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I'm sick of Darrow.

PrayingForWar

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Over and over again I hear about this stupid kid who baited an even stupider cop into arresting him. Yes the cop should be fired, even spend a few weeks in jail himself, in general population. However, this kid is obviously looking for trouble, I don't feel sorry for him. I'm sure there are much better ways to fight for your rights than pushing buttons on a cop till he throws you in jail. I even saw someone post an Infowars.com link. Alex Jones is a shameless self promoter, I met him in Waco years ago, I've been in his house. All of that conspiracy nonsense is fear mongering, all authority can be abused, but the answer is not to have NO authority. I hope this is the last time I hear about this, %99 of the cops in this country are doing the best they can to protect the public, even the best ones make bad decisions, but harping on the %1 who shouldn't even be rent-a-cops tarnishes the rest of them.
 

mkl

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PrayingForWar wrote:
Over and over again I hear about this stupid kid who baited an even stupider cop into arresting him. Yes the cop should be fired, even spend a few weeks in jail himself, in general population. However, this kid is obviously looking for trouble, I don't feel sorry for him. I'm sure there are much better ways to fight for your rights than pushing buttons on a cop till he throws you in jail. I even saw someone post an Infowars.com link. Alex Jones is a shameless self promoter, I met him in Waco years ago, I've been in his house. All of that conspiracy nonsense is fear mongering, all authority can be abused, but the answer is not to have NO authority. I hope this is the last time I hear about this, %99 of the cops in this country are doing the best they can to protect the public, even the best ones make bad decisions, but harping on the %1 who shouldn't even be rent-a-cops tarnishes the rest of them.

I disagree entirely. This kid stood up for himself while the police abused their authority. I have nothing but respect for him. If 99% of cops are out there doing their best, they better start getting the other 1% of cops to fall in line, it seems like there is a police abuse story every day. Seems like they need to learn their lessons, and if it takes a kid with a camera to do it, so be it.
 

Citizen

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I'm not sufficiently familiar with the story to say for sure that he went looking for a cop to put in trouble.

However, if it helps cure effete, psuedo-sophisticates of their blind faith inpolice and gets them thinking about standing up for their rights, I'll chalk it up to the "secret shopper" concept where a company hires individuals to patronize their stores to test the store staff.
 

PrayingForWar

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mkl wrote:
I disagree entirely. This kid stood up for himself while the police abused their authority. I have nothing but respect for him. If 99% of cops are out there doing their best, they better start getting the other 1% of cops to fall in line, it seems like there is a police abuse story every day. Seems like they need to learn their lessons, and if it takes a kid with a camera to do it, so be it.
Slapping a dog in the face and crying when you get bit gets no symapathy from me. Standing up for your rights is when you are going on about your business and you are detained and harrassed for no reason, and challenge the offending person in open court. Its not doing something to draw attention to yourself and being a wise ass, when someone commisioned by the state to safeguard the public, simply wants to make sure you aren't smoking crack, commiting suicide or setting up a carbomb. Like I said the cop was wrong, VERY wrong, and should be put in jail himself and never wear a badge again. I've been the victim of bad cops myself, yet its never occured to me that egging them on would benefit me.
 

longwatch

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Frankly I disagree that Darrow was egging the cops on and the rest of your diatribe sounds like it could have come from one of the cops or cop defenders who threatened to kill Darrow. May your chains rest lightly upon you.
 

DKSuddeth

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PrayingForWar wrote:
mkl wrote:
I disagree entirely. This kid stood up for himself while the police abused their authority. I have nothing but respect for him. If 99% of cops are out there doing their best, they better start getting the other 1% of cops to fall in line, it seems like there is a police abuse story every day. Seems like they need to learn their lessons, and if it takes a kid with a camera to do it, so be it.
Slapping a dog in the face and crying when you get bit gets no symapathy from me. Standing up for your rights is when you are going on about your business and you are detained and harrassed for no reason, and challenge the offending person in open court. Its not doing something to draw attention to yourself and being a wise ass, when someone commisioned by the state to safeguard the public, simply wants to make sure you aren't smoking crack, commiting suicide or setting up a carbomb. Like I said the cop was wrong, VERY wrong, and should be put in jail himself and never wear a badge again. I've been the victim of bad cops myself, yet its never occured to me that egging them on would benefit me.

so you're idea of standing up for your rights goes something like this?

take a verbal tongue lashing, degrading and humiliating treatment, threatened with wrongful arrest because you aren't being an obedient little lapdog, all the while saying 'yes sir' and 'where else can I kiss your butt, sir?', then when all the abusive behavior is over, get all indignant, file a complaint, file said lawsuit with the courts who will side with law enforcement, walk away with nothing to show for it, and claim victory in standing up for your rights.

good one, let us know how that works out for you.
 

PrayingForWar

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I can see I'm out numbered on this. I did say the cop was out of line and should spend some time in jail himself. Cops should know better than to get into a pissing match with teenage brats. I suppose if everyone drove around with cameras rigged up in their cars I'd believe the kid was doing anything but baiting police. Having simple courtesy and a mannerly attitude is not being a lapdog or kissing their butt.



I'm just sick of hearing about it, one bad cop out of 1000's makes headlines, kind of like the Al-CNN coverage of the war.
 

dkd

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PrayingForWar wrote:
I can see I'm out numbered on this. I did say the cop was out of line and should spend some time in jail himself. Cops should know better than to get into a pissing match with teenage brats. I suppose if everyone drove around with cameras rigged up in their cars I'd believe the kid was doing anything but baiting police. Having simple courtesy and a mannerly attitude is not being a lapdog or kissing their butt.



I'm just sick of hearing about it, one bad cop out of 1000's makes headlines, kind of like the Al-CNN coverage of the war.
maybe everyone should have a camera in their car for cases such as this, i think its a good idea that some on this forum have invested in carrying voice recorders for encounters with LEO
 

PrayingForWar

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dkd wrote:
maybe everyone should have a camera in their car for cases such as this, i think its a good idea that some on this forum have invested in carrying voice recorders for encounters with LEO
:)Probably not a bad idea, all the cops do,and when they use their videos as evidence they edit out everything but incriminating "evidence", so that statements can be taken out of context. I really am sick of this story though, it never goes away. I just wanted to talk about open carry, and people's experiences with LEO, not this stupid $h!t.:banghead:
 

DKSuddeth

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PrayingForWar wrote:
dkd wrote:
maybe everyone should have a camera in their car for cases such as this, i think its a good idea that some on this forum have invested in carrying voice recorders for encounters with LEO
:)Probably not a bad idea, all the cops do,and when they use their videos as evidence they edit out everything but incriminating "evidence", so that statements can be taken out of context. I really am sick of this story though, it never goes away. I just wanted to talk about open carry, and people's experiences with LEO, not this stupid $h!t.:banghead:
That's easy to accomplish by simply avoiding the threads about the missouri cop and/or darrow. There are plenty of other stories and subjects referring to open carry scattered throughout the forum. Visit the other states forums as well. I've learned alot from those also.
 

KBCraig

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PrayingForWar wrote:
I'm just sick of hearing about it, one bad cop out of 1000's makes headlines,
If there were truly "one bad cop out of 1000's", then how has a law-abiding young man, only 20 years of age, already had three seriously negative encounters (two of them on video), all in the same county? I'm not even counting the marked car staking out his house, even though that's on video, because it wasn't technically an "encounter".

As for whether Darrow somehow "set up" these police encounters, you should remember the law on "entrapment": it is illegal if you entice someone to break a law, when they would not otherwise be looking for the opportunity to break that law. Creating an opportunity for someone to break a law, when that person is already disposed to break that law is not entrapment.

Darrow did not initiate any of these police encounters. He didn't evoke any police response other than how they were pre-disposed to react.

I salute young Mr. Darrow.
 

deepdiver

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Well, I have to say that I am not surprised at the story. About 15 years ago when I was in my early 20s I was driving home from work about 11:15 pm on I-55 on the south side of St. Louis in a pretty crappy looking car 10 year old car I had since college. I was dressed nicely in clean jeans, button down shirt and charcoal gray wool overcoat. I was a good kid with no prior issues with law enforcement besides a few speeding tickets. It had been a snowy day, but the roads were clear. I was 2 lanes in from the left, doing 60 mph with traffic in a 55 zone. I saw a police car merging from an on ramp on the right. Within a quarter mile the cruiser's lights popped on and he crossed 2 lanes of traffic behind me. I pulled over making way for the emergency vehicle. They followed me and subsequently pulled me over.

Cops walked up to both sides of my car hands on their weapons. Cop starts with attitude - give me your license. I asked what the problem was. He told me to shut up and speak when spoken to. He looks at my license. They both use their flashlights to look inside my car through the windows. Cop asks if I knew how fast I was going. I told him yes, that I was doing 55-60 mph with traffic. He said they had been pacing me for 5 miles and I had been 82 mph. I politely said that they must have the wrong vehicle because 1) I wasn't sure that car would do 82 mph and 2) that it would be suicidal to drive at that speed in that car in those winter driving conditions. He again stated that they had been pacing me for over 5 miles.

I politely stated that I had seen them merge from the on ramp 1/4 mile before they pulled me over and that I hadn't even driven 5 miles on I-55 since I left work. The officer drew his weapon half way out of his holster and said, "You callin' me a liar boy? We gonna have problem here?" I was scared out of my mind. I said no sir, yes sir, anything you want to hear sir.

After some more verbal abuse, he went back to his car, came back with a ticket for 82 mph in a 55 mph zone and told me to get out his city. I got an attorney but ended up just paying the ticket because just out of college I couldn't afford the potential legal fees of fighting it. We did file a complaint and got a response to the effect that I was a punk kid and their officers don't act that way.

So yeah, I believe Darrow's story with or without a camera. If I had a camera that night I would have saved $250 in fines and legal fees. That was a lot of money for someone just out of college with student loans to pay off and an entry level job. I know that not even a majority of officers are like that, but I have seen and heard enough over the years and had experiences that tell me that it only takes one to bankrupt you, injure you or take away hours, days, weeks or even years of your life if they decide to maliciously pursue you.
 

Mainsail

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deepdiver wrote:
...He told me to shut up and speak when spoken to.
...The officer drew his weapon half way out of his holster and said, "You callin' me a liar boy?
...After some more verbal abuse, he went back to his car, came back with a ticket for 82 mph in a 55 mph zone and told me to get out his city.

Wow, that’s some scary stuff!

I think the reason this situation resonates with so many people is that so many people have had or directly know someone who has had a similar experience. Nobody likes to be bullied, and it’s even more humiliating when the person doing the bullying is someone who is supposed to be in the role of protector.

I don’t know if he necessarily baited the cop or not, but it’s immaterial*. The cop is a bully. If not for the video that cop would still be on the streets terrorizing the very citizens who faithfully pay their tax dollars to support the police department.

EDIT to add: *When 20-20 lures potential child abusers into a home and then publicly exposes them, would the OP consider that ‘entrapment’? No, of course not. Even if Darrow was trying to get harassed, the resultant video and audio performed a public service; and we’re all the better for it. Trying to cast a negative spin on the situation by saying he ‘baited’ the cop is only a feeble attempt to muddy the water. The actions of the officer speak for themselves.

EDIT to add:

…but harping on the %1 who shouldn't even be rent-a-cops tarnishes the rest of them.
Then the other 99% should be as up-in-arms as the rest of us. Given the threatening behavior and forum posts, the officers who worked with him are not. They are expressing some righteous indignation at one of their own being exposed. They appear to believe that they are above scrutiny. That is wrong.
 

Deanimator

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Mainsail wrote:
Then the other 99% should be as up-in-arms as the rest of us. Given the threatening behavior and forum posts, the officers who worked with him are not. They are expressing some righteous indignation at one of their own being exposed. They appear to believe that they are above scrutiny. That is wrong.

That reminds me of the Chicago cops who rail impotently about the repeated showing of the video of that 250lb. cop stomping on the 115lb. barmaid's head.

They don't give a damn about a coward stomping on a woman who weighs less than half what he does. It's the video that bothers them, not the savage and contemptible crime it depicts.
 

dng

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Let's not turn this into another LEO bashing thread. There are some bad LEOs out there, but it is not right to hate or judge on that large of a scale.
 

Deanimator

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dngreer wrote:
Let's not turn this into another LEO bashing thread. There are some bad LEOs out there, but it is not right to hate or judge on that large of a scale.
It's definitely not all or even most cops, but they tend to cluster in places where they're either inadequately supervised or the system itself is largely run by criminals. When you reach that stage, the quality of any individual police officer is irrelevant. Every time you interact with the police, you're playing Russian roulette with an unknown number of chambers, with an unknown number of them loaded.

I've lived in the same suburb of Cleveland since 1999. There have been more verified instances of police misconduct in the Chicago PD in the last twelve MONTHS than there have in the Rocky River, Ohio PD in the last eight YEARS.

I travel to Chicago ONCE a year and I'm on edge the whole time I'm there.

A little evidence of what happens when nobody is in charge (or criminals are in charge): http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/625943,finnigan102907.article
 

RU98A

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Maybe the leadership encourages this type behavior. The police chief also had some issues at his previous place of employment, such as inappropriate behavior with a young female while he was on duty. This link tells about the mayor.



http://tinyurl.com/2rtmoy
 

longwatch

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How about you need to realize that you don't know Darrow nor can you read his mind or know what his intentions were. Also that his case is on this forum because he showed a very effective way to deal with bad LEOs, and if you don't realize that similiar things have happened to OCers on this forum, myself included, and that having recording devices has become a recommended practice for OCers, then you should read more and post less.
 
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