Restraining Order AGAINST a LEO??!!??

[citizen]

In a recent thread on this forum, a civilian was pursued in a private car and (IIRC) cited by a LEO. Charges dismissed in court; co. policy, extenuating circumstances, etc. Someone suggested obtaining an R/O against the LEO.
1. Is this possible?
2. Would this cause LEO to surrender firearms, and therefore employment?
3. Any similar stories?

(Will try to link thread)
banghead: )

 

[James Bondrock]

Better find that thread, because I don't understand why anyone would want to seek a restraining order against a LEO if said LEO was doing his or her job in good faith. A domestic violence RO would seriously affect his/her ability to do said job, but I am not sure about other types.

 

[citizen]

Agreed, JB. That's why such an endeavor surprised me. But the LEO may have been NOT "on the job". Perhaps working in a private capacity. (Though he was the responding officer (!) for the civilian's call for assistance!! I found the thread; ignorant how to linkbanghead: ).

 

[Devonai]

That's my story.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32242

The officer was working a security detail for the movie theatre, and was in a POV provided by the theatre for his use.

It's an interesting question, but just so you know I'm not planning on filing a RO. I'm not a vindictive sort of person so I'm tempted to let my legal vindication be the end of it. Filing a formal complaint, OTOH, will only prolong my own exposure to the incident, which I would just as soon forget about. By having the charges dismissed on Tuesday I believe justice was served. Without a doubt the officer will learn of the outcome; and knowing that he knows I was in the right is good enough for me.

BTW, the city where this occured is over sixty miles from my current home. I have no reason to visit this city again, and while I won't specifically avoid it, I probably won't pass through town again as long as I live. The chances of running into the same cop again are astronomical.

That being said (and to stay on topic), what if I did, hypothetically, want to file a RO against him? I have no idea what that might entail.

 

[jimpeel]

Without a doubt the officer will learn of the outcome; and knowing that he knows I was in the right is good enough for me.

Don't count on it. If he hears nothing about the case being dismissed he will assume either that it was dismissed or, more likely, that you copped to the charges.

In your post you didn't say whether the cop was there at the dismissal or if there was a formal trial where he testified so I assume he wasn't.

What you really need to do is to make an appointment to go in and speak to his Lieutenant or the Asst. Chief of Police about the fact that he was in a privately owned vehicle which was not equipped with anything to indicate that an official was operating it.

What if, instead of you, he had pulled this on a woman and placed her in fear of her life or virtue? His superiors need to know that this is going on, if they don't already know, or why they condone this behavior if they do know of it.

 

[citizen]

Yep, Devonai; that's it. I'm still at a loss as to how he could be working private duty in a POV and yet respond to a dispatch for civilian assistance........(small towns?) I don't doubt for a moment your lack of vindiction, yet it does beg the question. Just how grey an area IS this??
Would an R/O resulting from private duty employment affect his normal LEO functions? Is this an" Achilles Heel"? Something vulnerable? How so?
BTW, been to Londonderry; beautiful countryside.

 

[clubsoda22]

An undercover detective stopped me in a parking lot in a bad neighborhood. He was un uniformed and in an unmarked car. He pulled infront of me and jacked on his breaks, so i hit my horn, gave a 1 finger salute and mashed my accelerator. as i pulled around him. After i pulled up he started giving me crap about me flipping him off and my tires squeeling as i flew by him. He failed to identify himself as a cop untill after 5 minutes of yelling at each other. I was seriously gonna mace the guy if he got out of his car. After he left i reported him.

"a person who claimed to be a detective harrassed me in the parking lot. If he was not a detective here's his LP# and is he is a detective he failed to identify himself for a good 5 minutes."

He turned out to be a detective and as a result i was pulled over by the local PD three times in the next week and harassed.

The way i look at it, cops are no better than criminals, if i had then complained about the continuing harassment, i'm sure the dime bag inside the handle of the officers maglight would have mysteriously ended up in my car.

 

[MBG]

A friend of mine is investigating this very topic in Washington, DC.

He was stopped in his neighborhood by a uniformed officer under, what he claims to be, questionable circumstances, and had his road racing bike confiscated w/o receipt. (He did get a ticket for riding w/o a light.)

My friend raised stink, got his bike back and the ticket quashed, and I assume some sort of comment on the officer's record.

Since then, he's been visited or pulled over by the same officer close to 10 times. (Getting kind of expensive, I think.)

My friend is speaking to a lawyer about a R.O., as well as trying to go the IA route. (Visits have been both in and out of uniform.) I doubt he will be successful with the R.O., but he is establishing history, incase something more serious than a traffic ticket comes up.

To keep it gun related, I helped said friend create a much better understanding of firearm ownership with his problems. In the initial encounter, his bike was taken because he could not produce a receipt or proof of ownership. Very similar to the AR owners in Maryland, who were asked to give up their rifles to prove they did not shoot all those people last Fall.

I still have not gotten him to come out shooting with me, but he does start arguing back when his other friends starts spouting gun control nonsense.

Marty

[Edited for spelling]

 

[cordex]

Sad that there are police that will be as spiteful as the ones in some of the stories told here. Thankfully, I haven't run in to one (or a department) like that.

If someone is demonstrably abusing their authority for personal revenge, it seems like a good place for a restraining order only as a temporary measure leading up to more serious punishments.

 

[spacemanspiff]

i've had a question on my mind the last couple weeks.
if i go get a restraining order against someone who is harrassing me, i know that makes they have to give up their weapons and whatnot. but can the person i get a RO against also get one against me?
or is it the 'first complainant is right' mentality?
i'd hate to also have to give up my weapons for a time.

 

[SteveS]

In MI, I believe there is a question on the petition for a PPO that asks if the person is an LEO. If it is granted, the LEO would not be able to possess a firearm. I would guess that the reason for the question would be to allow a full hearing, as opposed to an ex parte hearing, since the person could lose their job. I have heard of this happening, but I can't remember the outcome.

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

Here's another... PRNJ, of course.

Police chief accused of threatening wife with gun

- pdmoderator

 

[Devonai]

The officer was working a paid detail through the movie theatre; he was acting as a law enforcement officer and being paid through the department. So I don't know why the theatre provided him a vehicle. This is not a small town at all.

99% of my dealings with police officers has been overwhelmingly positive, including the representative of the department who was present at the hearing (afaik it's never the same cop with whom you're disputing). It is precisely because I'm used to a high level of professionalism that this incident ticked me off so much.

 

[moa]

MBG, you friend may have a Federal complaint. Someone recently posted on this Board Federal statute about crimes commited under "color of the law", and the penalties can be very serious. Your friend might even have a stalking complaint against the LEO who is harassing him.

Maybe your friend ought to start wearing a wire, and record his future encounters with the LEO.

 

[Blain]

The Massachusetts Volunteer Militia: "First to show, last to go."

Then why are you in NH?

 

[Standing Wolf]

In the initial encounter, his bike was taken because he could not produce a receipt or proof of ownership.

I'd say that's a cop who needs to be fired.