Negative Encounter in Pittsburgh on July 4th - R. Pedley

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I raise the question whether my complaint is enough, or if I should file a civil suit. The point of filing a complaint was to make people aware a complaint has been launched in the past about harassing a person open carrying. I'm curious if my complaint is valid enough, or if I should file a civil suit so this type of unlawful behavior doesn't happen in the future. They did send out a training memo, and they are adding a section on open carrying the the municipal police training, so perhaps there is change?

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'Change' or lip-service? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip_service

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Well their announced extra training is from everyone complaining, I'm hoping it is enough. If there are still incidents, then the action to take is obvious. If I do have any further incidents in PA after the supposed training, I'll sue for money and donate the cash to the cause for open carry and/or firearms awareness.

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I hope that you are not defending your point to me.

I made the reference to 'lip-service' and cited the Wiki entry thinking that you know only the vulgar idiomatic meaning. Its older proper meaning is 'minimally compliant words absent action or intent'.

You are accepting lip-service as satisfaction.

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All I'm saying is I'm going to see if they do change before I take any action against future incidents. Police here in Alaska are very proud and stand up to what is right. I'm not saying they're perfect, hell they screw up sometimes too you know. I did have a chance to talk with some of the officers of the Pittsburgh police department and they were definitely not on the side of the officer who harassed me. I'm not saying what the officer did was right, what he did was terribly wrong. I know every time I act like, "its okay long as the officer knows in the future", it just pisses off everyone(including officers in the dept). I think the problem only roots to people who don't like citizens carrying a firearm, as with the state trooper in the single incident I've had in Alaska.

Everyone makes mistakes/has bad days, which shouldn't mean everyone should sue every chance they get like an old lady burning herself with McDonalds coffee. People only get one warning from me before I come down full force on them. So if there are people in the police department which ignore the memos and training, well then they're welcoming a lawsuit.

Like a certain officer said to me in Pittsburgh, "ignorance is no excuse of the law".

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

Everyone makes mistakes/has bad days, which shouldn't mean everyone should sue every chance they get like an old lady burning herself with McDonalds coffee. People only get one warning from me before I come down full force on them. So if there are people in the police department which ignore the memos and training, well then they're welcoming a lawsuit.

Like a certain officer said to me in Pittsburgh, "ignorance is no excuse of the law".

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There's a difference between a mistake, "Gee, I thought that was the law, but I checked and I was wrong! I'm sorry, you can go.", and "I know what the law is, I don't care. I'm going to felony stop you every time I see you open carrying."

If there's no attitude and not much inconvenience in the first, there's really no reason to sue. In the second, the cop needs a civil litigation boot in the groin. That's not a mistake; it's a CHOICE, just like assault, robbery or rape. If the officer pierces his own qualified immunity, there is NO reason, NONE AT ALL, why you shouldn't do everything in your power to ruin his life. If you assaulted him, I guarantee he'd do everything he could to put you in prison.

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Officer Pedley was mostly described by the the the first incident, but he did cause plenty of wasted time and money. However, *sigh* one of the several(7~) which arrived on scene did tell me he would stop me every time he seen me open carrying. Which I agree I'd definitely file a lawsuit over an incident like the latter. I was greatly upset at the fact Pedly messed up, and didn't ask me how he could help with the time he wasted. i.e. ride to town. I was running from mt. Washington to town so I could grab a bite to eat. I'll take running over driving any day if there is enough time.

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

Officer Pedley was mostly described by the the the first incident, but he did cause plenty of wasted time and money. However, *sigh* one of the several(7~) which arrived on scene did tell me he would stop me every time he seen me open carrying. Which I agree I'd definitely file a lawsuit over an incident like the latter. I was greatly upset at the fact Pedly messed up, and didn't ask me how he could help with the time he wasted. i.e. ride to town. I was running from mt. Washington to town so I could grab a bite to eat. I'll take running over driving any day if there is enough time.

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I used to write the trainee discharge letters for my company commander. I could write a letter to the chief that would make the subject of that letter lie down on the closest set of railroad tracks.

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The complaint vs lawsuit thing is a personal choice you have to make. Me? I'd sue them.

You aren't the first person to OC in Pittsburgh or get harassed for doing so, so I don't know why you'd think your complaint is going to be some epiphany type moment for the police.

I don't know why you have this thing about suing = bad.

Your comparison to the McDonald's coffee incident is a bad one. McDonalds had been given multiple warnings over the years about their extremely hot coffee and they were content to pay small settlements and keep hurting people rather than turn down the temperature. Furthermore, the women sued after McDonalds refused to pay her medical bills. Bad analogy or maybe a good one to show when you should sue.

If you are waiting for the police to change, let me help: they won't. You obviously aren't that upset about the whole encounter, you aren't even willing to sue.

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codename_47 wrote:

If you are waiting for the police to change, let me help: they won't. You obviously aren't that upset about the whole encounter, you aren't even willing to sue.

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Oh yes they will, I'll make them. It doesn't take a lawsuit to make them see. If I did file a lawsuit, I'd find a nice billboard I could rent ad space on and add up the costs for a year. Then I'd put my mug on there with some statement as a I-told-you-so punishment.

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

I raise the question whether my complaint is enough, or if I should file a civil suit. The point of filing a complaint was to make people aware a complaint has been launched in the past about harassing a person open carrying. I'm curious if my complaint is valid enough, or if I should file a civil suit so this type of unlawful behavior doesn't happen in the future. They did send out a training memo, and they are adding a section on open carrying the the municipal police training, so perhaps there is change?

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I can speak only for my experience - Their higher ups don't give a shit. Your complaint means nothing. Your word versus his word, who the hell are you? His officer is in the right, every time.

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Sounds like you have a bad case of ignorant prejudice. I started talked to a specific person in the Pittsburgh police department and I did not describe my incident. I simply asked a question and brought up I open carry. He went on with conversation how he stopped a fellow officer from harassing a citizen.

So Aran, you're just speaking out of your A$$ like usual. Please knock it off.

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

Aran, you're just speaking out of your A$$ like usual. Please knock it off.

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Lip-service. Ohh, was it good for you? Did you get off?

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

Sounds like you have a bad case of ignorant prejudice. I started talked to a specific person in the Pittsburgh police department and I did not describe my incident. I simply asked a question and brought up I open carry. He went on with conversation how he stopped a fellow officer from harassing a citizen.

So Aran, you're just speaking out of your A$$ like usual. Please knock it off.

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Sounds like YOU have a bad case of ignorant prejudice. As I said, I can only speak for my experience.