Officer Pulls Guy Over and Seriously Regrets It

[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 the extension of traffic stops parking violations and mental health and comes to us from mac and bravo's channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve sometime in the fall of 2019 youtuber adventurist and part-time delivery driver mack proctor along with his dog bravo were parked in a non-designated parking spot in a private parking lot outside an l l hawaiian barbecue in millbrae california according to mr proctor his vehicle was not impeding traffic and he only left it there for two minutes while he picked up a carryout order from the restaurant after mr proctor returned to his vehicle a san francisco pd canine unit whose nameplate is partially obscured approached him about an alleged parking violation what can be seen on the officer's name tag reads c chord and i was able to locate a public pay log that listened officer carlos cordova who was last promoted in 2019. i also found this image of an officer carlos cordova with the sfpd's canine unit from july of 2007 that looked strikingly similar to the officer involved in this encounter i cannot say with absolute certainty that these two individuals are the same officer or that this officer's name is officer cordova but for the sake of clarity i will refer to him as such for the remainder of this episode the video begins just after officer cordova stopped mr proctor and retrieved his identification and vehicle registration paperwork all right mr proctor that is your last name everything okay do i need to answer any of your questions you have to answer anything okay you don't have to lucky you stand here all day i get paid either way can you go ahead and finish your job so i can carry on what's up with the anger dude i'm not angry you're not angry you always talk to everybody like that i'm i'm not angry oh okay i just want you to go ahead and wrap things up please mr proctor asks if he needs to answer any questions and officer cordova informs him that he does not stating that he can quote stand here all day and interprets mr proctor's unwillingness to answer questions as anger despite officer cordova's assertion that he can stand and wait for mr proctor to answer his questions police officers cannot legally extend the length of a traffic stop simply because a citizen refuses to answer questions in the 1983 case of florida versus royer the u.s supreme court determined that although law enforcement officers do not violate the fourth amendment by approaching an individual on the street or in another public place and asking questions quote the person approached need not answer any question put to him he may decline to listen to the questions at all and may go on his way he may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable objective grounds for doing so and his refusal to listen or answer does not without more furnish those grounds the framework for a traffic stop is a bit more complicated than a police stop that occurs on the street because as the supreme court noted in the 2005 case of illinois versus cabias an initially justified traffic stop can quote become unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete that mission in the 2009 case of arizona versus johnson the supreme court explained that quote a traffic stop of a car communicates to a reasonable passenger that he or she is not free to terminate the encounter with the police and move about at will and that the fact that the officer has completed the original mission of the traffic stop does not communicate to the driver or passenger that their detainment had ended and they are free to leave for this reason the supreme court held that police officers cannot ask questions about matters unrelated to the justification for the traffic stop if those questions measurably extend the duration of the stop when it comes to officer cordova's claim that mr proctor was angry exercising the right to silence is not anger and even if he was angry he has a right to feel that way and express himself accordingly with very limited exceptions the first amendment protects the right to free expression including negative emotions such as anger in the 1949 case of terminiello vs chicago the supreme court concluded that quote a function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute it may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are or even stirs people to anger while it is unclear whether mr proctor was angry during his encounter with officer cordova all of his speech in the interaction was protected by the first amendment and he was perfectly within his rights to express himself all right well you know i'm gonna give you a break on it but i'm saying this isn't a parking spot okay dude you're not giving me a break you're harassing me at this point i'd like to leave may i leave now please well do you understand am i being detained yes you are okay all right so do you understand why i stopped you do i need to answer any more of your questions you don't have to okay okay but then again i could do this all day too okay all right so uh would you like to leave mr proctor would you like to leave do i need to answer any more of your questions hello no i'm not the one that's acting this way okay i'm just asking you you know you know i'm trying to give you a break here all right officer cordova informs mr proctor that he is being detained because the location where he is parked is not a parking spot however the california vehicle code does not regulate most parking violations on private property with a few exceptions found in section 22500.1 which prohibits parking in a designated fire lane in a private parking lot section 22507.8 which prohibits parking in a space designated for disabled persons without a proper placard in a private parking lot and section 2251.1 which prohibits parking in a space reserved for zero emission vehicles without a valid decal in a private parking lot additionally a 2011 opinion issued by then-california attorney general kamala harris clarified that quote a citation or notice of parking violation may be issued only for illegal parking that is parking in violation of federal state or local law accordingly a citation under the vehicle code may not be issued in connection with parking on private property that merely violates the property owner's rules rather than federal state or local law while section 21107.8 of the california vehicle code allows cities and counties to pass ordinances or resolutions declaring that some parts of the vehicle code apply to certain privately owned and public off-street parking facilities parking violations are not included in the statutes that can be applied to private lots section 7.28.0 of the san mateo county code of ordinances allows the board of supervisors to designate parking restrictions or prohibitions as necessary on streets portions of streets or county-owned property but neither the ordinances of san mateo county nor those of the city of millbrae cover parking violations in private parking lots not only was officer cordova outside of his physical jurisdiction as a san francisco police officer when detaining mr proctor but it does not appear that mr proctor was violating any law for which a citation could be issued i prefer you just write me the parking ticket and let me get right okay oh okay all right dude i was trying to be nice to you all righty would you hold on i haven't all right about yeah just let you know what's going on now we have another guy coming over real quick traffic guy with a side book since um you want to write on a ticket so otherwise i didn't want to go through all this hassle you know what i'm saying is everything okay is there any other issues or anything going on nice to know do i need to answer your questions you don't have to answer anything i'm concerned about your well-being is there something wrong do i need to answer any of your questions well if you're there's something wrong that would be nice yeah do i need to answer any of your questions you don't have to talk to me i'm just saying i'm just concerned about your well-being that's all i'm saying usually we don't get people uh hostile i've not been hostile okay officer cordova tells mr proctor that he is concerned about his well-being because he is acting quote-unquote hostile and implies that mr proctor may be mentally unstable the mental health training that police officers receive varies greatly depending on the police department and the officer's position in february 2011 the san francisco police commission established a crisis intervention team work group which included criminal justice system employees mental health service providers advocates community members consumers of mental health services and their families and other city agency representatives to develop new mental health training programs and field approaches as of september 19 2019 95.69 of san francisco pd officers had participated in a 10-hour crisis intervention field tactics course but less than half had completed a 40-hour comprehensive training course according to the san francisco pd's website the courses are based on the memphis model of crisis intervention team training which emphasizes de-escalation of potential crises by allowing time and distance which means slowing down and giving the mentally distraught individual space it is unclear what amount of mental health training officer cordova had received but it is clear that his accusatory questioning of mr proctor's mental status did not help de-escalate the situation while the national alliance on mental illness does list prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger as one of the common signs of mental illness in adults it is highly unlikely that officer cordova could have arrested mr proctor even if he did believe that mr proctor was suffering from mental illness because although police officers are permitted to detain individuals based on mental health concerns this authority is limited to situations where the individual is a danger to themselves or others or is gravely disabled according to section 5150 of the california welfare and institutions code a peace officer can take an individual into custody for up to 72 hours for assessment evaluation and crisis intervention when there is probable cause that the individual is a danger to themselves or is gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder after this initial 72-hour detainment period section 5250 of the california welfare and institutions code also allows the individual to be involuntarily certified for up to 14 days of intensive treatment related to the mental health disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism if the evaluating professionals determine that the individual is a danger to themselves or others or is gravely disabled as a result of the mental health disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and the individual has been advised of the need for treatment but has not been willing or able to accept it voluntarily given the requirements of the california welfare and institutions code it would be nearly impossible for officer cordova to legally take mr proctor into custody in this situation because officer cordova did not have probable cause that mr proctor had a mental health disorder or that he was a danger to himself or others and mr proctor clearly was not gravely disabled oh usually we don't get people wanting a ticket you know what i'm saying i'm going through all this i could be having my lunch right now all right dude well we'll be waiting dude we're gonna dude it's kind of my lunch time hey mr proctor can i just give you your stuff so you can leave can you i can but you're the one i wouldn't let you go a long time ago what do i need to do for you to hand me my documents so i can leave you right now i just want to know that you know it's like you're okay because usually i don't get people what do i need to do for you to hand me my documents so i can be on my way you're okay i don't need to answer any of your questions jesus christ you know i'm trying to say that uh you're trying to display your power to me right now i'm concerned about it isn't it probably concerned about another human being you have no reason to be concerned about me so it's okay then you're okay you can hand me my documents and i can be on my way or we can okay so okay so if i hand your stuff you'll be fine and taken off and you're not angry right you're not gonna okay here i'll tell you what i'm gonna take a chance on you all right here mr proctor um your right everything's cool all right we're blocking traffic here your stuff all right hopefully everything you have a good day everything works out for you alright am i free to leave now yes you are could you please step away from the vehicle you have a good day after being released by the officer mr proctor started his vehicle and drove away from the scene without further incident mr proctor told me that he didn't file a complaint because he felt a sense of urgency to leave the encounter as quickly as possible so he wasn't able to get the officer's name at the time i was in such a big hurry that um i didn't even know what his name was i never got a citation i you know i'm not a first amendment auditor so i didn't think to go name and badge number please you know i that didn't so i've even like gone back and watched the video and thought can i just get his name off of his uniform i can't really see it clearly so i was in such a hurry to break communication with him and get on with my day he was costing me money you know that he was willing to go through such great lengths as to have somebody else bring a site book to him from across town i was like this guy's crazy this guy's what is he going to try and do here because he's he's not got some criminal overall officer cordova gets an f for enforcing parking violations on private property unnecessarily extending the length of the stop and for questioning mr proctor's mental health merely because he chose to remain silent officer cordova's tactic of stalling the progression of the stop because mr proctor did not want to answer questions is exactly the type of conduct that the court intended to prohibit in the tobias case and the courts have concluded multiple times that officers may not extend the length of a traffic stop beyond what is necessary to accomplish the stop's mission barring the existence of an exclusive agreement between the property owner and the municipality there is a high probability that officer cordova was not within his authority to issue a parking citation in the strip mall parking lot and there are also legitimate questions to be raised about whether or not the officer was operating within his jurisdiction at the time if officer cordova had genuinely witnessed mr proctor's vehicle obstructing traffic then the responsible course of action would have been to inform mr proctor that he was creating an obstruction and ask him to move not initiate an investigatory detainment in a private parking lot outside of the department's jurisdictional authority officer cordova's unprofessional demeanor and childish exercise of authority tarnished the credibility of his mission to free the parking lot traffic of obstruction and this type of conduct only serves to erode the public's confidence in their local department mr proctor gets an a plus for invoking his right to silence peacefully and efficiently refusing to allow the officer's conduct to affect him emotionally and maintaining a calm and collected demeanor throughout the interaction there are serious implications associated with being accused of mental instability especially if the accusing party is in a position of authority for most of us it is impossible to predict how we would react to such allegations and it is safe to assume that there is no appropriate reaction to be had in that scenario overwhelming denial of the officer's claims may have led to further validation of the officer's suspicions and admitting that you're feeling agitated and angry may invoke officer safety concerns this is why mr proctor's decision to remain uncompromisingly silent and emotionless was the best course of action for this interaction mr proctor is not a first amendment auditor and although he does have a youtube channel the majority of its content has nothing to do with law enforcement the fact that mr proctor does not regularly interact with the police proves his ability to remain calm and navigate this encounter with precision and poise to be that much more impressive the only thing that this interaction is lacking is accountability but it is difficult to fault mr proctor for not filing a complaint given that he is not a first amendment auditor and does not actively participate in holding officers accountable i commend mr proctor for excellently demonstrating a balanced use of the right to remain silent and remaining composed and peaceful while doing so i highly recommend subscribing to mac and bravo's channel you can find a link in the description below let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out the ata patreon page for more police interaction content you

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 4,365,276

Rating: 4.7341533 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: Q7trNXpBU1k

Length: 16min 29sec (989 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 18 2021

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[u/throwawaypermanentay]

Great video. Very informative.