Remember that guy who got harassed for OCing in Philadelphia (legally, with a permit)? It looks like the DA decided to go forward with charges against him, and the police showed up at his workplace with an arrest warrant. Charges are Disorderly Conduct, a third degree misdemeanor, and reckless endangerment, a second degree misdemeanor. One of the lawyers on PAFOA notes that this is probably a dirty trick to stave off the possibility of a civil suit.
Apparently in Philadelphia, laws and rights are optional if you’re City government.
That is a very common technique. A friend was beaten to unconsciousness some years ago by Petaluma police officers under conditions that might have qualified as a misunderstood report to the police that these goons completely overreacted to–but rather than admit that they had made a horrible mistake, they charged him with resisting arrest, so that they could bargain the civil suit away. (Realistically, there was no chance of a civil suit. Petaluma is a staunch Democrat area, and lawyers we talked to who specialize in police brutality suits said that no jury there would ever find against a police officer, no matter how severe the situation.)
Just for some background: my friend was 5’6″, a very slight Asian guy. At the time, he was on an extended sick leave from his employer for a kidney-related illness. His employer decided to fire him by FAXing him a termination letter. He showed up at work the next day asking if he could clean out his desk, because there was some pain medicine in his desk that he needed. Rather than let him into the building, HR called Petaluma PD and said, “Someone is trying to enter our building to get drugs!”
Mark posting those audio recordings was a big mistake. He should have kept them quiet and just filed the lawsuit.
I’m glad I live on the other side of the state from that cesspool.
Listening to the audio recording makes my blood boil.
Every time I enter a Wawa and the cops are there, I feel a pit in my stomach. I will actually pull off the road and wait for them to pass just to avoid driving near them. I never,ever call them for “help”. I’ve never used violence to solve a single thing, never drink and drive, and there us not a bad bone in my body, yet this is how I feel.
The police and/or prosecutors will not have my sympathy when they decide to push the wrong person over the edge.
“The police and/or prosecutors will not have my sympathy when they decide to push the wrong person over the edge.”
Yet, if you threaten to sue the police for crossing the line the police will argue that it isn’t fair to end a cop’s career over a “mistake” or that the cop wasn’t familiar with the law so you should cut him some slack. That’s funny. I don’t recall the police ever having a problem with ruining a civilian’s life over an honest mistake.
The police always say that ignorance of the law is no excuse. It’s about time cops started doing REAL time in prison for knowingly infringing upon our rights.
Mobo: I couldn’t agree with you more. I have no criminal record at all. It has been 20 years since my last traffic ticket but I am still very nervous around the police. They are no longer public servants. They are goons with low IQs and bad tempers who can kill with no consequences. I have close family members who are cops so I know what I am talking about. I can’t wait for the day when the federal and state governments are so broke that they have to fire all law enforcement. We want to delude ourselves that we live in a free country. The fact is we live in a police state.
I think this will end up being an unpleasant educational experience for a lot of people, particularly the victim who, IMO, acted rashly, given the situation in that particular cesspool.
I can see the D.A and the (piss in the same pot) court system dragging this out, thereby creating enough uncertainty that no sane person will want to OC in Phila. for years.