Sheriff's Deputy With History Of Misconduct Attempts To Extort $50,000 From Pulled Over Motorist
from the sold-out-by-his-own-dash-cam dept
Even when law enforcement officers know a camera is watching, some still choose to abuse their power. This isn't good news, especially as more law enforcement agencies are choosing to outfit their officers with cameras and mics (and allowing those officers to tamper, disable or break the equipment without consequence). The technology does have the potential to nudge both cops and citizens into more mutually respectful interactions, but this is being circumvented by officers who like cameras aimed at the public, but not so much at themselves.
In this case, lawyers were able to get ahold of dashcam footage revealing misconduct by a Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputy. This misconduct involved the abuse of asset forfeiture laws -- laws many law enforcement agencies seem to feel gives them permission to seize anything for any reason.
One deputy in particular is being singled out for his practice of pressuring travelers to abandon their money or face losing their cars as well. The I-Team has obtained exclusive dash-cam video from one of these drug interdiction stops. While no drugs were found, that didn't stop the deputy from grabbing the cash.The driver, Tan Nguyen, maintained that he won the money in Las Vegas. Whether or not he did was something the deputy could have made an effort to ascertain, but instead he chose to go down the extortion route.
"How much money you got?" Humboldt County Deputy Lee Dove can be heard asking on the video.
The dash-cam video gives insight into what some say is a pattern of questionable drug interdiction stops by Deputy Dove along I-80 near Winnemucca in northern Nevada.
The out-of-state motorist was stopped for doing 78 mph in an 75 mph zone. Deputy Dove finds $50,000 cash and $10,000 in cashiers checks during a search of the car.
Deputy Dove: "Well, I'm gonna search that vehicle first, ok?"But Deputy Dove never put his drug dog to work (itself a very iffy practice that often relies on an officer claiming the dog "alerted" when it was, in fact, reacting to stimulus from the officer). Instead, he offered a very shady "deal." Nguyen was free to go if he turned over the cash. If not, Dove was going to seize the car and everything in it.
Nguyen: "Hey, what's the reason you're searching my car?"
Deputy Dove: "Because I'm talking to you ... well, no, I don't have to explain that to you. I'm not going to explain that to you, but I am gonna put my drug dog on that (pointing to money). If my dog alerts, I'm seizing the money. You can try to get it back but you're not."
Nguyen: (inaudible) got it in Vegas."
Deputy Dove: "Good luck proving it. Good luck proving it. You'll burn it up in attorney fees before we give it back to you."
Dove has refused to speak about the incident, a decision at least partially guided by an ongoing investigation. The sheriff's department has admitted that proper procedures were not followed in a number of seizures, but that admission came after the fact. At the time of the seizure, the sheriff's office posted a photo of Dove with the cash, promoting the fact that the money would be used to help the sheriff's office fight crime. (This being crime located outside of the Sheriff's Department, apparently...)
But this statement seems to be little more than soothing words. Forfeitures are being filed at record rates in Humboldt County.
Twenty forfeiture cases — more than the previous four years combined — have been filed by the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office since March 14, the day the county announced settling two lawsuits over cash seizures that drew media scrutiny.This has prompted one lawyer to consider filing a class action lawsuit. More news of Deputy Dove's pay-to-play "policy" has also surfaced as a result of Nguyen's case.
Of the 20 forfeiture cases filed since last month in Humboldt County District Court, more than four exceeded $10,000 and the majority were filed as a result of Humboldt County Sheriff's Office traffic stops, the county clerk said.
The class-action lawsuit, yet to be filed as of Wednesday, says Trevor Paine of Wisconsin was stopped for allegedly speeding 84 mph in a 75 mph zone in November.So, there's a clear pattern of abuse, and it looks as though the Sheriff is finally being forced to confront the issue. The bill for deputy misconduct was footed by the citizens, of course, which isn't much of a deterrent for misbehaving officers and those who employ them. And if the number of seizures being filed is any indication, there's a good chance the public will be footing the bill again in the near future.
According to the complaint, Humboldt County Sheriff Sgt. Lee Dove "forcibly searched" the vehicle with a police K-9 because the dog acted as if there were drugs in the car. Dove failed to find drugs, but took $11,000 in cash from a lockbox, the complaint says.
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Filed Under: cash, dash cam, extortion, humboldt county, lee dove, police, seizure
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And unofficial crime syndicates everywhere ask themselves: 'Why didn't we think of that?!'
Do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200, go straight to jail.
Commit extortion with a badge, and on camera?
Keep the money, keep the badge, use money to defend shake-downs and wait for the heat to die down, knowing no judge or state prosecutor has the guts or integrity to actually do anything.
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Re: And unofficial crime syndicates everywhere ask themselves: 'Why didn't we think of that?!'
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Re: Re: And unofficial crime syndicates everywhere ask themselves: 'Why didn't we think of that?!'
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Re: And unofficial crime syndicates everywhere ask themselves: 'Why didn't we think of that?!'
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What the class-action suit should do is go after every jurisdiction with asset forfeiture, force them to return the stolen money with interest (go ahead and get it from the officer's pensions) and remove the legal ability for government officials to 'legally' take other people's properties again.
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Re:
if you don't like it, feel free to write your own articles on your own site.
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The difference between the people who live inside prison and the people who live outside prison is gradually diminishing, and not in a positive way. Complacency and indifference will serve to accelerate that trend.
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FTFY.
Unless you're actually asserting that all police are corrupt, of course. I've never seen Tim write an article criticizing police that weren't acting in a corrupt manner.
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Which also happens to be the vast majority of interactions that occur with the hundreds of thousands of police officers that work in the United States.
Let's not pretend Tim Cushing doesn't have some sort of mental problem with the police. Because he quite obviously does.
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True, but irrelevant and meaningless.
"Because he quite obviously does."
It's not obvious at all. What is obvious to me, though, is that you do.
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What exactly do you think that proves?
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I'm not trying to convince you, nasch, of anything. I steer random readers in the direction of what this blog's true motives are. It's assisted transparency. Then the comments from the regulars do the rest.
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OK my mistake. I assumed you were thinking that statement of yours had some meaning or significance. Glad to see you are aware it doesn't.
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Probably because that would be utterly pointless. When things are working correctly, then who cares, there's nothing to worry about, and nothing to report on.
When things break down however, when the system fails, when someone in power is abusing their authority, then there's something to report on, and it's important to bring such breakdowns and abuses to light so that they can be known, and hopefully fixed.
Let's not pretend Tim Cushing doesn't have some sort of mental problem with the police that abuse their power and authority. Because he quite obviously does.
Add a few words and I'd agree with you, though that's not saying much, as other than corrupt thugs with badges, and perhaps a politician or two who can find use for their 'talents', I'm not sure who wouldn't have a problem with police abusing their positions and authority.
There's also authoritarians I suppose, those people who believe that anyone in a position of authority is automatically right and just by virtue of their position, but those bootlickers look up to anyone with power over them, not just the cops.
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Still you have to admire the cahones of a guy who *knows* he is being filmed to do such acts. It does not make them right, but wow, this guy has more confidence than a hooker at a Comic con.
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Well let's have a look Mr Gumby.
1)"...exclusive dash-cam video from one..."
2)""How much money you got?" Humboldt County Deputy Lee Dove can be heard asking on the video."
3)"The dash-cam video gives insight..."
4)"Nguyen: (inaudible) got it in Vegas."" Here I'll help you with this one...see that '(inaudible)' part? That kind of infers that something was record onto stone tablets. No wait, maybe something..*gasp* tech! /playominousmusic4beatsonly
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Duh... Here is a clue
Jeeze.
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Property isn't a person
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Re: Property isn't a person
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If he'd actually confiscated the car etc. there'd be a case here.
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Re: Property isn't a person
Oh, that's right; I forgot. Money is only speech for rich people. For everyone else it's property.
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Citation?
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that was nothing more than road piracy
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Re: that was nothing more than road piracy
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That would not end well. The driver would quite possibly end up full of holes, or at best serving a long prison sentence if he "won" the confrontation. I put "won" in quotes because there is absolutely no way the officer would stand down and submit to the arrest, so the only way for the citizen to prevail would be to actually shoot the cop.
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Don't depend on Cops' dashcams, Make your own recordings
The app routinely discards the data, which is has little value outside of any incident.
The App has an auto upload feature but the upload is to YouTube. I don't see any value in that, and I believe the GPS data would not be included. However, I would be interested in an automatic upload to a private and secure cloud locker. Security would be very important in preventing the data being used for possible self-incrimination purposes (the GPS data would establish speed).
As an aside, people should be aware that most cars have some version of a black box recorder (to be required in the future), the data from which can be used against you.
Complying with various evidence authentication requirements would also be a feature that AutoGuard should put some thought into.
In any case, at present, the publicity value of being able to catch cops in lies probably trumps the nitty gritty legal details.
Unfortunately, in some jurisdictions (thankfully not my state) you must be wary of two-party disclosure requirements for recordings where there may be an expectation of privacy. If such laws do apply I would not recommend verbal disclosure to a cop but instead would place a sticker on my bumper or back window of the car - something like "monitored by AutoGuard" - to counter any asserted expectation of privacy.
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Re: Don't depend on Cops' dashcams, Make your own recordings
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Re: Don't depend on Cops' dashcams, Make your own recordings
Doesn't mean corrupt cops won't try to fight against you on that, just means that they will lose.
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This quote makes me angry
"Because I'm talking to you ... well, no, I don't have to explain that to you."
NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN!
Hell, I would have called 911 and said that someone's trying to rob me at gunpoint.
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TV Trope
http://doglawreporter.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-good-wife-2012-and-dragnet-1969.html
A dog's nose is like 10000x stronger than yours, so the fact that our currency is contaminated is a sure win for the local enforcers
http://www.snopes.com/business/money/cocaine.asp
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We desparately need Batman on the case
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So I can commit crimes all I like as long as I donate the money to charity? Awesome.
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Standards/sauce for the goose
Oh, and asset forfeiture of homes, possessions, bank accounts, and the loss of being able to work in/around/for gov't agencies for life.This should quickly weed out the wankers, psychopaths, and crooklyns.
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Re: Standards/sauce for the goose
If you get rid of the corrupt cops that's what'll happen!
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I think we have a good start on a spinoff series for "The Amazing Race"...
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Hmm...
1. This deputy's actions seem criminal.
2. This deputy is part of a larger operation.
... so, obviously,
3. The Humboldt County Sheriff's Department is a criminal enterprise.
... which of course means
4. Their assets are the proceeds of a criminal enterprise.
... and so we can logically conclude
5. We can take all the Sheriff Department's money!
(That's how it works, right?)
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Re: Hmm...
We do not.
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One, that remains to be seen, and two, I assume by "citizen snipers" you mean "men who confront cops by hiding behind their women".
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No, like this guy, Eric Parker, a Bundy supporter who famously aimed his rifle at Federal (paramilitary) agents from between the cracks of concrete road partitions. It's people like him who may have made the feds think twice before shooting the protesters they were aiming their guns at for hours.
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/534db531eab8eacf1caab272-1200-924/bundy-ranch.jpg
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You think if it hadn't been for him and the other guys with guns, the feds would have just massacred everyone there?
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Consistency
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Life in a crooked society
Unfortunately, the deck is stacked, or the courts, against basic elements of constitutional guarantees explicitly designed to prevent abuse of authority.
So, what is to be done, when looking at the barrel of a gun, that is pointed at you?
No fun in the sun, son.
Not today.
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Albuquerque
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/albuquerque-city-council-meeting-descends-into-chaos/
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Re: Albuquerque
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We need an organization to enforce the law...
I vaguely remember it having been tried at one point. Whatever happened to that experiment?
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Not Surprised.
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""How much money you got?" Humboldt County Deputy Lee Dove can be heard asking on the video. "
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settlement funds
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