Officer Costs The City $75,000 Over Racial Profiling

[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 racial profiling unreasonable searches and solicited confessions and comes to us from the Iowa Citizens for Community improvements channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve let's dive right in and audit the interaction on July 15th 2018 twenty three-year-old montre little and 21-year old Jared Clinton were leaving a local park where they were stopped by officer Kyle theis of the Des Moines police department in Des Moines Iowa what's going on guys what's up is this your car let's run my car okay did you break down yes sir yeah tree you guys just came from where with the park gray that's it how do you start it [Music] officer theses seemingly innocent question is much more tactical and accusation --all than it initially appears asking about starting the vehicle gives officer theis important clues about mr. littles relationship with the vehicle if mr. little isn't familiar with the process for starting the car it couldn't sing you eight to the officer that he may have stolen the vehicle likewise if mr. little fumbles our acts erratically while answering the question it could insinuate that he is inebriated either one of those scenarios could provide officer theis with reasonable suspicion to investigate further luckily mr. little did not act erratically and seemed familiar with starting the vehicle however officer theses questions still segwayed into an additional question which ultimately results in mr. little surrendering his keys to the officer so it's your car though okay you have any weapons on you or in the car okay can I be honest with you it smells like marijuana in the car and I can see shake on the ground and your buddy's giving me your buddy's given me the idea that maybe he's got a gun the smell of marijuana is often used by police officers as probable cause to bypass the consent to search that is typically required from the driver of the vehicle I have made a video that discusses the smell of marijuana and its relationship to probable cause in more detail that I will link in the info card above it is important to note the speed at which officer theast draws his conclusions officer theis hasn't even asked mr. little for his ID yet but he has already concluded that the smell of marijuana is present there is marijuana shake on the ground and that mr. Clinton has a gun hidden on his person only two minutes into the interaction officer theis goes on to admit that he is basing his accusation about the gun purely on a personal hunch I mean just the way you're holding yourself man like that's why I'm that's why we're nervous man that's it I mean if you're scared cuz you got a little bit of weed that'll be one thing okay okay okay there's no shake on the floor okay and you don't any weapons on you you said okay okay you know and getting weapons on you go ahead and step out montre yep I just pulled you away three times you owe me to recap again yep your hands are up and now I'm asking you to step out of the car I gave you my ID you gave me your ID go run it yep I don't know I'm not walking away from this car obvious Bonacci life yep cuz I just told you step out of the car if you don't want to go to jail I would I would I would expect you to please listen I mean I told you I'm a cop face the car when you step off facebook or you step up face car when you step out don't flex don't flex I don't know what you're doing man but you need not get off stop pulling on your arms what's going on dude were you trying to what are you doing dude okay well your money's going on man mom's you're not under arrest you're just you just like you're like pulling away like you're gonna do something silly and I don't want that what nothing okay well you're not under arrest man we're just trying to figure out what's going on okay so slider I mean your heart it's something dude like you're beating don't what let me see have a seat I wanted I think that your buddy I'm gonna so I need you to step in the car you think he's acting funny step in the car please officer if you if you don't step in the car you're going to jail for sure I just use money feet just a little bit all right come back and stand with me okay you're not gonna run from area you holder you montre March 25 1995 you supposed to be drinking in the park there officer I don't officer that's just in there okay there was no gun there is no weapon to harm you officer we didn't do anything wrong we stopped at the stoplight pulled over when you pulled over I did everything you asked me to officer you thought there was a weapon there's no weapon wasn't doing anything wrong officer I'm not sure why you pulled me over and - run - everything is fine there is leg-breaking taillight or nothing officer I did nothing wrong with you officer thisis original reason for the stop was never made public and mr. little makes a valid point based purely on the information in the video there doesn't appear to be any valid reason for a traffic stop the tag registration and functions of the vehicle must have been valid considering that the car is a rental and it would appear as if officer theis was unaware that there was an open container in the car because he had to search the vehicle in order to find it and he made no mention of it to mr. little at the beginning of the video leaving a park is hardly a crime and certainly does not justify a traffic stop many aspects of this stop are based purely on the speculations of officer theis and it is reasonable to assume that the stop itself was based on a hunch okay so here's the only you and I know I mean let's start over with each other did I make anything up when I said the car smelled like marijuana yeah a little bit marijuana shake on the floor the officer that was cigarette okay there's no you didn't find no marijuana I did I'm not turned you in there on it but here's here's what if you want me to if you want me to be real with you like I want you to be real with me for a second like did I make that up you know I mean did I did I just make it up I believe so obvious it is unclear whether officer theis is seeking validation or a confession but mr. little calls the officer's bluff and refuses to grant him the satisfaction of either any legal scholar will tell you to never admit anything to a police officer and mr. littles honesty very well could have saved him from being charged with a crime the 1969 Supreme Court case of Fraser V cup affirmed the legality of deceptive interrogation tactics and essentially granted officers the authority to lie in the line of duty law enforcement officers often use the phrase er rollin to their advantage by pretending to be friendly and lenient in order to solicit a confession from their suspects no matter what an officer says it is never in anyone's best interest to admit anything to a member of law enforcement under any circumstances the Fifth Amendment protects citizens from answering questions without legal counsel present and the right to remain silent is a powerful tool that every citizen should be aware of and invoke when necessary if you think that I'm lying like then we'll go to court or do you want to just be real with me and I'll be real with you right I would like to pull out my alcohol interaction table so you didn't find anything we wasn't doing anything wrong you're not gonna admit that you maybe were around people show up in at them like that Oh were you around anybody smoke a cigarette that day no we take on the up there's no one we take on the floor officer this quick after failing to secure a confession officer theis allowed mr. little and mr. Clinton to pour out the alcohol that was found and go on their way without making an arrest or issuing a citation a few months after this incident mr. little and mr. Clinton teamed up with the social justice organization Iowa citizens for Community Improvement to file a lawsuit against officer theis for violating their constitutional rights by stopping them without reasonable suspicion and conducting a warrantless search of the vehicle in June of 2019 the Des Moines City Council agreed to a settlement of $75,000 with mr. little and mr. Clinton receiving 25,000 each and the law firm that represented them to receive the remaining 25,000 the Des Moines police department conducted an administrative review of officer theis which led to the officer being removed from patrol duty but not fired the City of Des Moines contends that the administrative reviews findings can be kept secret because they're considered a personnel record and are part of an attorneys work product which are exemptions in Iowa's public records law overall officer theis gets an F for racially profiling mr. little and mr. Clinton violating their constitutional rights and using shady police tactics in an attempt to solicit a confession for a crime that did not exist officer theis was involved in a separate incident earlier in 2018 which resulted in a civil rights case being brought against him with elements of racial profiling at the forefront of the accusations that lawsuit is still ongoing the Des Moines Register reported that this was responsible for 253 arrests in 2017 with about half of those arrested being African American according to the US Census Bureau only 11% of Des Moines residents identify as black or african-american which suggests an unusually high racial disparity among officer theses arrestees while several factors may affect the racial makeup of the people and officer arrests those numbers complimented with documented cases such as this one do not shine a favourable light onto the policing tactics of officer theis and ultimately cost the city of Des Moines $75,000 mr. little and mr. Clinton both get an A for remaining calm during the interaction resisting the coercion tactics of officer theis by refusing to admit guilt and following up this encounter with legal action members of the Des Moines police department have been featured in two other videos on my channel and it seems that the department is relatively well known for its poor relationship with its community and overall bad policing but very few have been appropriately compensated for the misconduct of the department and even fewer police officers have been held accountable for their actions I commend mr. little and mr. Clinton for taking the necessary legal action and finding success within the justice system and I encourage other Des Moines residents to hold their police officers accountable perhaps after the financial burden of police misconduct waste down on the city major changes will be made and the citizens of Des Moines can rebuild their relationship with their local law enforcement let us know if there's an interaction or legal topic you would like us to cover in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to like it subscribe for more police interaction content [Music]

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 6,645,511

Rating: 4.9043078 out of 5

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: KHqlI05Gq3Y

Length: 15min 11sec (911 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 22 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/FCMatt7]

AA does a great job here. Looks like the cop has other lawsuits ongoing because he likes to pull over black people in his white neighborhood.

This video is the epitome of not talking or confessing to a cop who "wants to be real"

[u/TatianaWisla]

If I won that lawsuit against the officer, I'd be sure to send him a "Thanks for the $75,000" card just to rub it in his face.

[u/majorkev]

Well you're not under arrest man

Handcuffs... being put in the back of a cruiser... anyone's heart would be racing.

What a douchebag.

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/SliyarohModus]

He should be made to pay the city back that money scrubbing bathrooms at the YMCA with his own toothbrush so he can remember who he's being paid to protect and serve.

[u/Janin1616]

Wow this is a great video and has thorough explanations. Thanks for posting. I subbed and will definitely be watching more.

[u/BonaFideBill]

I'm guessing that this is detrimental to the cop's career. I'm sure that dest duty doen't come with the same amount of overtime...

[u/WhiteHawktriple7]

Filthy Pig has a silver tongue.