Individuals involved:
Observations from the video
At timestamp: 2m11s We observed:
Two officers make contact with Patrick. They start asking why is he taking pictures. One of the officers asks if that's Patrick truck which he denies. Patrick then tries to walk away.
Officer Flores asks for ID without any reason to do so. Patrick asks if he's been arrested, they say no, they say they are just questioning him. Why are you up here recording? The officer makes claims that Patrick is nervous and says "you don't have to be nervous" to which Patrick replies that he's being approached by men with guns and he fears for his life and denies being nervous. Attempts to walk away as the officers continue to harras him with questions.
At timestamp: 3m23s We observed:
Patrick continues to ask if he's being detained. Both officers reply defiantly and evasively without providing a clear answer whether Patrick is being detained or not.
At timestamp: 3m30s We observed:
You can see officer Avery start approaching the situation in the distance and notice how Patrick changes directions and Officer Redd does so as well. It is apparent that officer Avery has set his target on Patrick and will confront him. Shortly thereafter Patrick asks again, this time to officer Redd whether he is being detained and the officer says yes. It is worth noting that there is still absolutely no reason for a detainment. At 3:48 you see officer Avery grab Patrick for no reason. Upon researching officer Avery, we found that he is known to break the law anytime he feels like it. Review his profile page for more details.
The initial two officers, Flores and ###, assist officer Redd in detaining, handcuffing and removing Patrick's property without consent. It also appears that officer Redd pats Patrick down as he demands not to be searched. Harassment and questioning continue and elevate. Officer Redd disregards Patrick's demands for his freedom and to be left alone. Continues to harass him demanding name and more information. Another officer (female) enters the situation -- we have not identified her yet-- She asks for ID again at 4:33. It appears that she remains in the background for the remainder of the encounter. Patrick reminds the officers of code 3802 as it relates to photography, but the officers are dismissive and could care less.
At timestamp: 5m8s We observed:
One of the officers, presumably officer Redd, illegally searches Patrick, retrieves his wallet, opens the wallet and retrieves Patrick's identification then hands it over to officer Flores. Officer Flores hands the id to another officer to run him on the system. Throughout this part where Patrick is demanding that this illegal search stops, and advising the officers that they can't do this, you can see officer Flores smirking and smiling with the attitude like "we can do whatever we want" Shortly after this, seems that a Sargent wants to talk to Flores and he walks off the frame.
At timestamp: 5m30s We observed:
Patrick engages with the sargent and demands he be released to which apparenty he replies that he's being detained for now. This is when you see the officers take a step back, presumably because they've been talked to. Specifically officer Flores' demeanor changes dramatically from a cocky asshole to a nice guy by trying to return Patrick's phone to him. It is apparent that he had been talked to by his superior and this is what initiates the release of Patrick.
At timestamp: 8m47s We observed:
One of the initial officers, we believe is officer Winters is butthurt when Patrick tells them that he doesn't want to see them harass other citizens. He replies with "aren't you leaving" instead of acknowledging his mistake and apologizing. This is a perfect example where the disconnect between citizens and officers exists. One of the screenshots show signifies their attitude. They stand by each other even when they're wrong. Apparently it's "them" vs "us."
Video Screenshots
Our opinion and additional thoughts on this video.
This is a blatant abuse and lack of education on the part of the police department. A clear example on how one single cop can make an entire force seem like bad cops.
One cop violates Patrick’s civil liberties and the other ones are either complicit by not rectifying the situation or by actively participating in the illegal detainment.
As we know, a cop that lets a bad cop be a bad cop is a bad cop. This is a clear case of that situation. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and maybe they didn’t know.
But you and I aren’t granted that benefit now, are we?
Aren’t we told time and time again that ignorance of the law is no excuse? Don’t cops tell you this each time they arrest you or cite you and you say “I didn’t know that, officer.”
So while, I’m reserving final judgment on these cops and I want to believe that they didn’t know that Patrick, and you, and I have the right to film in public, based on the past record of officer Avery, I’m not sure they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Interesting to look at the record for officer Avery, listed on his profile page.
Hat tip to Blacklab3l Copwatch for the details on this video:
725 North Jim Miller Rd.
Dallas, Texas 75217
214-670-8345
214-671-3986 Internal Affairs
214-671-3001 Main Lobby
CPL Flores # 946
Officer Avery Red #7618
Officer Brown #8948
Ofc Winters # 11253
I’ve created profiles for each person involved, we’ll add info to the location and characters as we find more information.
It is our opinion that all the officers involved should be disciplined and re-trained on how to deal with the public.