Racial Profiling By Cop Cost This City $75,000

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 requested confessions and comes to us from the Iowa Citizens Community Improvement channel. Be sure to check the description. Below and give them the credit they deserve, let's dig deeper and audit the interaction On July 15, 2018, Montre Little, age twenty-three, and Jared Clinton, age 21, 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 happening?

This is your car, let's get mine running. Did it break down? Yes, sir, yes, tree, you have just arrived. Where with the gray park. That's it, how do you start? Official. This seemingly innocent question is much more tactical and accusatory: everything it initially seems like, asking about starting the vehicle, gives the officer these important clues about Mr. Small relationship with the vehicle if mr. little is not familiar with the process to start the car, he was unable to advise the officer that he could have stolen the vehicle the same way if mr. little awkwardly our actions when answering the question, he could imply that he is drunk.

Any of those scenarios could provide officer theis with reasonable suspicion to investigate further, fortunately, mr. Little did not act erratically and appeared to be familiar with starting the vehicle, however, the officer's questions still led to an additional question which ultimately results in Mr. little guy handing the keys to the officer to be your car, okay though, you have guns on you or in the car, can I be honest with you? It smells like marijuana in the car and I can see tremors in the ground and your friend is giving me your friend has given me the idea that maybe he has a gun.

Police officers often use the smell of marijuana as probable cause to circumvent the consent to search that is normally required of the driver of the vehicle. I have recorded a video that analyzes the smell. of marijuana and its relationship to probable cause in more detail which I will link in the information card above. It is important to note the speed at which the theast officer draws conclusions from him. Officer theis hasn't even asked mr. little to identify him yet, but he has already concluded that the smell of marijuana is present, there is marijuana shake on the floor and that mr.

Clinton has a gun hidden on his person just two minutes into the interaction, the officer goes on to admit that he is basing his gun allegation purely on a personal hunch. I mean the way you carry yourself, man, that's why I. That's why we're nervous, man, that's it, I mean, if you're scared because you've got some grass, that'll be one thing, okay, okay, there's no shaking in the ground, okay, and you have no weapons. you said "it's okay, it's okay, you know, and they put weapons on you, go ahead and get out of the way, yes, I just pushed you away three times, you owe it to me to recap again, yes, you have your hands up and now I'm asking you to get out of the car." I gave you my ID, you gave me your ID, go execute it, yeah, I don't know, I'm not going to walk away from

this

car, obviously, Bonacci's life, yeah, because I just told you to get out of the car if you don't you want to go to jail I would, I would, I would hope that you would please listen, I mean, I told you I'm a cop, look at the car when you leave Facebook or get in, look at the car when you leave, don't flex, don't push-ups.

I don't know what you're doing man, but you don't need to get off, stop pulling on your arms. What's going on? Were you trying? What are you doing? What are you doing? Well your money's on, man, mom, you ain't under arrest. you're just like you walk away like you're going to do something dumb 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 let me see take a seat I wanted to I think your friend I will so I need you to get in the car you think he's acting strange get in the car. car, please officer, if you don't get in the car, you will surely go to jail, I only use money feet, just a little bit, okay, come back and stay with me, okay, you are not going to flee from the area you own. you were on March 25, 1995 you were supposed to be drinking in the park there official, unofficial, that's there, it's okay, there was no weapon, there is no weapon to harm you, officer, we didn't do anything wrong, we We stopped at the traffic light.

When you stopped I did everything you asked officer you thought there was a gun there is no gun I wasn't doing anything wrong officer I'm not sure why you stopped me and run everything is fine there is a leg. Breaking the tail light or nothing official, I didn't do anything wrong, officer,

this

is the original reason for the stop it was never made public and mr. little is a valid point based solely on the video information, there does not appear to be any valid reason for a traffic stop, the tag registration and vehicle functions must have been valid considering the car is a rental and it would appear as if officer theis would not know there was an open container in the car because he had to search the vehicle to find it and did not mention it to mr.

Shortly at the beginning of the video, leaving a park is not a crime and certainly does not justify a traffic stop. Many aspects of this stop are based purely on officer theis' speculation and it's reasonable to assume that the stop itself was based on a hunch, okay, so here's the only thing you and I know. I mean, let's start over with each other. Did I make something up when I said the car smelled like marijuana, yes, some marijuana stirred on the floor, the officer who was cigarette, okay, no you didn't? I didn't find weed, I did, I didn't deliver to you, but this is what happens if you want me to be real with you like I want you to be real with me for a second like I did.

Make that up, you know? I mean, did I? I just invented. I think it's so obvious that it's not clear whether Officer Theis is looking for validation or a confession, but Mr. little discovers the officer's deception and refuses to give him the satisfaction that any jurist will tell him to never admit anything to a police officer and mr. The little boy's honesty could very well have saved him from being accused of a crime. The 1969 Supreme Court Fraser Cup V case affirmed the legality of deceptive interrogation tactics and essentially gave 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 requesting 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. from law enforcement under any circumstances, the Fifth Amendment protects citizens from answering questions without an attorney present and the right to remain silent is a powerful tool that every citizen should be aware of and invoke when necessary if you believe I am lying then we will go to the courts or if you want just be honest with me and I will be honest with you, right?

I'd like to get out my alcohol interaction chart so you don't find anything. We weren't doing anything wrong. You're not going to admit that maybe you were around people. introduce yourself to them like this Oh, were you around someone who smoked a cigarette that day? No, we took care of it upstairs, there's no one we confronted the floor officer so quickly after failing to get a confession. The officer is allowed, mr. little and mr. Clinton to spill the alcohol he found and continue on his way without making an arrest or issuing a citation a few months after this incident, mr. little and mr.

Clinton partnered with the social justice organization Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement to file a lawsuit against Officer Theis for violating her constitutional rights by stopping them without reasonable suspicion and conducting a warrantless search of the vehicle in June 2019, City Hall of Des Moines agreed to a $75,000 settlement with Mr. little and mr. Clinton received 25,000 each and the law firm that represented them received 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 maintains that the results of the reviews can be kept secret because they are considered a personal record and are part of the attorneys' work product, which are exemptions in Iowa's public records law.

The official in general gets an F for

racial

ly

profiling

mr. little and mr. Clinton violated his constitutional rights and used 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 in early 2018 that resulted in a civil rights case against him with elements of racial profiling. Profiling at the forefront of allegations that the lawsuit is still ongoing, the Des Moines Register reported that this was responsible for 253 arrests in 2017 and about half of those arrested were African-American, according to the US Census Bureau ., only 11% of Des Moines residents identify as black or African American, suggesting an unusually high racial disparity among arrested officers, while several factors may affect the racial makeup of people and officer arrests ;

Those figures supplemented by documented cases like this do not shed a favorable light on police tactics. from officer theis and ultimately

cost

the

city

of Des Moines $75,000 mr. little and mr. Clinton earned an A for remaining calm during the interaction, resisting Officer Theis's coercive tactics by refusing to admit guilt, and following this encounter with legal action. Members of the Des Moines Police Department have appeared in two other videos on my channel and it appears that the department is relatively known for its poor relationship with its community and poor policing in general, but very few have been adequately compensated. for department misconduct and even fewer police officers have been held accountable for their actions.

I congratulate mr. little and mr. Clinton for taking the necessary legal action and achieving 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 is wasted on the city . Major changes will be made and the citizens of Des Moines can rebuild their relationship with local authorities. If there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to cover in the comments below, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks for watching and don't forget to like it. Subscribe for more police engagement content.