May be a PR move to show what this guy is like to the public....

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 

jks9199

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
23,473
Reaction score
3,795
Location
Northern VA
I understand this is not the point of your topic, I am not in Law Enforcement, but what exactly is illegal that this weirdo is trying to prove?

Cops rolled up on scene at request of a rodeo (not sure where that is as it appears the dude is on the highway). Dude is hanging out with his recording devise.

Cops ask him questions, check his credentials, make fun of him in their cruiser (perhaps not too professional, but nothing I wouldnt do myself), send him on his way......

Mark it off as yet another wacko on the highway.....

Without knowing more, it seems that there was a trespassing complaint. The guy did leave, but there is some justification, especially since the rodeo wanted to ban him, for making contact. It's not that uncommon for cops to be stuck in the middle of something with no good outcome.
 

Latest Discussions

Top