Missouri: Police Roadblock Harassment Caught on Tape.

TheNewspaper.com ^ | 12/30/2006 | Brett Darrow

[The KG9 Kid]

Missouri: Police Roadblock Harassment Caught on Tape
St. Louis County, Missouri threaten to arrest a teenager for refusing to discuss his personal travel plans.

A teenager harassed by police in St. Louis, Missouri caught the incident on tape. Brett Darrow, 19, had his video camera rolling last month as he drove his 1997 Maxima, minding his own business. He approached a drunk driving roadblock where he was stopped, detained and threatened with arrest when he declined to enter a conversation with a police officer about his personal travel habits. Now Darrow is considering filing suit against St. Louis County Police.

"I'm scared to drive for fear of being stopped at another checkpoint and arrested while doing nothing illegal," Darrow told TheNewspaper. "We're now guilty until we prove ourselves innocent to these checkpoint officers."

On that late November night, videotape confirms that Darrow had been ordered out of his vehicle after telling a policeman, "I don't wish to discuss my personal life with you, officer." Another officer attempted to move Darrow's car until he realized, "I can't drive stick!" The officer took the opportunity to undertake a thorough search of the interior without probable cause. He found nothing.

When Darrow asked why he was being detained, an officer explained, "If you don't stop running your mouth, we're going to find a reason to lock you up tonight."

The threats ended when Darrow informed officers that they were being recorded. After speaking to a supervisor Darrow was finally released.

"These roadblocks have gotten out of hand," Darrow told TheNewspaper. "If we don't do something about them now, it'll be too late."

A full video of the incident is available here. A transcript is provided below as the audio is at times very faint.

[Fierce Allegiance]

LOL! If the kid in the story were a wiseass like that, I would never side with him, even though the cop was NO within his rights to ask the question in the first place.

[elkfersupper]

my dog is a lousy driver.

Whenever I do something like that, I tend to get hit with the "smartass tax".

You haven't lived until you wind up in the De Baca County jail on a Dec. 22nd - (you have to bribe your way out and have an accomplice, or you might be there 'til June).

[Finny]

You know, this reminds me of a cop in my small hometown who was a Good Cop and remembered fondly by many. When I was a becoming-wild very young teen with wild connections (!), he knew who I was, but then again, he knew a lot of kids. One time he saw me at a football game; I was wearing a hippie-dippile hand-made leather necklace with a pouch that had an abalone shell in it, that was sentimental. But it looked like exactly the kind of place you'd hide drugs, and this was the early 70s. This is a football game where girls mainly wandered around to socialize, rather than watch the game. We were potential trouble, for sure. He was a sociable friendly guy who knew everybody and their siblings. Somehow or another we got to talking, and he smoothly enticed me to show him what was in the necklace before I even realized it.

He was a good cop because he knew the real bad kids from the fake ones, and he didn't have to provoke a thing.

[ozzymandus]

Ever been harassed by cops? When you are, then you will have a valid opinion.

[Rodney King]

Evading conversation is interfering with the officers duty.

Did you just make that up or can you provide some sort of link that backs you up?

[microgood]

me: because my dog is a lousy driver.
I got a smile and pass through the next three times.

LOL..I don't care who you are, thats funny right there.

[FortWorthPatriot]

"Most people would instantly tell the officer where they were headed...as the question is merely a way to get the driver to speak more in sentences...to judge whether the driver was DWI."

Just my two cents worth but "I don't wish to discuss my personal life with you officer" seems to me to have been a long enough sentence for the officer to make such a judgement.

[AFreeBird]

Conversation is a tool that officers use to identify people driving under the influence at legal DWI checkpoints (which I do think are a violation of Amendment IV). By not speaking with the officer, young Brett was baiting the officer and inviting this to happen.

Consider this scenario:
After refusing to answer the question "Where you headed tonight?", Brett drives to his ex girlfriends' house and hacks her, her parents and 7 year old twin brother and sister to death with a machete. What would the people here piling on the police officers have to say? I doubt it would be 'At least they didn't violate any of his constitutional rights'

One, it seems, from the transcripts, that young Brett was speaking quite freely with the officers. He just didn't feel compelled to answer a personal question that is really none of the officers business.

And two, regarding your scenario, do you think, even if he felt compelled to answer; would have said he was going to his ex girlfriends house to hack her and her family to pieces with a machete?

You seem to have an optimistic assessment of the honesty of an evil doer out to do people harm; to spill his guts at a traffic stop.

Conversely, you seem to have an overly optimistic view of the intentions of the LEO's, or government agents.

And America was NOT founded by people whom had such optimistic views of government.

[Unassuaged]

And maybe a neck rub and a bubble bath, sheesh!

[Finny]

Had I been the kid, when asked "Where you headed tonight?" I woulda said "...to see your wife, you're working."

That would have been worth a speeding ticket or whatever they could have come up with..........LOL!

In the very wee hours of the morning, my dad and brother were traveling on a small-town sideroad on business. My dad was driving and the intersection was deserted as far the eye could see except for the cop car parked in the gas station. Dad slowed down a bit, checked, and continued through the red light, which was as safe a procedure as lying in your bed at night under the circumstances.

The cop immediately pulled his siren and pulled dad over, my brother cringing in the passenger seat, wondering what crazy thing dad was up to.

Dad rolled down the window for the cop, who could see he was no drunk and no druggy, but a man on his day's work. The cop asked incredulously, "Why did you do that? Didn't you see me?"

My dad replied, "Well, hell, I just figured you were sleeping as usual!"

He got the ticket.

[Unassuaged]

I must disagree. Respectfully reminding a civil servent that you have rights and are aware of them is a conversation. The cop said conversation, he meant interrogation. And for the record those "brat" cops are doing a needed service, go easy on them.

[FortWorthPatriot]

"If that was the case here, I expect this 19 year old went out to find, provoke and tape the response he got. The cops didn't handle it too well, either. I'd say both sides had a bit too much attitude that night."

I agree. I think he did set out to try to push some buttons that night, although I don't think his first response was rude or confrontational. It was a calmly and politely spoken response to the officer's question. I think the officer should have then changed to a different tactic.

I have to admit that I have considered installing a hidden camera in my own personal vehicles in order to protect myself in situations where a bad cop might decide to push his or her authority too much and start making things up (especially if it's just me and him on a dark lonely stretch of road).

I don't think it is wrong for us "ordinary folk" to utilize the same technology to protect themselves for the very same reasons the police utilize it.

[AD from SpringBay]

Could we have a little setup here?

So what if it was a setup? If the police weren't doing something wrong they shouldn't mind being setup. That's the logic imposed on us for vehicle searches and random road blocks. But I guess I'm forgetting some animals are more equal than others.

[djf]

So your argument is that because SOMEBODY might SOMEDAY at SOMEWHERE chop another person up, we are all obligated to do whatever any petty-azz dictator wants us to do at any time?

We need to grow up and admit we are all guilty until proven innocent?

Those silly founders...


"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of power .... It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions"
Daniel Webster

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

What are you talking about. Your comment is,,,,,,,,stupid!

[FortWorthPatriot]

"Police officers acting in their official role do not have rights; they have enumerated powers. Authority to compel you to tell them the nature of your business is not one of those enumerated powers. The authority to threaten a citizen with jail time for being insufficiently servile is not one of those enumerated powers."

Well stated. To me, this is the crux of the argument.

[Defiant]

Feel free.

[miliantnutcase]

That's true, and they had no probable cause to search his vehicle.

[zeugma]

Which is exactly why Law Abiding Citizens are targeted, they are the Cash Cow Soft Targets, they aren't dangerous they don't shoot cops...they just PAY.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have yet another winner here folks!

This kind of citizen harassment will become less prevalent when it starts getting dangerous to the revenuers.

A cab driver in a major city has a more dangerous job than a cop in the same town. 

[AFreeBird]

You said it. That old relic in the so-called 'Bill of Rights' (I like to think of it as the 'Bill that Whiny Activists Hide Behind') along with the 3rd Amendment were only intended to prevent British Redcoats from foraging pigs and chickens from Colonial farmers.

I don't see any Redcoats, do you? Who owns a pig or chicken anymore? Let's just remove those embarassing amendments and finally move into the 21st Century.

The EU is calling... there are several modes of transportation leaving this country on a daily, even hourly basis; the trip doesn't take as long as it used to; We've got it down to hours depending on mode.

Pick one!

You seem better suited to the old world than to this one.