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police harassment

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tdw8

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ca

Saturday night me and some friends were leaving my house ...there was a PD vehicle blocking the alley and shining their brights and spotlight at our vehicle. i was blinded and could not proceed- i got out of the vehicle and walked three houses to the end of the alley and asked the officer to turn off his brights stating it is illegal to use brights like that and that pd cites drivers for driving with brights on. the officer who was driving the suv got out and started talking some nonsense and was addressing me by my first and last name. i am well known by shpd...not for anything i have ever done i have no criminal record...but for being a victim of their harassment which has been going on for years. i walked back to the vehicle and the officer turned his brights on again...i decided to turn around and go the other way...the officer drove up behind me with his brights and spotlight on but not red lighting us....i pulled into my neighbors driveway to let him pass...he did not and i got out of the vehicle and asked what he wanted..the officer barged out of his vehicle and pulled his weapon and pointed it at me ordering me to sit down - i refused stating i had committed no crime ... the officer approached angrily ordering me to the ground yelling "i will shoot / tase you" i then sat down and the officer still with his weapon pointed at me ordered me to lay face down on the ground and i refused - he threatened to shoot me again and again and finally i laid down face first . the officer then made the other occupants of the vehicle walk backwards at gunpoint and made them lay face down in the alley. all were searched including the vehicle. no citations were issued. the vehicle is impounded. this went on for the better part of one and one half hours. we were let go
i consider this officer a psychopath not suited for public service. our constitutional rights were clearly violated. my life and the lives of my friends were put in danger. our property was confiscated. the officer said that the car is the subject of a "criminal investigation". is this what they pay officers to do? this is just another incident in a long list of indiscretions by shpd. can they do this to people?

come to find out the owner of the car offered some ribbon to a lady who was decorating trees for a birthday party at the park...she called the police and accused the ribbon offerer of trying to lure her kid away...this is nonsense because he never talked to the kid he offered it to the mom because by chance he happened to have some ribbon in his car...she refused the ribbon and the encounter was over. the police were called and the license plate number was given...of course the police knew that offering someone ribbon in the park is not a crime yet they figured they could use this to skirt around search and seizure rights and parlay it into a drug bust. the police waited till that night and when we left in the car they instigated the encounter where they at gunpoint threatened my life, violated our right against unlawful search, laid us out face down in the alley in front of the whole neighborhood and then impounded the vehicle after conducting a search that lasted 1 and 1/2 hours. no citations were issued they let us go. they would not tell us why they were conducting this operation we found out when we tried to get the car released from the impound-they waived the 125$
fee for the release. the police knew where the car and the driver were immediatly after the incident at the park because they drove by and saw the car parked behind my house in the alley- they could have resolved the issue then and there but they knew there was no real issue... yet they used it as an excuse to wait till that night and pull us over and do that to us . it was a criminal act under the color of authority to try to manufacture a bust and criminalize a citizen who did nothing wrong
 
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CdwJava

Senior Member
and asked the officer to turn off his brights stating it is illegal to use brights like that and that pd cites drivers for driving with brights on.
Gutsy ... not bright, but gutsy ...

There ARE lawful reasons we are allowed to use high beams, spotlights, and other lighting equipment. I am sure your interpretation of the law was duly noted.

the officer who was driving the suv got out and started talking some nonsense and was addressing me by my first and last name.
That's never a good sign unless you are a friend of his or a friend of a family member.

i am well known by shpd...not for anything i have ever done i have no criminal record...but for being a victim of their harassment which has been going on for years.
Uh huh ... I'm sure it has nothing to do with attitude. :rolleyes:

he did not and i got out of the vehicle and asked what he wanted..the officer barged out of his vehicle and pulled his weapon and pointed it at me ordering me to sit down - i refused stating i had committed no crime
You do not need to be accused of a crime to be required to comply with an order to halt or sit down. Once you refused, you could have been arrested.

... the officer approached angrily ordering me to the ground yelling "i will shoot / tase you" i then sat down and the officer still with his weapon pointed at me ordered me to lay face down on the ground and i refused - he threatened to shoot me again and again and finally i laid down face first .
Wow! You DO love to make things difficult.

the officer then made the other occupants of the vehicle walk backwards at gunpoint and made them lay face down in the alley. all were searched including the vehicle. no citations were issued. the vehicle is impounded. we were under arrest ...we were not allowed to speak answer our phones or leave. this went on for the better part of one and one half hours.
What were you all arrested for?

You were arrested - no citations need be issued if the contact resulted in arrest.

Yes, when the driver of a car is arrested, the vehicle contents may be inventoried prior to impound provided there was a community caretaking interest in the impound of the vehicle.

And, of course they did not allow you to make or receive any calls while at the scene! There are a number of reasons for that, not the least of which is the officer's safety.

i consider this officer a psychopath not suited for public service. our constitutional rights were clearly violated.
That depends on whether there was good cause for the detention and the arrest. I guess a trial will bear that out.

As for the officer's demeanor or mental stability, I guess you'll have to make a complaint to the agency regarding his conduct. And, I you have the money for an attorney, you can hire one to try and sue the agency for whatever grievance you might identify.

my life and the lives of my friends were put in danger. our property was confiscated. the officer said that the car is the subject of a "criminal investigation". is this what they pay officers to do? this is just another incident in a long list of indiscretions by shpd.
On the impound form it should have a vehicle code indicating the "authority" for the impound. I don't know one that indicates an impound for being subject to "criminal investigation." If the code is CVC 22651(h) then that means it was towed because the driver was arrested.

I can fill in the blanks that would make this entire encounter perfectly reasonable, and another set of fill-ins that would make it entirely UN-reasonable. Given your obstinate nature, I can only assume that the officer allowed you to push his buttons and likely over-reacted to some degree. How far that might be will be up to a court to decide should you wish to pursue it that far.

Oh, and just who are the "shpd"? Saint Helena? (No, I don't know anyone who works there ...)

- Carl
 

tdw8

Junior Member
they didnt arrest us they let us gocome to find out the owner of the car offered some ribbon to a lady who was decorating trees for a birthday party at the park...she called the police and accused the ribbon offerer of trying to lure her kid away...this is nonsense because he never talked to the kid he offered it to the mom because by chance he happened to have some ribbon in his car...she refused the ribbon and the encounter was over. the police were called and the license plate number was given...of course the police knew that offering someone ribbon in the park is not a crime yet they figured they could use this to skirt around search and seizure rights and parlay it into a drug bust. the police waited till that night and when we left in the car they instigated the encounter where they at gunpoint threatened my life, violated our right against unlawful search, laid us out face down in the alley in front of the whole neighborhood and then impounded the vehicle after conducting a search that lasted 1 and 1/2 hours. no citations were issued they let us go. they would not tell us why they were conducting this operation we found out when we tried to get the car released from the impound-they waived the 125$
fee for the release. the police knew where the car and the driver were immediatly after the incident at the park because they drove by and saw the car parked behind my house in the alley they could have resolved the issue then and there but they knew there was no real issue yet they used it as an excuse to wait till that night and pull us over and do that to us . it was a criminal act under the color of authority to try to manufacture abust and criminalize a citizen who did nothing wrong
 
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tranquility

Senior Member
I generally agree with Carl. If there was any reason to suspect the vehicle as having been used in a recent serious crime or any reason to suspect the people inside (This is the key fact which is missing and the OP cannot provide.) everything seems pretty legal.

officer who was driving the suv got out and started talking some nonsense and was addressing me by my first and last name
What nonsense? Did he ask you a question? Was he conducting a reasonable investigation of some sort? What did he say? "Nonsense" is a broad category.

the officer barged out of his vehicle and pulled his weapon and pointed it at me ordering me to sit down - i refused
If the vehicle had been involved in a serious crime (or a vehicle closely aproximating the appearance) or the other officer's earlier "nonsense" was an order to stop or otherwise conducting a reasonable investigation, (in other words, is there any legal reason to contact you at this point) the refusal was a crime.

still with his weapon pointed at me ordered me to lay face down on the ground and i refused
Arguendo, the above, I don't know if this would be charged as a second crime or considered the same event as the first.

the vehicle is impounded.
What was the reason (vehicle code section) given on the paperwork?

this went on for the better part of one and one half hours.
This seems much longer than a reasonable investigation, IF YOU COOPERATED, what did they do in this time? Was there a show up? Did they just ask you questions even after you told them you wanted to remain silent and speak to an attorney? What did they do during this time? Without specifics a judgment cannot be had regarding the legality of the time line.

my life and the lives of my friends were put in danger
Not if you sat when ordered to. Not if you went on your stomach when ordered to. By refusing the orders of a police officer, lawful or no, you raised the threat level and caused greater intrusion into your life. Even if he were a psycopath and was just harrassing you.


this is just another incident in a long list of indiscretions by shpd
Signal Hill police department? In the olden days it had an enourmously and well-earned reputation of being near an armed gang--especially when dealing with blacks. Today, with huge amounts of sales tax money coming into the city, there has been a great increase in the professionalism of the agency through better hiring policies, a change in top management and a firing of many problem officers. Today, while still know as a "hard-ass"-type department, the problems are no where near as bad. Let's face it, they have some problem areas in the city. They are not going to have a huge contingent of "yes ma'am", "no sir", "please alight your vehicle for a moment" type of officers on the force. They know your name? Even if you haven't been arrested, are there many people you hang out with who have?
 

cyjeff

Senior Member
You say there was no arrest... but they impounded the vehicle.

Why?

Police cannot just randomly impound vehicles.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
If I know someone by his or her first and last name, we are either friends, or, I have had numerous run-ins with them ... I can envision a half dozen people I know who, much like the OP, have ever been convicted of a crime, but manage to get contacted by the police frequently and have even, occasionally, been cited or arrested. Having no criminal record does not mean he has never been arrested or suspected of a crime - just that none has been proven. Only a couple of them have the same set of stones as the OP, though ... but, they also have the same "I know the law" attitude.

Now, it IS possible the officer allowed himself to be sucked in and over-reacted. Without an arrest, the impounding of the car can be a big "oops" by the officer absent some other set of circumstances ... and THAT may be one of the big pieces behind curtain number one.

- Carl
 

tdw8

Junior Member
come to find out the owner of the car offered some ribbon to a lady who was decorating trees for a birthday party at the park...she called the police and accused the ribbon offerer of trying to lure her kid away...this is nonsense because he never talked to the kid he offered it to the mom because by chance he happened to have some ribbon in his car...she refused the ribbon and the encounter was over. the police were called and the license plate number was given...of course the police knew that offering someone ribbon in the park is not a crime yet they figured they could use this to skirt around search and seizure rights and parlay it into a drug bust. the police waited till that night and when we left in the car they instigated the encounter where they at gunpoint threatened my life, violated our right against unlawful search, laid us out face down in the alley in front of the whole neighborhood and then impounded the vehicle after conducting a search that lasted 1 and 1/2 hours. no citations were issued they let us go. they would not tell us why they were conducting this operation we found out when we tried to get the car released from the impound-they waived the 125$
fee for the release. the police knew where the car and the driver were immediatly after the incident at the park because they drove by and saw the car parked behind my house in the alley they could have resolved the issue then and there but they knew there was no real issue yet they used it as an excuse to wait till that night and pull us over and do that to us . it was a criminal act under the color of authority to try to manufacture abust and criminalize a citizen who did nothing wrong
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
If the police agree with your version of events, certainly.

However, I strongly suspect the official version is something entirely different.

But, if the officers involved in this are complete morons (and that would be astronomically good luck for your friend and for you), then you may at least get your attorneys fees paid.

- Carl
 

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