Caught an officer in a lie which he used as grounds to search me.

What is the name of your state? Michigan. Copy of letter I just wrote to the commisioner. Am I in the right? What can I do?

On Saturday, December 21st, at approximately 11:15pm, I was walking with two other friends back to my car located in the parking structure on the corner of Peabody and Brown. On Peabody Street directly, behind Peabody restaurant, a Birmingham Police Officer stopped us all. He got out of the car and questioned us as to what we had been doing that evening. Then after probably using common sense police tactics such as smelling breath, sensing nervousness, and reading body language or voice tone, he told us that there had been a police report filed stating that three 14-15 year old kids had been vandalizing Christmas decorations "in town." He further stated that these three kids matched our description in that one was wearing a sweatshirt similar to my friends and that another was wearing a blue winter jacket similar to my other friends. Hereafter he asked our ages and then commented that we didn’t match the description. The details that this officer stated seemed somewhat unbelievable to me. I am 6'6’’, 230 pounds and almost 20 years old. That doesn't fit many 14 year olds. I naturally took some offense to this situation, since my time had been wasted defending myself and I thought I was possibly being lied to. Any rational thinking individual would notice that the probability of three innocent people matching those detailed descriptions are staggering. Furthermore, I had a past experience with the same officer which bothered me and I will explain later. Therefore, I took a proactive route and called the department when I got home. I spoke to Dispatcher Kayliff (sp) on the phone and he told me that I could come down to the station and view information from the report. He also asked me if I was the perpetrator of the incident I was calling about. Overall, I got the sense I was being treated like a Smart Alec.
I immediately came to the station where I spoke with another officer about the situation. Once again I was treated in a manner where I felt I was being sized up. Once again, the officer seemed to feel I was being smart. I feel that I am being assertive and exploiting what rights I have. This officer told me I could not have a copy of the report. I didn't understand this since your department web-site states copies can be purchased for 75 cents. He did however read the report to me and give me the case number and time of complaint. The officer read that the case in concern (02-206603) was in regards to non-criminal activity on Rivenoak Street. Someone called at 10:48 pm believing that their Christmas decorations were being vandalized, but upon further inspection, no damage was found and no criminal acts were believed to have happened. No description of the perpetrators was reported.
In August, during the Cruisin Woodward event, I was crossing 14 Mile Road and this same officer grabbed me by my shirt and shined his light in my face. He asked for Identification and told me that disobeying a police officer is a crime and that he could take me to jail. I gave him my ID and he then asked me if I wanted to go to Jail. I politely responded no and that I had no idea what act he was referring to. He then handed me my ID and told me to get out of there. I was very shook up by the incident and how this officer treated me.
The first thing I noticed when this officer stepped out of the car Saturday night was that it was the same guy from this previous experience. I immediately lost my trust in him and suspicion was aroused. This is why I immediately questioned his credibility.
At this point in time I want to know whether or not it is legal for an officer to essentially lie and refer to a fabricated police report as enough reason to stop and question me. Throwing out all of the intangibles, I believe I was lied to and unjustifiably questioned. I guess it is possible for a detailed description to not make a report, but even in that case I do not believe that the person who called the report in would be able to notice the ages and attire of three people in their yard at 10:48 at night. I wonder what this officer’s story would have been if he smelled alcohol and proceeded to give me an MIP. I assume he would most likely say that he saw us stumbling or acting drunk. I fail to see much difference between the criminal act of me filing a false police report that uses an officer’s time and resources to investigate and an instance where a police officer cites a fabricated police report to stop and waste my time. I do not feel it is ethical, nor efficient to stop every group of young adults walking back from dinner to their cars. We were not acting in any way that I can see as being perceived as suspicious. If in fact this officer of the law was lying to me, I find it repulsive. The other officer I spoke with at the station said if I was right in my “assumptions,” it didn’t matter because it is common practice. It is scary to think this “common practice” based on falsifying the truth can strip people of all of their rights and place them in the hands of a person who thinks lying is ok. I would really like to talk to you about this matter. I don't feel that I am being a "smart-ass" as many feel I am. That is the last thing I want you or anyone else to think. I just simply do not agree with the course of action that this particular officer has taken towards me.

[JETX]

Interesting post.

Actually, I got bored and quit reading about 1/2 way through. Far too many details. Did you read the red text at the top of the screen???
You must be BRIEF and to the point.

I agree (but not with the interesting part). Not only do you need to shorten it up so we can understand it, you need to understand that if you present this letter to a commission, he or she will probably toss it to the side and never look at it again. Entirely too long. Keep it to a half page.

hmmbrdzz

okay fine...... gist:

An officer cited a police report that doesnt exist where my description was that of the perpetrator in the report. Can he do this?

My beef is that if I do this, essentially lie about a crime that didnt happen...it is a crime. He just made up some police report in his head and used that to stop and search me.

If this is your beef, continue your letter to the commissioner. As far as legal advice your requesting regards this matter, I'm sure the other post will help you with that beef.

hmmbrdzz

[JETX]

"Can he do this?"
Yes. And from your post, he didn't lie about the crime.

"My beef is that if I do this, essentially lie about a crime that didnt happen...it is a crime."
** Not true. If you file a false report with the police, that would be a violation. But you can certainly lie about any 'crime' without repercussions.

"He just made up some police report in his head and used that to stop and search me."
** Again, not true. Your own post says that there WAS a crime and a report was made ("This officer told me I could not have a copy of the report. He did however read the report to me and give me the case number and time of complaint").

So, lets cut all the crap and get to the facts..... you were stopped with the officer claiming that the three of you MIGHT match an incident report. You didn't like it. If this is the least of your problems, consider yourself lucky. There are some folks on this forum who have REAL problems.

file a complaint immediately after you believe your rights have violated. if the officer is not professional in his conduct be prepared for any retalitory behaviour and collect any evidence as to such. anyone with you should do the same. if you can retain an attorney or at least consult with one do so beforehand.

[JETX]

Illusory:
File a complaint alleging what??? There was NO lie by the officer. If anything at all, there was a stretch that the possible suspects matched all three of the detainees.... when it might have only matched two of them.

Simply, there is nothing wrong in the officers conduct.

Even the US Supreme Court has supported an officers 'stretching' the truth during interrogation.... as long as the suspects rights have not been violated. And they haven't here.

well I got an apology from the department. They admitted that it was wrong and that it should not have happened. I feel better. So I guess most of you were wrong.

Good going. I'm glad it worked out for you. Sometimes police do mess up. If you received an apology to any extent, they messed up.


hmmbrdzz