Posted on 08/19/2014 11:37:57 AM PDT by Rusty0604
"If you don't want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground," warns Officer Sunil Dutta of the Los Angeles Police Department, "just do what I tell you."
The thing is, Officer Dutta (pictured) is also an Adjunct Professor of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice at Colorado Technical University. And he uttered those words not in the heat of the moment, but in an opinion piece in the Washington Post responding to widespread criticism of police attitudes and tactics currently on display in Ferguson, Missouri, but increasingly common nationwide.
Dutta continues:
Don't argue with me, don't call me names, don't tell me that I can't stop you, don't say I'm a racist pig, don't threaten that you'll sue me and take away my badge. Don't scream at me that you pay my salary, and don't even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?
Dutta actually comes off as a reasonable law enforcement officer...He endorses the use of body cameras and dashcams to record interactions between police and the public. He counsels, "you don't have to submit to an illegal stop or search. You can refuse consent to search your car or home if there's no warrant."
And yet he demands unresisting submission to police without argument or even legal protest. Just how do you "refuse consent to search your car or home" without running afoul of the no-nos Dutta warns may get you "shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground"?
Remember, this is a thoughtful police officer, with a PhD., who teaches criminal justice.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Not here in America, in the sense you resent, that is arguing with the enforcer.
If the lawman says it's a one-way street you are on, it's a one-way street. He has the authority to escalate force until you finally see it his way.
On the street, you are not the maker nor executor of the law, nor the judge, whether you think the LEO is right or wrong in your mind. Your lawful response is to comply, though you may disagree in principle. Your opportunity to complain is before the judge.
That's the law. You might want to get used to that concept.
"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God" (1 Pet 2:13-16 AV)
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." (Rom 13:1-5 AV)("power" here is "delegated authority").
********
That said, we ought to be very careful what kind of powers we give to the police, methods we permit them to use, and standards by which we monitor each LEO's behavior.
Professor Officer Dutta is correct: Be polite to anyone who can end you with impunity.
Cops are the new lawyers.
Everybody hates them until they need them.
No it’s not our choice. It’s the cop’s choice to overreact or not.
I thnk it’s clear by now that Brown did a bit more to that cop than just say he wouldn’t get out of the road, when Wilson told him to.
Do away with all cops then because they do an shitty job on filing theft paperwork (rarely get prosecution or your stuff back) and the revenue tickets only serve to keep them employed.
If you don’t want them to “keep the peace” during a riot, then disband the whole lot of them. The other tasks are “fail”.
By this cop’s description of his authority, he has much less restrictive ROE over an American citizen than our troops do engaging the Taliban.
PRECISELY!
Not strictly speaking, true.
If anyone in the house is on parole, you can't. I was able to restrict the search to his room though...
I've never encountered an A-hole cop. One Compton PD officer who was mildly harsh, and after I put the sticker on my plate he let me go without so much as a citation.
And yes, I've had scores of interactions.
A correction to my earlier post:
If those who are given authority by me (the citizens they serve), choose to disregard the very law established by me(the citizens they serve), and the very law they have sworn an oath to uphold, then it is not only my right, it is my duty to stop them, by force, if necessary, from abusing that same law.
“By this cop’s description of his authority, he has much less restrictive ROE over an American citizen than our troops do engaging the Taliban.”
Obviously you did not read what the ‘cop’ actually wrote.
So can we count you as one who will turn in your guns when the police come around to collect them?
“Too bad the dogs don’t have that option.”
Point taken.
It depends, pragmatically. Ya gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
I am a 2Arkb kind of guy, FYI. But not stupid about it.
Sorry. Really. I hate to say it. But, you are a couple of generations behind.
Today's "Americans" worship authority.
Can you picture your grandparents lining up @ the airport to have their "junk" touched by some semi-literate GS-5? I think not.
Clinton's highest approval ratings were after Waco and Elian.
And, I'll say it, "conservatives" learned to dig torture and spitting on The Constitution 2001-2009.
100 years of public schools achieved it's goal. If the authorities request, 90% of us will hop onto the boxcars for de-lousing.
We’ll see who is incxorrect when/if you go head to head with an LEO over this. Let me know how it works out for ya.
‘10 Rules for Dealing with Police’ seeks to teach constitutional rights
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010; C02
The short film “10 Rules for Dealing With Police” opens with an unfortunate but common scene: A young black man in a little red car, rap music blasting, is driving down a gritty highway at night, minding his own business, thumping to a beat.
A police car pulls behind him. The man becomes agitated as he stops, muttering under his breath, “I am tired of this [expletive].”
By the time the officer gets to his window and shines the flashlight, the man, having done nothing but switch lanes, is projecting much attitude. He rolls down his window halfway.
“Yeah, I know the drill,” he says, this being the fourth time in a year he has been “pulled over for nothing.”
“Excuse me?” the officer says.
The man grabs his registration out of his glove box.
“No need for the attitude, bro,” the officer says. “I’m looking out for your safety and everyone else on this road.”
The man mutters some obscenity.
The officer asks him to step out of the car.
In that instant, he has violated the film’s rule No. 1 for dealing with police.
“As soon as you opened your mouth, you failed the rule with your attitude,” says narrator William “Billy” Murphy, a former Baltimore judge and defense attorney, best known for his role in “The Wire.”
“10 Rules,” a docudrama produced by the D.C. nonprofit Flex Your Rights, dispenses free legal advice with no-holds-barred dialogue. The producers, D.C. residents Steven Silverman, 33, and Scott Morgan, 30, created the film to help people in urban areas understand their constitutional rights.
“I realized the majority of people are confused and overwhelmed about how to handle a police encounter,” Silverman says, standing in the lobby of the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank where the film premiered Wednesday.
Upstairs there are sandwiches, spring water and soda in clear glasses for the policy wonks streaming in. This is what people in think tanks do in the middle of the day in the middle of the week in Washington: They take big, complicated issues, such as unintended consequences of everyday events, and turn them into products the rest of us can understand.
“Most people are constitutionally illiterate,” says Silverman, a former Cato intern. “Most people will waive their rights entirely during a police encounter.”
Silverman and Morgan, who studied criminal justice, plan to distribute DVDs to high schools, community groups, youth groups and churches. They spent two years making the film, which cost $110,000 and was funded in part by the Marijuana Policy Project. It was shot in Baltimore.
“Minorities are the audience,” Morgan says. “It was important to us with this project because people of color are disproportionately targeted by police across the country.” According the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, minorities are more likely to be searched when arrested. The bureau’s stats show that “stop and frisks” are occurring at record rates, Morgan says, particularly where minorities and low-income people live. He blamed “hard on crime” campaigns by politicians trying to get or stay elected.
Silverman says there are unintended consequences for not knowing the rules of what to do if stopped by police. “The term is racial targeting,” Silverman says.
Neill Franklin, a retired Maryland state police officer, calls the film an important primer for educating police academies. “I’m a cop. I’m straight from the streets,” Franklin says. “One of the things I always talked with police academy instructors about is to ensure we follow our oath, to serve and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Most people think what a great piece for kids and grown-ups, but I see it as a great tool for police academies.”
The 40-minute film is straightforward. Murphy, the judge turned actor, is blunt in his advice. “There are lots of good police out there doing what needs to be done,” he says. “And I don’t need to tell you there are also a few too many cops who don’t respect the basic rights of innocent people.”
He tells the audience: “The smartest way to take the Fifth is to keep your mouth shut. You always have the right to remain silent.”
Then he makes them repeat a lesson, like a teacher instructing a class: “Repeat after me, ‘I don’t consent to searches.’ “ And the audience repeats.
In the film, Murphy helps the man in the opening scene understand what happened when he was pulled over and how he made the situation worse by not following the rules.
“That cop profiled me,” the man protests. “It’s ridiculous. I go to school — I’m not a gun trafficker.”
Murphy: “I know how you feel, man. . . . You never know for sure what’s going on in an officer’s head. I hate to say it, but from what I hear it sounds like you broke the first rule of dealing with police: Always be calm and cool.”
Carry the rules on a little white napkin if you have to, the producers say, but remember them:
1. Always be calm and cool.
2. You have the right to remain silent.
3. You have the right to refuse searches.
4. Don’t get tricked into waiving your rights.
5. Determine if you’re free to go.
6. Don’t do anything illegal.
7. Don’t run.
8. Never touch a cop.
9. Report misconduct: Be a good witness.
10. You don’t have to let them in.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402907_pf.html
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