Video: Cop Goes Nuts When Driver Refuses Search of Car
Video of a police officer going on a profanity-laced tirade against a man who was only exercising his constitutional rights has gone viral.
The dashboard camera video begins with the officer, who is apparently wearing a microphone, walking back to an SUV after apparently checking his license.
He tells the driver he is not going to give him a ticket, but that it appears he was arrested a few months prior for marijuana possession. The driver explains he was holding it for a friend.
The cop then calmly asks if he can check his vehicle for drugs. The driver says, "Not without a warrant."
The officer seems okay with that at first, and then suddenly explodes:
"That'll be just f*****g fine, buddy! You know what? You take this s**t and you go back to f*****g Charleston and you don't f*****g come back here okay?!"
The officer yells a few more profanities before getting back in his car and driving away.
The video does not make clear exactly when or where this happened, but there is a Charleston in both South Carolina and West Virginia, so perhaps it happened in one of those states or neighboring states.
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Yeah, I'm sure it was a prank, in real life the driver would have got the shit beat out of him and car searched illegally.
If the cops found no drugs they would plant some.
Chuck
According to Watchdog.org, this was an ill conceived prank video made by two officers. It is not a real traffic stop; the driver being "pulled over" is a police officer.
Reference: http://westvirginia.watchdog.org/3386/watchblog-police-need-watching-too/
That explains how the video became public. I wondered why a very calm, professional-acting officer would suddenly go berserk. :D
Even so, this was not a smart thing to do. Many people will not care or even investigate if it's real, they'll only use it to advance their anti-police agenda.
If freedom means anything, it is the liberty to tell others what they do not want to hear.
I can hardly think of a better example of a police officer demonstrating why so many people distrust and dislike the police.
I think there had to be something else going on with the officer, though. He started out to be very reasonable and rational. Then he very suddenly overreacted in a big way. I cannot believe he would be this unprofessional on a regular basis. That would have gotten him dismissed from any police force that I know of.
I also wonder how this video was released and became public.
I expect an ambulance-chaser lawyer will have this incident in court before very long.
If freedom means anything, it is the liberty to tell others what they do not want to hear.
actually, I can. There was a video where a CCW holder was being told to shut up when he was trying to tell an officer he had a weapon on him. Then when the officer discovers the weapon, he flips out and says he should have shot him for not telling him about it.
But it is similar... when cops don't get their way, SOME but not all fly off the handle. They don't like having their authority challenged.
I agree. There have plenty of video incidents on the internet to verify what you say. They include incidents like this and the Lt. John Pike pepper spraying non-resisting protesters. That is an example of police leadership displaying unprofessional conduct.
Yes, I understand that they are human and have their frustrations and hot buttons. Nonetheless, I think we have the right to expect a higher standard of conduct from law enforcement. Isn't that what "professional" means? Better than non-professional?
If freedom means anything, it is the liberty to tell others what they do not want to hear.
To be accurate, those Occupy protesters who got pepper-sprayed _were_ resisting. They just weren't resisting _violently_.
@fsilber..they where exercising their constitutional rights, you asshole.
Chuck
If they had a Constitutional right to remain there, then the fault was in the campus administration for instructing the police to remove them. But I suspect that the students did NOT have a Constitutional right to be there against the will of the college administration.
@fsilber...You suspect wrong.
Chuck