Judge rules against Qualified Immunity for police officer who violated man's 4th Amendment rights.

[Ray From Cleveland]

Of course the thing is he did live there.

And the police knew that how?

 

[Mac-7]

A guy in his own home is a "dangerous situation".

I mean, yeah, we should be glad this cop didn't go all Amber Guyger on this guy and shoot him while he was on his couch eating ice cream.

All 911 calls after dark are dangerous

the recent ambush of 4 cops is witness to that

the man was handcuffed for minutes and then released

Thats good police work

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

What harm was that, again? I must have missed it.

The harm manifests when the state violates our Constitutional rights.

The harm manifests when the state subjects citizens to an unlawful, unwarranted, unreasonable searches.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

A neighbor called on an African-American man doing nothing but sitting on the porch and that is reasonable suspicion?

To the racist right it clearly is.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Once again, if standard police practice was to cuff every suspicious character in every Terry stop across the nation, or even across that town's PD, then the cop would get off scott-free for following process and the department would have the fault for a greater wrong in cuffing everyone they talk to about any suspicious activity. Hopefully, if that were truly the standard practice as you suggest, even you would be up in arms.

Why would I be? I'm the type of person that can put myself in anybody's shoes. I look at things from all angles, not just the ones of my preference.

A few times when I was delivering medical equipment, I got stopped by the cops. Reason? I was white. I was in uniform, in a marked van with the company name on it, and they still stopped me. No problem. They would ask me various questions, ask for ID which I happily showed them, and were very polite for my cooperation. One time they even had dispatch call my company since this was back in the days of no cell phones.

Hey, I get it. No white person would be caught dead in the Cleveland projects unless they were buying or selling drugs or had a death wish. But I always treated them with respect because I understood their position. Whitie just didn't go to places like that. After his investigation, one officer told me "you white ass isn't safe here brother, I'm going to walk you to the apartment!" He walked me there, and he waited until I left and escorted me back to my van. Police are generally grateful when you don't give them a hard time and understand their situation.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

We'll see more of this as the anti-cop movement drives down the quality of the average recruit.

There is no ‘anti-cop’ movement.

To denounce and oppose violations of citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights is not to be ‘anti-cop.’

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Race aside, I can link stories probably all day long of people, white and black, arrested for trespassing on their own property. It has to stop; basic police work has gone out the window in the furor to arrest and the power hungry, authoritarian, behaviors of modern police.

If you're on your own property, you can't be arrested for it.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

It's already happening.

Last summer I had a one on one with our police chief. It was a city zoom meeting but I was the only one that showed up since it was rescheduled last minute.

When I asked the chief if there was a problem with money getting more officers, he told me they have money for five more, but they can't get anybody to apply. He said when he applied to be an officer in our city back in 1990, he was up against 950 other applicants for one opening. Today he said, when we advertise for a new officer, we're lucky to get 20 applicants. out of them, a good percentage won't be able to pass the exam, out of the ones that do, some of them fail the academy, and even if they pass the academy, many times they can't catch on to the job and we let them go.

It's not just our problem he added, this is a nationwide problem.

This is a lie.

As already correctly noted: the notion that ‘demoralized officers’ are quitting or that police departments are unable to hire recruits is false.

 

[Quasar44]

pknopp
They Have lowered the bar so much on cop requirements that it’s attracting only folks who want the power

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

By asking politely. Would you be happy to be handcuffed (for your and everyone else's safety) whenever spoken to by the police?

It wouldn't bother me. I have respect for authority. The officer would have asked politely if the subject came out of the house when the officer was outside.

 

[White 6]

It's very unfortunate for all the rest who that Sheriff abused after you that you didn't take a stand and sue. It's sad for you that you accepted such a violation of your rights though it is lucky for you to have the contacts to get your van fixed. Unfortunately, most people don't have the contacts to protect them from such abuse and as long as you allow yourself to be abused you enable the abuser to abuse the next person. Every case of civil rights violation should result in civil and/or criminal penalties and then the cops, and government as a whole, will quit violating civil rights.

Often times the reason cops violate rights is for their own safety when there are other safety protocols they can use that don't require the risk of violent confrontation or at least increase the distance and safety of that confrontation.

I'd bet money that the two cops that went into that house will investigate with neighbors or the home owner before they enter a home because some karen neighbor calls about a suspicious African-American sitting on the steps.

Oh, I forgot to mention, she waved at him when she got home and he waved back; no fear, no panic. A casual wave back and forth. And then she went into the house and called the cops.

Not sad. Are you nuts? It was great learning experience, I navigated at the age of 19! I wasn't looking for a pay day. I was looking to be returned to the status quo anti. I made it happen, by self control, keeping my head, and working the problem at each step and keeping the steps simple, manageable at the lowest level possible and least impact. The least force applied to accomplish goals is usually the best. I had a good job. I did not need Benton County's money, as I was making it very well for 19 on my own. Just going to the jail during the event was a learning experience. Saw people I hadn't seen in months. Walking into the big general lockup was kinda like old home week for the young rural hipster set, kids of farmers, mayors, principles, preachers, multi-racial (which was unusual back then) like another phase of the party the cops crashed out in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest town or house. The people that wanted to argue and raise hell had a worse time of and would be kicked out to the back of the line to be dealt with later, to be dealt with closer scrutiny after pissing off a deputy, trying to create order in the, mass arrest mayhem his boss had created in that small town county jail, in a decidedly iffy operation. Some, they kept. The squeakiest wheels got the grease. My goal was never to make Benton County a better place to live for Benton Countians. I didn't owe them taking on that hassle for fun and profit. I just wanted to extract back unto me, everything I came to that party with. I even managed to keep my girlfriend out the jail while in line at the jail house door with a quick uptake on their entry process up ahead, a smooth move and quick lie. She was home before midnight. She thought it pretty slick, too. We've been married 47 years, last month.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Do you live in a crime infested shithole? Do you have a safe? If yes to both then you probably meant, "Most people don't have safes in their home. They don't live in a crime infested shithole like I do." Otherwise, that's a bullshit post.

I don't need a safe. I have guns for self-defense.

 

[White 6]

The harm manifests when the state violates our Constitutional rights.

The harm manifests when the state subjects citizens to an unlawful, unwarranted, unreasonable searches.

Oh, I'm crushed.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Not true. That was the previous owner. There's a new owner. Do houses where people pass away become abandoned?

That's not what the OP said. The woman who owned the house recently passed away. The coach (her son) allowed this guy to stay there for whatever reason.

 

[pknopp]

pknopp
They Have lowered the bar so much on cop requirements that it’s attracting only folks who want the power

That has been the reasons far too many people have applied in the first place. What we are seeing is not something new, it's just that it's only recently been recorded.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Listen to the 911 call. The busy-body neighbor clearly states that the "African American" was sitting on the front steps.

No, it said he was sitting on the patio. Apparently she had a view of the back of the home. I don't have the 911 call available but it probably wouldn't tell me very much. Police (at least here) stress for citizens to be busy bodies. They can't fight crime themselves. They instruct people to report even the most innocuous things if they think something may be wrong; let them handle it.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

He called for backup before he exited his vehicle. Before he entered there were two cops at the door and one, the one who had already talked to another neighbor who said Furdge had permission to be there, was walking across the front of the house toward the two at the door, without his gun in his hand. How do I know he had talked to the other neighbor? Because he came in just seconds after the first two and told them so.

I didn't read any of that in the OP.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Right now, at your house and at this very minute, there is the potential that a crime is being committed. Can the police come in your house, guns drawn, and cuff you?

Your statement doesn't even make sense. It is not reasonable suspicion to enter a house. Entering a house is a physical act and reasonable suspicion describes a thought process. It is never reasonable suspicion to DO anything.

Did you even listen to the radio traffic and watch the body cam video? The dispatcher told the first cop only that there was someone in the house and that the house was supposed to be empty - based solely on the word of a woman who sounded like she was shaking in her boots. The cop opened the door without knocking or announcing himself and looked inside. Then he did make a reasonable attempt to be heard when he announced that he was with the police but he was clearly not heard. Music and singing in the back continued.

The cop waited several minutes for multiple cops to arrive. Finally, the first two entered the house with guns drawn and once fully in the house, a good 10 feet or more, the called out loudly that they were the police and for the guy to come out with his hands up - which the guy did. They said, right off, "You don't live here." He explained the house belonged to his coach and the coach had given them permission to stay there. The guy was barefoot, in sweat pants and an A-shirt. Clearly not common attire for a burglary.

They immediately cuffed him and then, within a minute of the cops making contact with Furdge, the third cop came in and said that another neighbor had told him the Furdge lived there. Amazing what just a tiny bit of police work, taking just a minute or two, can reveal that could, in very many cases, save a life.

As soon as the third cop told them Furdge had permission to be there, they uncuffed him. They clearly were not threatened when they allowed him to go back in the room to get his phone - remember cell phones look just like guns to a cop.

The cops were friendly and Furdge was friendly. That doesn't mean they didn't violate his rights. All they had to do is ask him to sit down. Two cops, with guns drawn, standing feet away from a sitting suspect, certainly are not in danger. And Furdge clearly knew from the start that his rights were violated. His first words were, "I know; a black man." He knew enough to be polite to two cops with guns drawn.

And for whoever it was that said the music was probably rap, it wasn't - or didn't sound like rap to me; there was only a couple seconds that were audible.

The OP didn't say anything like that. They sent one officer out to check out the complaint. Before he entered the house he called for assistance. That's what I read.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Not in this climate...

We might even see the end of qualified immunity, be still my breaking heart.

That would be great because that would mean no more police. Sissies like you are fucked because you never shot a gun in your life yet alone own one. People like me can take care of ourselves because we are well armed. So go ahead, tell Lightweight that you want an end to qualified immunity in Shitcago. I'd love to see that. And if I don't see you after that, I'll just assume what happened to ya.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

If you replace the word "Strange" with "Black:, you mean?

How did anybody know he was black until they seen him face to face?