CS Police illegally arrest open carrier ... now have to pay up.

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Originally Posted by Irving

After all this time, it still surprises you? The one I hear all the time in my profession is, "Well the police officer told me this is a no fault state, so he didn't write a ticket."

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[facepalm]

Its been awhile ... but I did do insurance defense work once upon a time - defending against personal injury suits, auto accidents ... etc.

So is the guy that was open carrying gay? why was he at the parade? I could see a charge for menacing, harassment? if he was open carrying at the parade just to be an asshat and he hates gays?

I wonder why everyone has to push their politics and their political beliefs in a situation that could clearly lead to an interaction with the law. While i am all for his rights and understand that he was probably not intending any harm, I also believe that he was there to make a statement and get himself involved in an altercation that did not have to happen.

If i wish to open carry, attending a gay pride parade would not ne my venue of choice. I will bet money that he does not open carry in that park on a regular basis. he was there for the photo op.

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Originally Posted by rockhound

So is the guy that was open carrying gay? why was he at the parade? I could see a charge for menacing, harassment? if he was open carrying at the parade just to be an asshat and he hates gays?

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If this was true the new laws from last spring would have applied and he would be disturbing the peace.

Disturbing the Peace is displaying a deadly weapon with intent to cause alarm and a firearm is a deadly weapon. (by statute) If he was there to cause trouble there is a law he could have been charged under.

The story is light on details but given he was not charged I'll go with no harm intended.

i agree, but just that fact that he chose that venue leads me to believe he wanted the confrontation, just sayin

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Originally Posted by rockhound

i agree, but just that fact that he chose that venue leads me to believe he wanted the confrontation, just sayin

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Info I got from one of the arresting officers:

Yes, the guy was there for a confrontation/photo op. He was a known activist type.
The officers called back to the sub-station to determine if Acacia Park was still a no-carry area. The station radioed back that Acacia Park was a no-carry area (incorrect). Later, it was discovered that the paperwork at the station was out of date.
The officers went with what their department told them and arrested the guy.
However, one of the officers threatened to "kick the shit" out of the guy and his statement was caught on video. Therefore, the city settled to make it all go away as quietly as possible.

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Originally Posted by CareyH

I disagree. Its a double standard. Ignorance of the law is no excuse....unless you are a police officer I guess. I am not cop bashing so don't take it that way, but it seems like more and more frequently the people that are supposed to enforce the law are breaking it with no consequence.

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That's not entirely accurate- thanks to organizations like Cop Watch and the like, less and less LEOs are getting away with errors on the law. It's incumbent upon every LEO to make sure they know the law- not necessarily every single word, but to know if they see something to be able to distinguish if it's a violation or not, then go from there. We're always free to look up the statute to match it to the elements we made the arrest for. There are plenty of instances where LEOs get into trouble because they wrongfully arrest based on their misunderstanding or ignorance of the law. Most of the time it leads to civil liability- not exactly the punishment many see as being adequate, but believe me, when a cop has a big black mark from being sued due to wrongful arrest, it's pretty hard for them to progress in their career.

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Originally Posted by spqrzilla

It has always surprised me how often a police officer will wander around just making up statutes out of thin air.

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I must not hang around where you do, I rarely see peace officers making up statutes- usually I see a misinterpretation or mis-statement of statute, but I've yet to see one make one up completely. Not being argumentative with you, just pointing out your statement is a bit of a stretch.

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Originally Posted by rockhound

So is the guy that was open carrying gay? why was he at the parade? I could see a charge for menacing, harassment? if he was open carrying at the parade just to be an asshat and he hates gays?

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He's gay. News story interviewed him and his "partner" ... in the video of his arrest he gets in one cops face and says something like "I'm a gay man with a gun, do you find that threatening?"

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Originally Posted by Ronin13

but believe me, when a cop has a big black mark from being sued due to wrongful arrest, it's pretty hard for them to progress in their career.

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Is this statement based on your many years of being a supervisor of LEOs? I think it's fair to say that you are not drawing form personal experience with this statement.

It all depends on whether or not the agency/DA has released the arresting officer from that liability.

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

Is this statement based on your many years of being a supervisor of LEOs? I think it's fair to say that you are not drawing form personal experience with this statement.

It all depends on whether or not the agency/DA has released the arresting officer from that liability.

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True- I was speaking in general terms. I've met an officer who works on an agency that has a pair of officers that were successfully sued, he stated that promotions for these guys are really difficult, and they are very reluctant to even try putting in lateral hires with other agencies.

23k would barely pay his legal bills - or time lost..