Comments on: Contempt of Cop

By: Picador

Picador — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:14:35 +0000

“Because that incident was caught on video, charges were dropped against the videographer and the cop was terminated.”

Yikes! I hate abuse of police power as much as the next guy, but killing the guy seems a bit extreme.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:45:59 +0000

One of my favorites is the ‘sit on the curb’ routine when pulled over for a traffic violation.

On your haunches in the gutter. Reasonable use of police power.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:43:13 +0000

Allen – to answer your question, 100% of them.

Why do you seemingly doubt this? Is it your contention that police officers do not hope to exert absolute authority in their on duty actions?

How much authority then? In charge 80% of the time? 30%?

By: Nick Archer

Nick Archer — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:10:10 +0000

Cops in some areas of Nashville are so territorial that we call their zones “Barney Fifedoms”.

By: Allen

Allen — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:32:57 +0000

While I do find there being many troubling aspects of these laws and their use, I’m also troubled by the claim “Police like to feel like they have absolute authority on the streets”. Really? 100% of them? 80%? 30%?

By: tomw

tomw — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:49:39 +0000

When given a ticket for ‘standing’ in a ‘no stopping or standing’ zone, after being directed to stop by the same officer, you better believe there is “contempt of cop”. The ticket was not worth a 70 mile round trip and a day in court. It is called extortion.
When I asked why I was being cited, it was “stopping in a no stopping zone”. Surreal.
Hartsfield Jackson, Atlanta, GA. If you go, be sure to notice the dozen or so police vehicles parked in the no parking zone. It is their fiefdom, and paying customers transit at their own peril.
I hate that place.
tom

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:21:49 +0000

Of course after contempt of cop there is also contempt of congress. If you are a libertarian is that a defacto admission of guilt to contempt of congress?

By: Packratt

Packratt — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:02:04 +0000

The term “contempt of cop” is actually a phrase that was coined by defense attorneys to describe the use of stand-alone obstruction charges, stand-alone resisting-arrest charges, pedestrian interference, or a few other offenses that could be used to cover for a wrongful detention, excessive force, photographing cops doing something they don’t want you to see, or plain old expressing your knowledge of your own rights.

Typically, such charges do generally get dismissed once any ethical prosecutors got a hold of the case… but by then the damage is done at that point as the officers got to show victims who’s the boss, the victim is left with an arrest on their record as well as a significant legal bill, and the officer rarely sees any disciplinary action for the wrongful arrest.

Thank you for writing about this issue, it needs more attention than it currently gets!

By: Ross AZ

Ross AZ — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:03:51 +0000

The term actually goes back years, and may have been coined by the LEOs themselves. And, yes, LE Agencies around the US are trying to make video and photography illegal, not, as they claim, because it may harm undercover officers or put officers in danger of retribution, but because it does break this power imbalance. The usual catch all charges of “disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and/or assaulting an officer” are being shown as the common method of justifying police overreach or brutality, and the video records catch them at their lies.
The good LEOs need to be freed from the “Code of Silence”, and the LEOs that abuse their authority need to find other employment. Videotaping will help both good LEOs and innocent citizens.