The SPD has seemingly used up all of the goodwill it banked up during the Monfort/Williams shooting a couple of years ago, and are sadly slipping downhill at an alarming pace. (If you read the comments from the Times story)

Three years ago, some guys were 'Urban Golfing' during a pub crawl, somehow the police become involved, and one dude gets arrested for not providing ID to the cop (Obstruction). Anyone see the problem yet?

It is not against the law for a person not to show ID or give an officer your name.

Why is this relevant now? Because the charges were (rightly) dropped, but the dashcam video was suppressed from the defendant, and told the video no longer existed.

Delve into the story a little deeper and you find that FOI requests for dashcam videos take three years to go through, the department also 'destroys' the video after three years.

The cams were put into the cars for the protection of citizens and the officers, but if the evidence is suppressed, how does the video help the citizen?

This guy sued, won $60,000 and has used the money to create a database for citizens to check whether or not the run-in they had with police was taped, and I think whether or not the video still exists. Because apparently this guys case was not an isolated incident.


Police Dashcam

I can't believe that Police Chief is still on the payroll.

"It is not against the law for a person not to show ID or give an officer your name. "

So you get pulled over for speeding, I don't think thats going to work.

You get stopped for,IDK, drunk in public. I don't think thats going to work.

Under what conditions do you think you do not have to provide ID to a cop if he asks for it? You generally are not going to be just walking down the street and get stopped unless you do something, perhaps just jaywalking or otherwise being a doucebag.

If you drive for Metro, I'm sure you've seen your fair share of douchbags over the years.

Fortunately, I drive on the Eastside part-time, primarily during commuter hours. I haven't had to deal with too many problems. There is a big difference between people who choose to ride the bus, and those who have no other choice.

Yep, I always thought the #37 would be the ideal route.

Years ago I was down town when suddenly I noticed cop cars conerging towards the back of the parking lot I was walking in front of. Two undercover officers had two suspects handcuffed on the ground. They picked them up and one officer instantly kicked the legs out of one of the suspects sending him tumbling to the ground. He yanked him up and strated screaming at him. At that point of the other officers noticed my friend and I and started yelling for us to get going. I yelled back no and almost instantly the situation diffused and the suspects were put in the vehicles. We were called over and the officer explained that normally he would never treat someone that way, and then proceeded to explain they were doing a undercover buy and when they arrested them they found a pistol gripped sawed off shot gun up one their sleeves. I can fault him for getting mad, but it was clear that they were trying to intimidate from observing their actions when they first yelled at us. Luckily the officers realized they were close to going over the line and stopped.

Asking for ID can sound harmless, but could easily be a move to intimidate someone, as can be seen by the ensuing arrest for no other reason then the refusal to produce it. The moment they start asking for ID anyone with a warrent is definitely out of there. Everyone else starts getting nervous and the officers can do as they please.... unless someone stands up to them.

Anyone who refuses to show ID is looking for trouble. Anyone can refuse, but is the price tag worth it?

The cops here got in trouble not for what they did, but for what they didn't do......admit that they had tapes. Big mistake. Now some dickwad with a chip on his shoulder is 60K richer.

[quote=GutZ]"It is not against the law for a person not to show ID or give an officer your name. "

So you get pulled over for speeding, I don't think thats going to work.

If you're driving, you need to have your license on your person. I'm not arguing that.

You get stopped for,IDK, drunk in public. I don't think thats going to work.

The police need to have a reasonable suspicion that you have committed an offense, before asking for ID. Washington State does not have a law that requires (Stop & Identify Law) you to show an ID, or provide your name to a LEO any time they ask it.

Under what conditions do you think you do not have to provide ID to a cop if he asks for it? Again, you don't need to provide your name or ID unless a LEO has reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. One way to clarify this is if you ask the Officer if you're being detained, or free to go.

You generally are not going to be just walking down the street and get stopped unless you do something, perhaps just jaywalking or otherwise being a doucebag. I guess you consider knocking a foam rubber ball down the street a crime?

That's all good and fine, but if you get pulled over somewhere like, um...


Napavine...

It's his word against yours and his uncle is the judge.