Subscriber Discussion

Police Arrest Man They Say Drove Into A Cruiser, Private Footage Shows What Really Happened

CP
Carlton Purvis
Feb 21, 2014

A police car headed the wrong way down a one-way street, with no lights and sirens on (you see this ALL THE TIME in DC), hit a parked car. The man in the car gets out. Two cops get out of the car then “checked the block for surveillance cameras before arresting him for destruction of city property," the New York Post reports. He was also charged with resisting arrest.

However, they missed one camera: A private surveillance camera owned by one of the man’s neighbors. The charges were dropped but now the man is suing.

The video of what happened is below. Two seconds into the video the police car hits the parked car. At 27 seconds in an officer gets out to check the damage and the man gets out of the vehicle.

I'll update this thread with the full complaint he filed against the police once it is available online.

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Marty Major
Feb 22, 2014
Teledyne FLIR

The fundamental basis for granting a citizen power over other citizens is trust. Trust that those who we grant this power to will 'serve and protect' (remember that old tag line? it used to be right on the 1-A-12 car door when I was a kid) the other citizenry.

I really, really hate seeing guys with badges who use those badges to abuse others. There will always be individual rogue cops... but where is the condemnation from senior LE officials? Without it, the public perception is that all cops are like this and these two were just unlucky and got captured on video. Shielding cops who have been virtually proven to be rogues is one of the primary reasons for the erosion of trust in LE that (at least some) used to have in them. These two have to lose their jobs.

Good cops everywhere should repudiate these two thugs. If they don't, nobody will ever trust them as an entity.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Feb 22, 2014

There's a saying that power corrupts. Let's hope the parked man gets justice (lots of $) and that the police officers involved get suspended.

One solution to help alleviate this phenomenon would be to alternate their partner (restraining familiarity) and maybe have the officers wear tiny camera/mic on them at all time. Hey, screw privacy concerns, I don't trust anybody with guns, period. I wouldn't trust my mother with a gun even though she is an angel.

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Luis Carmona
Feb 22, 2014
Geutebruck USA • IPVMU Certified

Actually, if the police officers arrested the man under false pretenses, the officers themselves can be arrested for abuse of power and false imprisonment. If they transported him while being falsely arrested, it can also be kidnapping, which is under federal jurisdiction. Their troubles would be just beginning.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Feb 22, 2014

I know, the judicial system is COMPLETELY different in the States. Here, the police officers get away with murders all the time and there's nothing we can do about it.

HL
Horace Lasell
Feb 22, 2014

This appears to be another great argument for a mobile camera permanently mounted in your vehicle. Think about it - it was a matter of luck that this occurred near his home, that a neighbor had a "hidden" camera, tghat the event was within the camera's field of view, and that this video evidence was accessible to him. It's great that it worked for him, but do the rest of us want to depend upon this kind of luck?

Cops are human, with all the warts of humans. No matter how exemplary our police force, there are going to be a few bad apples. IPVM has shown several cases in which video evidence has been the "new" great equalizer. This is a pleasant change from the wild west, where only a Colt .45 would do.

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Carl Lindgren
Feb 22, 2014

"God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal."

JH
John Honovich
Feb 22, 2014
IPVM

Horace, good point. This cuts both ways too. A reason why police should have cameras in their cruisers and why people should consider them in their cars.

We have 2 related tests: Testing CarCam and Testing Advanced Drivercam.

And this interesting study from a police officer: Police Performance Massively Improved by Surveillance

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