Trooper Stops Bad Officer Misconduct

[Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers probation officers fourth amendment seizures and traffic stops and is brought to us by wb's channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on august 4th 2021 alabama resident william barnwell was driving behind north carolina probation and parole officer harold mashburn while he and his wife were traveling home from a vacation in cherokee county north carolina mr barnwell claims that officer mashburn was driving slower than the speed limit in the left lane for several miles so mr barnwell passed him on the right side when the lane opened up officer mashburn then held up his badge and motioned for mr barnwell to pull his vehicle over to the side of the road mr barnwell complied sir you can feel me all day long if you're a police officer you should have a body camera because you're not a police officer it says right there you're a probation officer i'm not on probation i've never been in trouble for anything tell my camera again how you're a police officer will you ask him about question i've answered yours now let me ask you a question in the state of alabama what are your probation officers considered to be i have no idea we're not in alabama okay do you live in alabama because your tag says you're well i guess when a police officer gets here we'll determine a whole bunch of stuff well how often do you pull someone over how often how old people are how often are you driving the left lane for five miles going 48 miles an hour i wasn't doing 48 miles an hour so how fast were you going i was doing 55. and what happened you come flying up no i when i passed you i was going 48 miles an hour but if your car here that's not a police car had the radar in it you would know how fast i was going yes sir and i'm able to do speed estimations i'm sure you will be i guess um when you're a real police officer gets here i'm sure i'm gonna get some tickets all right well you just stay tight just hang tight okay what's your name would you like to identify yourself have you gone give me your driver's license uh you're not a police officer okay then you just said so you're refusing to identify you're refusing to identify yourself you're refusing to identify yourself even though you pulled me over mr barnwell refuses to provide his identification to officer mashburn because he is a probation and parole officer not a police officer probation and parole officers are assigned to monitor criminal offenders who are sentenced with probation instead of jail time or granted parole after serving time in prison the role and authority of probation and parole officers vary greatly between states with some states employing certified law enforcement officers in this role and others considering probation and parole officers to be court officials that serve more of a social work function than a police function along these lines some states consider a probation officer to be a peace officer and others do not there are also gray areas in between these two extremes with some states granting probation and parole officers limited peace officer status by empowering them with peace officer authority in certain situations in north carolina section 15-205 of the general statutes outlines the powers and duties of probation officers stating that quote a probation officer shall investigate all cases referred to him for investigation by the judges of the courts or by the secretary of public safety the statute details additional duties that probation officers have in managing the individuals on probation under their supervision and states that quote a probation officer shall have in the execution of his duties the powers of arrest and to the extent necessary for the performance of his duties the same right to execute process as is now given or that may hereafter be given by law to the sheriffs of this state therefore while probation officers in north carolina have limited authority to arrest their probationers they do not have a general peacekeeping duty and none of their duties or powers involve the public at large while it is possible that officer mashburn's conduct would be justified under the authority granted to probation officers in other states under the law of north carolina it seems clear that officer mashburn was acting outside the bounds of his authority as a probation officer when he stopped mr barnwell for driving aggressively am i being detained am i being detained sir because i've got to go home am i are you detaining me are you detaining me am i being detained hey i'm going to step out because you're crazy am i being detained because i need to be on my way is it or is this a lawful stop am i being detained are you detaining me are you detaining me is that hard to understand because you know this is not legal mr barnwell repeatedly asks officer mashburn if he's being detained and officer mashburn refuses to answer an individual is considered seized for fourth amendment purposes when an officer intentionally terminates or restrains their freedom of movement through physical force or a show of authority such as an officer turning on police lights or sirens flashing a badge or ordering an individual to stop it is well established in legal precedent that a traffic stop constitutes a seizure of every individual in the stopped vehicle including both passengers and drivers as the supreme court articulated in the 2007 case of brendland vs california the standard for whether an individual is being detained is whether quote in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave or whether quote a reasonable person would feel free to decline the officer's requests or otherwise terminate the encounter however when it comes to detentions initiated by shows of authority the court explained that quote there is no seizure without that person's actual submission for example if an officer orders an individual to stop but they continue to flee no seizure has occurred however what constitutes submission depends on what a person was doing before the show of authority so if an individual is sitting in a chair they can submit to a show of authority by not getting up to run away applying these standards it seems probable that a court would conclude that officer mashburn seized mr barnwell by showing his badge motioning for him to pull over and telling him not to leave as a reasonable person would likely believe they were not free to leave regardless of whether officer mashburn was technically permitted to conduct traffic stops as a probation and parole officer and mr barnwell submitted to officer mashburn's show of authority by pulling over his vehicle this is not legal and you know this hey i'm gonna leave now because you won't tell me if i'm being detained or not sir am i being detained will you say those words you can either am i free to leave am i free to leave so i am being detained why don't you answer that you're not talking to anybody now what am i being detained for a few minutes ago i was trying to explain all this to you sir but you did not rush to listen to me you want to talk over me am i being detained i'm gonna go home now i'm going home now am i free to go am i being detained so now he's going to get my attack how long does a terry stop last sir so what am i being detained for you am i being detained am i being detained sir you know you pulled me over over 15 minutes now how long is the terry stop after informing officer mashburn that he has been pulled over for 15 minutes mr barnwell asks him how long a terry stop can last although traffic stops often involve terry stops they are not one in the same in the 2009 case of arizona vs johnson the supreme court held that a traffic stop constituted a lawful investigatory terry stop quote whenever it is lawful for police to detain an automobile and its occupants pending inquiry into a vehicular violation however as we've discussed many times on ata there are limitations on how long an officer can detain an individual during a traffic stop as the supreme court explained in the 2015 case of rodriguez versus united states quote a relatively brief encounter a routine traffic stop is more analogous to a so-called terry stop than to a formal arrest like a terry stop the tolerable duration of police inquiries in the traffic stop context is determined by the seizure's mission to address the traffic violation that warranted the stop and attend to related safety concerns while officers may conduct certain investigations that are unrelated to the traffic stop such as checking the driver's license determining whether there are outstanding warrants against the driver and inspecting the automobile's registration and proof of insurance these checks cannot quote measurably extend the duration of the stop unless there is a reasonable suspicion of a separate offense that justifies continued detention similarly the north carolina supreme court held in the 2020 case of state versus reed that quote in the context of traffic stops we recognize that police diligence includes more than just the time needed to issue a citation an officer is permitted to ask a detainee questions unrelated to the purpose of the stop in order to obtain information confirming or dispelling the officer's suspicions however an investigation unrelated to the reasons for the traffic stop must not prolong the roadside detention unfortunately it is not feasible to apply this legal framework to this situation as officer mashburn likely did not have the legal authority to detain and investigate mr barnwell and the reason for the extended duration of the stop was to wait for a police officer to arrive on the scene all things considered it seems more probable that a court would conclude the initial detention was unlawful rather than concluding that the detention was lawful but unlawfully extended can you call your supervisor call your supervisor please right now thank you hey you see that if you're out here patrolling the highways yeah i got one one person at a time that i can deal with how fast was that car you're an expert on speed how fast was that car going if you relaxed and had a conversation with me here we probably both going about our ways doing their jobs you going home and me going doing my job do you understand what i'm trying to tell you i understand what you're trying to say the only thing i was doing is stopping you getting you pulled over so one you calm down and quit endangering other people's surprises i wasn't in danger of nobody's life yes we're in more danger where you got me pulled over right here than we were out here going up and down this highway possibility of truth so i'll tell you what i'll do since we're talking and being calm will you answer one question for me and i won't say another word to the state trooper am i being detained you have been stopped until i can get a trooper here to have a talk with you because you cannot talk to me why is that not a yes or no question well because i've done answered that question you asked me are you being detained i've said you already been stopped but you won't say it am i free to leave then since you want to answer that question so you won't say if i'm being detained sir hey sir yes sir how are you i'm good good good night look i don't really fully understand what what me either what we're doing right here okay so uh he just felt like you were aggressively coming up on him he's a probation officer okay um so i'm not gonna write you for anything i'm not doing anything like that okay you're like you got your insurance you're unwinding me i appreciate that okay so where are you headed so you headed back home to alabama okay all right so look one of those things okay you may come up on him a little quick he may have you know it's one of them things okay so as long as i mean like i said i i'm good [Music] you might been a little aggressive so if if that is the case let's just back it down a little bit you're nearly to georgia anyways that's why i say thank you i appreciate it after being detained for approximately 30 minutes a police officer arrived on the scene and allowed mr barnwell to leave without further incident mr barnwell posted several videos on his youtube showing the interaction and the situation has received some local media attention in an interview with the press department of public safety spokesperson greg thomas said that officer mashburn did not have the authority to stop other vehicles and stated that officials are investigating the matter as of the date of this episode it is unknown whether mr barnwell will be pursuing legal action overall officer mashburn gets an f for conducting a traffic stop without the authorization to do so falsely detaining mr barnwell and his wife and for misrepresenting and blatantly disregarding the bounds of his authority as a probation officer it is impossible to accurately speculate on the events that led to this encounter but if officer mashburn was concerned that mr barnwell's driving was a danger to himself or others then he should have immediately radioed for a uniformed officer and provided them with mr barnwell's license plate information not attempt to make an unsanctioned traffic stop mr barnwell made it readily apparent that he did not believe that officer mashburn had the authority to make a traffic stop and immediately called 9-1-1 to have an officer come to the scene and instead of returning to his vehicle until an officer arrived officer mashburn attempted to force mr barnwell to identify himself officer mashburn demonstrated a considerable degree of negligence from the moment he initiated this stop and continued to overstep the bounds of his authority as a probation officer until a legitimate member of law enforcement arrived on the scene officer mashburn was either highly misinformed about the limitations of his law enforcement authority or maliciously disregarding it and either way his conduct certainly warranted the ongoing investigation mr barnwell gets an a minus because although he could have exercised his right to silence more tactfully he remained calm and collected throughout the encounter rightfully challenged the legitimacy of officer mashburn's conduct and maintained a respectable balance between complying with officer mashburn's orders and ensuring that his constitutional rights were respected it was completely reasonable for mr barnwell to be skeptical of an individual waving around an indistinguishable badge in an unmarked vehicle in an attempt to pull him over and i commend mr barnwell for thinking quickly and calling 9-1-1 to have another officer come to the scene all that said mr barnwell likely could have benefited from remaining silent until another officer arrived as mentioned in the episode some states and local governments do employ sworn law enforcement officers as probation officers and there are some states where a probation officer would have the authority to conduct a traffic stop especially if the driver presented a serious danger to other motorists if mr barnwell had been in one of those states then this interaction would have likely had a much different outcome the responding trooper gets an a plus for approaching the encounter calmly and objectively actively working to de-escalate the situation and for engaging in a civil dialogue with mr barnwell officer mashburn had several minutes alone with the trooper to explain his side of the story before the trooper approached mr barnwell's window but the trooper did not offer deference to officer mashburn and quickly realized that mr barnwell needed to be released it is clear from the video that the trooper had no intention of citing mr barnwell and it seemed as though he understood that mr barnwell had been questionably detained and just wanted to get mr barnwell on his way without any further delay i commend the trooper for refusing to take sides and dissolving the encounter as quickly and fairly as possible be sure to give your support to wb's channel you can find a link in the description below let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out my second channel for even more police interaction content [Music] you

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 2,781,080

Keywords: amagansett press, first amendment audit, 1st amendment audit, auditing america, news now california, sgv news first, high desert community watch, anselmo morales, photography is not a crime, san joaquin valley transparency, first amendment audit fail, walk of shame, news now houston, police fail, 1st amendment audit fail, public photography, auditor arrested, police brutality, highdesert community watch, pinac news, cops triggered, news now patrick, east hampton

Id: BYWkuWBpaVk

Length: 16min 34sec (994 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 30 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/RockFourFour]

The trooper should get an F. He arrived on a scene with a man impersonating an officer and committing an illegal traffic stop. He just let him go.

[u/mikes210]

He should have never stopped. Be should have called 911 and reported the guy