Sorry, just read that.

I've been arrested by a deputy sheriff for smoking a joint out in a county park. At the time of my arrest, the charge was stated to be simple possession, a misdemeanor. While being transported to the city jail (typical scenario would be pay the minimum fine as bond and leave after signing a form) the deputy and I enagaged in a little debate about my use of marijuana and his use of alcohol (he started it BTW), when we got to the station, he ignored his departments own established procedure and charged me with felony intent to deliver.

I had in my possession an amount of marijuana that was obviously for personal use in this area, less than an ounce in a single bag, no scales, not in an area at all related to the drug trade etc, in other words not a shred of evidience to warrant the felony charge. All because I pointed out during his discussion that his alcohol was a far more dangerous drug than my marijuana.

Now granted, this was a Saturday night, so did have to spend the night in jail, and since the judge in the morning was a magistrate with no authority to do anything about it, so Monday morning before I can even call the CA for that county (whom I knew) there it is in the paper, me arrested for dealing weed.

By noon the charge was dropped to what it should have been, simple possession. The only reason I didn't sue because I like the CA, I play golf with him, I don't want to be fighting him and besides that, he sent a letter to the sherrif telling him that he was considering pressing charges against the deputy and if that kind of BS came across his desk again, it wouldn't bode well for him. He also reduced it further to an unlabeled substance charge so I wouldn't have my student aid elegibility pulled.

Let's see, oh yeah, some ahole gas station attendant accused me of stealing gas. Only he said I did it a few weeks prior, and no, he hadn't made a report, and no, he didn't get a license plate, so basically he's saying I stole $10 worth of gas a few weeks ago, I tell him he's full of manure, he calls the cops and the cop who arrived tells me pay the $10 or go to jail.

I paid the ten bucks and called the shift supervisor, nice guy, went to school with him, told him what happened and he said had I been arrested he would have made them drop it as soon as we got to the jail but since I paid the $10 I pretty much admitted my guilt as far as a court would be concerned.

Guess I should have let them arrest me, no big deal, night in jail for something I didn't do.

Got a few more, but it's not like I haven't had any negative contact with cops, but despite them I have a few friends in law enforcement that I hold in high esteem as well. One of them was responsible for nailing his boss for theft of drug money. He should be the boss, he could have said nothing and no one would have known, he could have grabbed a stash of it himself and no one would have known a thing as well and god knows he ain't getting rich as a county deputy.

 

Some people are making mistakes in their post:

First mistake – The cop did NOT witness ANY crime at all. If some think he did then please inform me and the others as to what crime he witnessed? He did not witness himself giving the girl a $20 because he was proved wrong by the manager as soon as he asked.

Second mistake – NO it is NEVER a good idea to allow a cop to search your vehicle or any other personal property you may have. The reason being is it sets bad precedence for the rest of us making a cop believe everyone should give up their rights and allow a cop to do as they please. I have said it before about my home, if anyone ever comes busting through my doors in the middle of the night they had better be screaming search warrant or fire, otherwise they will get blown away. If it’s a cop and he didn’t scream search warrant guess who will win in court, that’s right ME…

This cop was trying to extort money from a business its plain and simple by the proof in the video and he also committed child abuse and he went free on both charges. He is the ONLY person who committed crimes that day…

Don’t get me wrong I am one of the biggest supporters of law enforcement but when I see wrong I call it out regardless what or who it is. This cop is not just a bad cop but a completely ignorant cop that should have done jail time, paid large fines and been fired from his job…

 

Don't worry, he'll screw up again, and his next victim will be go after the city for serious punitive damages because the put a rogue cop back on the street.

 

I posted this earlier "Just because a jurisdiction settles a lawsuit does not mean they are admitting any guilt. One agency near where I worked would essentially pay $50,000 to anybody involved in a crash with one of their deputies. You had to go talk to a lawyer and have them do your negotiating, but it was essentially the lawyer talked to the dept, they offered the money, the lawyer receives 10,000 for a couple hours work, you get 40,000. It did not matter who was at fault. Many agencies are strapped for money, so if they are able to settle out of court for less than it would cost to pay the lawyers then they will settle. That is probably how she "won" the money while the officer was exonerated. Lawyers do not have the best interest of the city in mind they have their own pocketbooks in mind. A lot of cities do not have a lawyer on staff. Many hire one in private practice and are billed hourly."

 

Is there a standard scale somewhere?
I regularly get worked over pretty good during an arrest and never come away with an amount much more than a Happy Meal.

 

I your case, taking into consideration the injuries appeared to have improved your looks, I'd pay the agency. They just saved you a bunch of money at the plastic surgeon.

kretinus--I guess we've come to an, uh, agreement. At least we agree to disagree.

 

I'm sorry, but I find it very concerning that anyone in law enforcement would see the video and take the side of the officer involved.

The only "evidence" he had that a crime was commited was his own "belief" and he had more than enough proof offered to him, including from the manager of the store that his "belief" was mistaken long before he chose to escalate the incident and I don't buy for a second that the girls race didn't play a part in his decision to prove what a pathetic excuse for a human being he was.

What happens when he "believes" a suspect has a gun and puts a hole in someones grandmother with a loaf of french bread in her hand.

 

I've been hit with a loaf of french bread and let me tell you something, if they had put their bakers on the front lines France would have never lost a war.

 

I'm not going back through all of the posts, but if I remember correctly all of the officers who have posted have stated they would have handled the situation differently. The only thing any of us have said in support of the officer was he did not break any laws. As can be seen from this long thread there are two standards. What is legal and what is professional. Many people who do not do the job confuse the two. Ideally the job is done in compliance with both standards. Sometimes the professional side is short changed to get the job done, but the price is paid in court. It is never acceptable to cut corners on the legal side.

Just for the record the one thing I would have done differently is not go to a restaurant where I can't watch the food being assembled, or know the people personally. I have arrested too many, who list some kind of restaurant work as their employment to go to a restaurant near my work place.