SSCC #510 : Oakland County

Oakland County prosecutors have dropped 16 drug cases in recent months — including one involving a large-scale marijuana bust — after an investigation determined a deputy on the county’s narcotics enforcement team falsified a search warrant and lied under oath.

County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said she learned in September that Marc Ferguson, now fired, opened a shipping container at YRC Freight in Pontiac without a search warrant in June 2011. He discovered 78 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $300,000.

He has been fired, however I think that was more because of the fact his actions and getting caught compromised hundreds of cases.  No word on him being charged for violating peoples rights, and more importantly though as usual:

Ferguson was fired in December, following an internal investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. He has filed a grievance to get his job back.

I’m reasonably sure he will get his job back, Officer Roid Rage did.

State Sponsored Criminal #510: Marc Ferguson

Because when you violate someone’s rights being held accountable becomes a relative term when you’re a cop.

SSCC #508 – Citrus County

Now, getting out of your car during a traffic stop is never a good idea unless ordered to do so.  That however doesn’t excuse that cops behavior and the way he made up the law as he went along.

This guy and officer Roid-Rage would get along great.

State Sponsored Criminal #508: Andy Cox

Because an officer of the law can just make it up as he goes along and in the end qualified immunity will protect him even if grossly negligent in his understanding.

h/t Uncle

SSCC #505 – Ovideo

And yet the temptation of looking up a relative, a celebrity’s address or a romantic interest is too great for some law enforcers.

In November, an internal Oviedo police investigation found one of the agency’s officers made unauthorized searches in D.A.V.I.D. to look up a local bank teller he was reportedly flirting with.

Oviedo police reports said Sgt. Dwayne Walker, who resigned amid the probe, used his D.A.V.I.D. account to run 19 separate searches using the first name of the bank teller and her race as part of the search criteria.

Overall the rates of misuse have risen 400% since 2011.  Think about that the next time the police say they need some database to help do their job better.

What they really mean is they want to make stalkers with a badge have an easier time stalking their victims.  Any database of citizens will be misused, so why make it in the first place?  Sure it may start with “good intentions” like most things, but is it actually necessary?

State Sponsored Criminal #505: Dwayne Walker

Because if you’re a law abiding citizen you have nothing to hide from a stalker with a badge right?

Accountabilibuddyable–Las Vegas

Instead of an SSCC tonight we have this.  He only got 2 years but read the judges comments and what all went down.

Norman was in court this morning to face his punishment after pleading guilty to charges of coercing women to expose their breasts after stopping them on the road.

Judge Abbi Silver — after hearing victims’ statements — looked right at him and said: “You are nothing short of a sexual predator with a badge.”

Thankfully the judge didn’t hold back:

Norman received maximum sentencing for the counts he previously pleaded guilty to: oppression under color of office, and open or gross lewdness. His punishment is two years in prison and he was taken away in handcuffs.

And upon his release from prison he will have to register as a sex offender.  I would say his job in law enforcement is effectively done.

I wish he was serving more jail time, but as it’s the maximum sentence for his convictions and the other modifiers should keep him from doing it again.  I can take that.

Former Officer John Norman – Because he was too stupid to see he was using his position as force and leverage to manipulate people, yeah I don’t believe that and neither did the judge.

Quote of the Day–Dan Muhlbauer (01/03/2013)

“We cannot have big guns out here as far as the big guns that are out here, the semi-automatics and all of them,” Muhlbauer said. “Those are not hunting weapons.

“Even if you have them, I think we need to start taking them,” Muhlbauer said. “Because if they’re out there, they’re just going to get circulated around to the wrong people. Those guns should not be in the public’s hands. There are just too many guns.”

Iowa State Representative Dan Muhlbauer

December 26, 2012


[First, let me be perfectly clear.  μολὼν λαβέ or molon labe Representative Muhlbauer.  I didn’t go shoot anyone with my firearms and neither did the majority of gun owning Americans so leave my property alone.

If you desperately want my property, I request that you lead the confiscation teams so that those you would attempt to use force of government to steal from can more easily deal with the tyrannical bureaucrat who sent the jack booted thugs to their door.  However like most petty tyrants you won’t actually bleed for your cause, instead you will send others to do your dirty work for you.

I will restate this for those who may have never seen my tripwire post, more specifically the lessons of the 20th century:

Lesson No. 2: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and confiscate your firearms– kill him. The disarmament of law-abiding citizens is the required precursor to genocide.

A word of warning though Mr. Muhlbauer, if any of those you attempt to kill succeed in surviving and escape, my assumption is they are coming for YOU.  A man like that will be on the run already and ultimately have nothing left to lose.  In the process of attempting to steal his property, you threatened his family, invaded his house, and even attempted to kill him.  Think about that sir, you may not be pulling the trigger yourself, but you’re creating the laws to tell others to kill people for you.  You are responsible!

I didn’t put a gun in anyone’s hand, I didn’t pull the trigger, I had absolutely nothing to do with a mentally deranged individual, yet you want to hold me and others like me responsible.  You would disarm us to leave us as defenseless as those children, praying that the police show up in time.  Tell me, did the police show up in time?  Because it took 20 minutes and it was a blood bath that any responsible gun owner could have stopped if they were there, but you sir would disarm them.  You would take their property or imprison or kill them.

That sir is sick and down right despicable.  You claim to be about protecting the children, yet you would have masked men invade homes in the middle of the night heavily armed killing anyone inside who merely looked like they might resist.  Think I’m exaggerating?  Look at your war on drugs and the number of innocent people killed in the wake of that mess.  You would use the force of government to kill otherwise law-abiding citizens for the victim-less crime of merely owning property.

Who is the mass murderer here Mr. Muhlbauer?  Who is attempting to use force to coerce others into behavior you, Mr. Muhlbauer, deem acceptable?

One group wants to merely be left alone, another group blames the first for tragedies the first group had no part in.  Tread wisely Mr. Muhlbauer.  We are not bloodthirsty and we aren’t out to kill or hurt people like you would claim.  We will however defend ourselves and our natural rights, rights that you have no say in.

To the people of Iowa, find a way to run that tyrant out of his job.  Sadly your state doesn’t support recalls like mine does, and yes I’m already looking into what needs to be done to recall a politician.  Anyone who votes yes from the State of Washington for an Assault Weapons Ban or Magazine ban, I will lead the charge to remove from office.  Some officials may think their reelection would be at least 2 years away, not true in some states.

There’s the Soap Box, Ballot Box, and Cartridge Box.  An attempt to remove anyone of the three options for defending ourselves and ensuring the governed can revoke their consent results in the third box being the only option. –B]

SSCC #491-Ogden

But Hill opened his front door and was met with six men who he said were dressed in black, with no police identifiers that he saw. Three had assault rifles, Hill said; two were carrying tactical shotguns.

It’s worth noting that the home owner had to ask more than one before anyone on the other-side of the door identified themselves as police officers.  Then after he opened the door they promptly arrested him, and then they informed him his name was Derek and he was AWOL from the military… None of that information was correct.  The officers then refused to listen to the homeowner and then harrassed and intimidated his wife and children.

The money quote that put these guys on the count:

Melanie Hill said one of the officers made a comment about her husband coming to the door with a bat, saying that had it been a gun, the officers would have “blown you away.”

Because that is a lawful justification for the use of lethal force?  Merely being armed when answering a suspicious knock at the door by unresponsive people in the middle of the night is a reason to be shot?  Good to know.  Guess these guys went to the same training classes as officer roid-rage.

And remember folks, this was all over someone who was AWOL.  Not someone who is actually an immediate threat, but because they were AWOL.   This is your government and how they view the people.  Had they shot this man in cold blood, qualified immunity would protect them.  As far as I’m concerned, start shooting the bastards, period, end of discussion.  They can show up at the door and act reasonable or they can die.  Their job isn’t safe, that’s a given, but it shouldn’t be made safer by endangering those who are innocent.

Not to mention this classic line occurred as well:

Eric Hill said he received a phone call from police Chief Mike Ashment several days ago, explaining that the warrant was served at his house because it was the last known address of the man facing the arrest warrant.

The Hill family bought the house six months ago, Eric Hill said, but added that his neighbor told him the man police were looking for was the previous homeowner’s nephew, who had never lived at the home.

So in other-words they endangered the life of a family because they were too lazy to properly do their job.  In my world that’s negligence.

State Sponsored Criminal #491: John Doe

Because when you show up at someone’s house wearing all black with guns, you have a right to shoot the property owner for merely being armed.

Who Needs the 4th Amendment…

Leahy’s rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans’ e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. (CNET obtained the revised draft from a source involved in the negotiations with Leahy.)

Unpossible I say, a politician rewriting a bill to be counter to the interests of Americans after debuting it as being to their benefit?  It’s like they know the public doesn’t want this but it’s the only way they can pull it off.

Who needs the 4th amendment, am I right?  They’re not even trying to be overt about this anymore.  Can someone please explain to me why the government needs this kind of power.  How is it that the act of informing a judge and getting a warrant to express probable cause for the invasion of privacy is necessary is a hindrance?

Oh, that’s right, it’s a hindrance to finding undesirables to be weeded out of the population. While anyone with half a brain should know not to expect those things to be private, which is why I’m not a big fan of the cloud, it seems a far stretch the government cannot first obtain a warrant.

Contact your legislator now and start raising hell.  Just to illustrate the double standard of this, I’m reasonably sure it’s safe elected officials will be exempt and still require a warrant. Laws for thee not for me.  If these elected representatives want this, they need to make their services public for all to see… They’ve got nothing to hide right?  At least that’s what they keep telling us.

SSCC #461 – Selma

According to a 911 call, Abbott handcuffed the nurse when she refused to draw blood because Abbott didn’t have a court order.

“Officer Travis Abbott came and just arrested and made a huge scene with our house administrators,” a nurse told the 911 dispatch supervisor in the call. “He just handcuffed her – he could care less about anything – in front of the middle of our ER. And this whole ER is in complete chaos, and frankly, somebody needs to come here and handle it.”

That’s right folks.  This woman was handcuffed because he dared to question his authority. Not only that, he removed a critical care worker from an ER.  I would like to point out to Officer Travis, if the day ever comes you need emergency care, they will all remember you.  The lucky thing is, most people will just do the right thing.  Some however could remember it, and might just be willing to say “Take him someplace else.”  I wouldn’t fault them for that.

What is very interesting though:

They did confirm that the DWI suspect was later taken to the county magistrate, who released him because there was no probable cause.

If I ever meet that nurse, dinner is on me.  It’s also worthy of note that when other deputies arrived she was released and there are no noted charges pending against her.  I think what happened is best described by South Park:

State Sponsored Criminal #461: Officer Travis Abbott

Because how dare the proles question a officers legal authority, just do as your told or we’ll toss you in cuffs or tase you*.

Via Sean.

*Yes, I know he needs to go on the list, h/t to Uncle on it.