Suspended Cops Say Video of Them Eating Marijuana Edibles During a Raid Violated Their Privacy
Santa Ana officers want to stop their department from using the footage to investigate them.
Remember the Santa Ana, California, cops who were caught on video munching on what seem to be cannabis-infused chocolate bars after raiding an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary in May? The Orange County Register reports that three officers who were suspended after the incident are trying to stop the Santa Ana Police Department from using the footage in its internal investigation.
Among other things, their lawsuit argues that the officers thought they had disabled all of the security cameras at Sky High Holistic and therefore had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The cops complain that the dispensary never got their permission to record them as they searched the premises.
"All police personnel present had a reasonable expectation that their conversations were no longer being recorded and the undercover officers, feeling that they were safe to do so, removed their masks," says the complaint, which was filed in Orange County Superior Court.
"Without the illegal recordings, there would have been no internal investigation of any officer." Under California law, "all parties to a confidential communication" must consent to being recorded, but that rule does not apply when "the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard or recorded."
In an interview with the Register, Sky High's lawyer, Matthew Pappas, noted that police routinely use surveillance camera video against suspects.
"It's pretty pathetic for police to say if we don't like something that it can't be used as evidence," he said. "They knew they were on video....Just because they missed one camera doesn’t make it illegal."
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What a damn joke! Can you believe these pigs?
They go in full S.W.A.T. gear and ransack through a (AFAIK, licensed) medical marijuana store, terrorizing the people in there (staff and customers alike) by screaming at them to get down while shoving, kicking and mocking them, and while also pointing handguns, shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles at them.
Then they proceed to confiscate the store's cash as well as marijuana products while ingesting some of them on the job, thus, becoming intoxicated. And these are the same people who have been granted the authority; the license to use deadly force if necessary to uphold the law. And yet, they do the opposite by breaking the law and ensuring that no one tries to stop them by way of arming themselves to the teeth in raid gear.
Afterwards, they remove all the cameras in the store in a (thank God) failed attempt to ensure that no evidence remains of what they've done so that they'll get away with it, but they miss at least one hidden camera, and, which continues to record them. And the footage is soon after given to their superiors to prove what lying and corrupt pieces of shit they are.
And now, after being rightfully suspended for maliciously breaking the law, for remorselessly betraying the trust of the American people, and for traumatizing and victimizing innocent civilians for no good reason at all, they have the fucking gall to publicly complain that their privacy was violated because of the hidden camera footage?!
Un-freakin'-believable! Wow. Just wow.
Nefarious U.S. police officers have been able to get away with these unlawful acts for far too long folks. Please contact your representatives and show them this article, because it's pure, unadulterated tyranny. Tyranny which has resulted in 'The Land of the Free' becoming the world's biggest jailor of its citizens (well above China, India and Russia), even though it only has ~5% of the global population.
Countless innocent Americans - who are not a danger to society - are needlessly rotting away in public and private prisons throughout America because of the lies perpetrated by corrupt cops. They must be held accountable for the unspeakable damage they have caused, but that won't happen if the majority of Americans don't repeatedly and relentlessly demand it.
Regardless of what will become of American law enforcement, I am confident this story will significantly undermine any excuses by drug prohibitionists to maintain the status quo, particularly when it comes to marijuana.
For me, the saddest part of this incident is that it further validates the argument that, in order to prove that a police officer's sworn testimony is bullshit, it requires audio and video footage of the incident to do so. And this is further backed up by the fact that these pigs (which I'd love to witness being made squeal for their unlawful actions) were recorded removing all the surveillance equipment they could find.
Man, fuck the police.
I'm sorry - I know not all cops are crooked, but even they usually don't rat out their corrupt colleagues (which means their victims don't receive any justice). And I realize they fear it's career suicide to do so, but that sadly highlights the reality that law enforcement in America is titanically fucked up.
P.S. - Sigmond, thank you so much for finding and sharing this article with us. In my opinion, it's easily one of the most scandalous, revealing and undermining pieces of journalism (with respect to corrupt cops and/or the war on drugs) of this year. And I think it's very important that these articles are posted about in DitM. Great freakin' job man

and again, sincerely, much obliged!