over their Department um videotaping and refuse to identify themselves
all right you guys are done though yeah for what you're I'm happy to leave I'm
asking to get out of a lot do you have to use physics here yeah um
this is newly released body cam footage showing police officers in New London Connecticut
confronting First Amendment Auditors in their Department parking lot It ultimately resulted
in the police officer being suspended let's go I'm not asking you I'll get off the property
let's go then you can end up downstairs in our lock up with you where are your signs
disorderly conduct here let's go you want to call it let's do it
let's go you want to call it let's do it and we're gonna stand right here go
ahead okay I got all that I do I got those seven o'clock in the morning
okay just keep touching me maybe we should make a flowchart first
question is the individual committing a crime no then do nothing [Music]
you see a lot of these but not necessarily A lot of them that result in police officer discipline
and policy change this is one of those rare cases take a look and you'll see why hey can I help you
what are you guys doing or what that's it yeah that's fine like well I never seen one girl
oh Daniel kokoska who as I understand it runs a YouTube channel called the Constitution state
began filming at New London Police Department on August 20th 2022. they were located in the
department parking lot which is a public location thus they were located in a public place where
they were legally allowed to be filming only things that they could readily observe with
their own eyes and cops hate this they will argue in court that you have no reasonable expectation
of privacy in public including for your car license plate looking into your car and so on but
they don't like it when it's reversed any reason you're filming don't want to answer any questions
what about you you want to answer any questions
over their Department um videotaping and refuse to identify themselves
okay
thank you
you can get off that car
thank you
shortly afterwards the Auditors encountered Lieutenant Joshua Bergeson he would end up
receiving an eight-day suspension and mandated retraining after this
video footage was posted to YouTube all right you guys are done though
um
[Music]
thank you
you can't trespass me for public property when I haven't broken a law okay come on
are you here for Police business I just told you I was okay then what is the police
business I don't need to tell you yes you do no I don't know all right I'm not gonna
answer any more questions and I'm standing right here until I'm ready to go inside
in the morning can you start touching me can you I'm allowed to move okay so am I okay just keep
touching me let's go okay take your camera out let's go excuse me sir do you really want to do
this I don't care because I haven't done it you're the one making yourself look like the property oh
you don't need to be on if you had a reason and or you could really arrest me you are you
would have done it Saturday and don't forget to leave me downstairs all weekend I really
don't I don't believe that this is the this is what you need to be down here dude I can
be yes I do I'm not going to tell you but I can be here what is yours I'm doing what I need to do
okay so if you go near a personal car I'll go near whatever I'm going to tell you I'm going
to tell you I'm done no no no because now I can stay here and now I can do that because
I got better [ __ ] to do no because now you're wrong I can record those cards I can record any
car in this parking lot if I catch you touching a vehicle or trying to open the door I'm gonna
I want to rush it now it goes to that did you see me do that before you touched me what did
you did you see me I got better [ __ ] to do dude that's what I keep saying but you're out here I
never came out here if you had something if you need something come up in the lobby and do it
no because illusion not the benefits losers
go find something better to do with your life running outside like you're [ __ ] some tough
guy you clown what a waste of time oh I'm a waste of time that's why you're out here wasting time a
bunch of [ __ ] Geniuses now leave them after you already touched me you [ __ ] that loser
how many times did you touch them clown
s right now what are you gonna do and I even looked at him before now I will
not breaking laws who's above you inside I need to talk to a supervisor
out of curiosity why I mean Saturday night you guys can't go somewhere and hang out like
side tonight was the night time film The Police Department parking lot yeah it's a hobby
so after this video footage was posted to YouTube the administration and this Police
Department received emails with links to the videos an internal investigation was conducted
and this guy Ferguson ended up being cited for violating Department policy regarding respect
and courtesy conduct Unbecoming of an officer and use of force reporting the findings of the
internal investigation into the complaints against the other officers involved were
found to be unfounded during his interview as part of the internal investigation this guy
Ferguson admitted calling the Auditors in the parking lot effing losers and said it wasn't
a thought out decision but rather a reaction to the situation in a statement provided during the
investigation Bergeson also said that he thought he was justified explaining that a month prior an
individual in the parking lot was looking into into vehicles and admitted that he was quote
looking to steal a police vehicle there have been numerous acts of violence against police officers
at police stations subjects have attempted to force entry into buildings and even light occupied
light occupied police buildings on fire Ferguson said so while the recording on the property is
not suspicious I believe in light of recent events in the current climate towards law
enforcement individuals wandering through our Police Department parking lot would be deemed
suspicious that's what berkerson said that was his statement remember that freedom is scary the
issue is not whether police officers were scared because many people don't like them they don't get
special fear privileges that Trump constitutional rights the fact that these Auditors were located
on public property and were lawfully entitled to video whatever they wanted to video just
as the police are entitled to do even if there have been past incidents of people committing
crimes in police parking lots that cannot reduce the constitutional rights of these individuals
Reasonable Suspicion is the required burden for the police to meet if they want to detain
an individual against their will and it must be particular that's the key word to the individual
it cannot be categorical to some class of people or conduct here the body cam video shows that no
Reasonable Suspicion existed the officer acknowledged as much therefore the officer
was limited to just engaging in a consensual conversation with these Auditors which does
not include asking them to leave or forcibly iding them or even restricting them from leaving in the
end the auditor was not charged but the officer apparently did attempt to have him charged with
trespassing fortunately the supervisor said no that would have been First Amendment retaliation
in addition to false arrests a Fourth Amendment violation due to the absence of probable cause
had he conducted a warrantless arrest lastly since this footage does show physical contact
by the officer there could be a Fourth Amendment violation there for excessive and unnecessary
use of force in fact I believe that that was one of the policy violations that formed the
basis for this officer's suspension the fact that he used force on somebody and likely
either it wasn't necessary or he just failed to report it in the first place if there was no
Reasonable Suspicion by definition there cannot be any lawful level of physical force or violence
that would be reasonable here no force is reasonable in the end whether you like First
Amendment audits or hate them this particular one did achieve something it exposed a police
officer who either didn't understand basic constitutional rights or who did understand
them but who was willing to violate them over his feelings it also served as a teachable moment for
other police officers was it necessary to even have this encounter in the first place no maybe
we should make a flowchart first question is the individual committing a crime no then do nothing
yes then you have Reasonable Suspicion and are cleared for further investigation easy peasy let
me know what you think should police officers be able to arrest these guys or kick them out
of parking lots just because the officers are scared please make sure to subscribe both here
and at the blog at the Civil Rights lawyer.com remember freedom is scary deal with it foreign
[Music]