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flintknapper wrote:

srothstein wrote:I agree with HV that it is one of those "You might beat the rap but you won't beat the ride" situations.

But in all three cases mentioned, I would strongly recommend calling the agency and filing a complaint. Police have no right to be bullies and should not be allowed to get away with it. If there is more to the story (and I am sure the officers would give a different version), let the IA investigator find it out and determine the truth.

The only way we can get better cops is if the people who get abused file complaints on the bad ones and send letters of commendation when they get a good one who goes beyond what is required.

I couldn't agree more.... (on both accounts).

I agree too, but trust me on this one: If I had asked a name and badge number in a couple of instances, which a well deserved complaint needed to be filed...I would have taken a ride myself. It just wasn't worth it. I watched people being arrested for asking (politely, I might add) what was going on with their friend (who was being arrested) and stuff like that. This one night in Deep Ellum it was ON with the police. They were in a tizzy. The guy next to me said something to the cop that it wasn't right what they were doing. He was right... and not being rude in any way. The cop looked at him and told him he was next to go to jail if he didn't shut up. "You want to go to jail boy!" Friend says no..."then keep your mouth shut!" True story, as I saw this first hand. That's not the only story either...I have a few others.

So in an instance like that, had I politely asked for a name and badge number, which is perfectly legal, I would have been arrested for *something*. I did have a drink in my hand, wasn't drunk, and was on a legal property behind a fence at a bar, but on the street side. It's legal to drink on the fenced in patios. That probably would have been enough for a PI anyway. I'm a supporter of the police, but I've seen some pretty heinous violations of people's rights.

I've visted New Orleans many times. I lived in Las Vegas for a while. I've partied in many places all over the country. The worst police incidents like this that I've seen have been in Dallas. Maybe that's because I've lived here most of the time, but in the tourist towns the police seem to just ignore you unless you're doing something stupid. In Dallas a lot of times it's like they're just looking for someone to bust for no good reason. My solution: I quit hanging out in Dallas.

When the cops showed up a few minutes later one of them saw me with a camera, told me to turn it off

Can they legally tell you to turn off your camera? I don't think that's legal.

. It does seem dangerous to talk to them. Recent events seem to make it very clear that talking with the Feds will get you into trouble. Saying nothing can do no harm.Scooter Libby and Martha Stuart would never have been convicted if they just kept their mouth shut.

Yeah, stuff like that really breeds a distrust for the feds. Best thing to do would be keep your mouth shut and call a good lawyer. You'd think people like Martha S. would know that!

Will938 wrote:

govnor wrote:Well, I assume if they actually were there, then you would have to hand over your weapons for inspection. Hopefully you didn't bring your heavily modded AR that day anyway...

Why would you have to hand over anything for inspection? Am I missing something or is it still wrong for the government to take your possessions from you without probable cause of a crime being committed?

I'm not saying it's right, but try arguing with them about it. Probably won't get you too far. Maybe you've never been hassled by bully law enforcement types, but they don't take no for an answer. Believe me, I've been there a few times and I wasn't doing anything wrong...just wrong place, wrong time. If you start resisting their intimidation they can think up all kinds of fun things to charge you with. It isn't right, but that's the way it is.

Well, I assume if they actually were there, then you would have to hand over your weapons for inspection. Hopefully you didn't bring your heavily modded AR that day anyway...

I'd say it's possible they were there if there was a complaint. From reading the thread on the other site, it seems like a lot of people don't like the guy that owns the range. I've been to many, many nightclubs in my time and noticed that the TABC was never in any of them, for the most part. Every once in a while, though, they would show up to walk around and look for underage drinkers, drunk people, etc. Usually you would find out later that someone had lodged a complaint about that club.