(quoted from post at 08:45:43 11/24/16) I would like for any interaction I have with today's law enforcement to be taped/recorded. I have very little respect for the majority of the "law enforcement" officers we have today. Maybe in larger towns/cities they are better but the smaller towns and such seem to attract the ones that just want to bully people with their own importance.
We have a local officer in Cascade that is a younger kid maybe 23-24 years old. He thinks he is GOD. Two weeks ago four fellow went to the local bar to watch football. They only lived maybe 5-6 blocks from the bar. They drove one car to the bar. They watched the game and drank some. They had planed all evening to leave the car and walk home after the game. They got followed two blocks from the bar by "Barney" and arrested for public intox. This is the type of thing that the local officers seem to like to do. NOT a darn thing with any "real" criminal but harass the heck out of everyone else that are basically honest everyday folks.
About four months ago same officer. Fellow had a bench warranty out for him. Paperwork screw-up. He had paid all his fines over a DUI but one did not get recorded with the state. HE was arrested which is fine. Officers 100% doing their job. He had parked his car on the public street in a parking spot when he was stopped. He told the officer he had called to have someone pick his car up. The car was entirely legal. In the town you can have a car parked for up to 48 hours legally. I was the one called to get his car. I got there 15 minutes after he was hauled off. The local cop had the car towed and impounded. Local towing service 2 blocks away. Cost my friend $450 to get his car back. I jumped the town police chief about it. He had no idea the car was towed nor could he give me a valid reason for the car to have been towed. I am willing to bet that the towing service is giving kick backs to the local cops for this type of stuff.
Both of our semis have cameras on them. They are hidden. 360 degree and all internal areas shown. The recorders are hidden too. I do not want anyone to be able to turn them off. If the driver screws up, an officer wants them to, or any other reason I do not want them to be turned off. Three years ago we beat a speeding ticket by being able to show that the truck was not going over the speed limit anytime in a half hour window the ticket was written in. Not the truck data recorder but a shot of the dash with a time stamp showing the date and time. Even had the officer on camera talking to the driver.
I do not trust the officers I have to deal with. Their jobs are tough but the laws have been stacked to where they are "GOD" in any type of involvement. You are in the wrong automatically with any dealing with them. It is tough to prove they did anything wrong. So the average "Joe" just has to take it and let it slide. Take the car towing example. You can not hire a lawyer for $450. This was almost a week's take home pay for the fellow. So what is to keep the next tow/impound form happening?????
I am not a "Black Lives matter" fan but if I was a person of color I sure would be afraid if stopped by the average officer. Many of the ones stopped are not choirboys but we are seeing totally innocent people shot and killed with little being done about it. What about the rancher shot last year while shooting that bull???? Any body hear anymore about that??? Are all those officers still working????
So while I am appalled at the lost of freedom recording everything causes I also am more afraid of quality of the law enforcement we deal with.
JD, I want to point out a couple of things. In reference to your first instance, whether you realize it or not if you drink to the point of impairment then are on public property that is ILLEGAL, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Its called public intoxication, and the statute in Texas is written not to arrest people on a whim or just because, but to protect the lives of the public and/or the intoxicated person.
Many years ago we did a bar check and a local girl was drowning her sorrows and badly intoxicated. Her friends said they'd take her home and put her to bed, and begged us not to take her in. As she was in safe hands we didn't, and her friends took her keys.
About 4 hours later I found her, face down in the floor of her truck, not breathing. Her friends had took her home, put her in bed, then left. She got up, found a spare key and a bottle of Wild Turkey, and went drinking and driving. She run off the road, hit the floor, and while facedown vomited, aspirating on it, killing her. I'll never forget how she was still WARM as we pulled her from the truck. Forever 23 years old.
If I had taken her in for public intoxication I'd probably been labeled "Barney" but she'd still be alive. THATS WHY WE TAKE PEOPLE TO JAIL FOR PUBLIC INTOXICATION, THEIR OWN SAFETY!
Most towns and jurisdictions get tired of people that are arrested coming back and saying the car they left on the side of the road is missing gas, batteries, tires, the Rolex watch from the dash, or anything else you can imagine. And I've seen cars left on the road get vandalized, stolen, wrecked, etc. and cities don't want to be responsible for it. The way to prevent this is to have the vehicle impounded, so the name of the wrecker driver, the company he works for, the secure location of the car is known and recorded. Its much easier to just arrest a person and go, not waiting on the impound, but most departments insist.
I've always said the camera has gotten me out of lots more trouble than its ever gotten me into, but one must be careful to see all of the recording, not just a snippet.
I'm sorry someone has treated you so badly you have a poor opinion of LEO's. In the immortal words of Colonel Jessup from "A FEW GOOD MEN":
We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post.