First Amendment Audits. Thoughts from the policemen here?

[bombadillo]

I'm curious about some of the "First Amendment Audits" that I have seen on Youtube. I understand the reason WHY they do them, and some of them seem to be more than reasonable, and yet bring out the tyrant in some of the officers, and some of them seem to be douchebags that just want to provoke nothing else.

Have any of you guys ever personally encountered any of them, and how have you dealt with them? Do you believe you treat them fairly, or just as a nuisance?

I really believe some of them are true patriots and love this country (as much as any of the blue line folks are, and as I believe I am) and just want to highlight our first amendment rights, and they feel this is one way to do so.

I'd be open to hearing any of your guys thoughts about this mindset and method. Thanks in advance.

[explosivewhale]

They can record all they want. If you're in a public place, you can record all you want. Last thing for me to do is get caught up arguing with these guys. If you're on private property with an expectation of privacy and the owner wants you gone, that's different.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[whitewater1914]

Pro- I like the job the auditors are going and raising awareness and educating.

Con- The auditors do not have to be mean about it, bait the officers, call names, insults, middle finger, etc. Why push the agenda to get to piss off the officers?

The audits can be done with professionalism, understanding and mutual respect.

[bombadillo]

Pro- I like the job the auditors are going and raising awareness and educating.

Con- The auditors do not have to be mean about it, bait the officers, call names, insults, middle finger, etc. Why push the agenda to get to piss off the officers?

The audits can be done with professionalism, understanding and mutual respect.

I think some of the punks that do this try to get things escalated to the point where they get hands on with the officer. If they can push an officer to the point where he/she goes hands-on, and they get the officer to do something stupid or unconstitutional, they can get a lawyer and a fat payday in court. Some of them are LOOKING for a lawsuit, others simply want awareness and to be told that they are right. One guy I watched got physically assaulted by the CHIEF and the auditor told the guy "Look, I just want you to say sorry and I'll drop it." To which the chief basically told him to pound sand. The guy escalated it, sued and the chief got fired and I think he got something like 70,000 dollars from the city. The taxpayers pay for this, and all it would have taken is ONE single swallow of the pride. He was a bad officer.

[whitewater1914]

High Desert Community Watch is one of the originals. This is his most intense scene, fast forward to video mark 8:30... (video language is NSFW)

[bombadillo]

High Desert Community Watch is one of the originals. This is his most intense scene, fast forward to video mark 8:30... (video language is NSFW)

These have been done since 2009 or so, if not earlier, this is NOT a new one. If you think this is new, go back and look at the old stuff.... This is NOT a new thought by any means.

[bombadillo]

High Desert Community Watch is one of the originals. This is his most intense scene, fast forward to video mark 8:30... (video language is NSFW)

FWIW, there are a LOT of new ones even in the last year. I've watched a LOT of new 2020 new videos. This one is one of the recent classics though. A lot of recent videos from folks like Bay Area Transparency on youtube, is fantastic. They don't LIKE these videos, but they are great for the rights of others. I agree so many times with the Blue Line folks, but even though they deal with a lot of crap, they don't trump the rights of others. Thanks for the link.

[Hateca]

Never even engaged these folks. If they were where they were allowed to be I had nothing to say to them except have a nice day. Sometimes cops are their own worst enemy and just don’t know when to shut up.

One time these type of folks were filming at some police protest in our city, we went and got our own video cameras to film them. Should have seen them come unglued claiming we were violating their civil rights. Got a kick out of that. This was the days before cell cameras.

[whitewater1914]

This guy is flat out mean to the cops and provokes them. Seems like this is how he makes his living, by filming locations almost every day and posting them.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SGVNEWSFIRST/videos

[whitewater1914]

Just to be clear, it is NOT cool to provoke and harass the cops. Sure, educate them and have a dialog, but just flat out harassing and insulting them is wrong. And Im not boot licking here either, I just rather see a fair game played in the streets.

[esy]

As long as they're not interfering with how I do my job, I don't really care.

People call me names all day long, it doesn't matter to me. They can say whatever they want. That's why it's a free country and I support Americans' God given rights.

[The War Wagon]

What the FREEP is a, "1st Amendment audit?!"

I've YET to hear anyone explain it yet!

[GizmoSD]

[ivane068]

Bored dudes trying to bait uneducated cops into bad situations for cheap lawsuits. I don’t engage them, just let them film as is their right and move on. Like some above stated sometimes we are our own worse enemies. Know the law and don’t get baited.

[bombadillo]

I can definitely see that point of view. I feel bad for some of the guys that have to deal with it. It's a tough one because I can see the people who have had bad dealings with police officers in the past and want to put them in check in terms of being a public servant and wanting them to do their job and not be some horrible guy who's out just to have power over people. At least a few of the ones I was watching seemed to have that Outlook anyway. I can see the ones who are definitely trying to bait policemen into lawsuit territory and those guys probably need to have some of their rights taken away.