How to Handle a Questionable Encounter With the Columbia Police Department

On July 27, 2011, Citizens For Justice members Matthew Akins and Prince Carter were followed down Providence Rd. and through the drive through of a Taco Bell parking lot, before being stopped and asked for identification by Officer Rob Sanders.

Gwen Froschner Hart of the Shurtleff, Froeschner & Harris LLC Law firm in Columbia, Missouri gives her legal opinion and explains what a person in a similar situation should do.


In Order of Appearance:

Officer Rob Sanders' Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=1276

Officer Scott Hedrick's Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=570

Officer Neal Sedgwick's Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=880

Sergeant Harlan Hatton's Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=29

Officer Joshua McCulloch's Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=710

Officer Chris Papineau's Profile: http://cfjcomo.com/officers.php?pid=800


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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• police
• cop
• crime
• cops
• attorney
• officer
• detained
• pulled over

[dooberheim]

Why were you nervous? Stoned? Have pot on you? I think pot should be legal, but until it is, it's possible you'll be hassled for it.

Matthew Akins has a long list of arrests for marijuana possesion, and has other problems with eviction/collection type financial stuff. He's simply harassing police for what he perceives as harassment. The guy needs to get a job and become a contributing member of society.

DK

[CFJComo]

@dooberheim I had no Marijuana on me at the time, nor was I under the influence. If there was weed in the car, don't you think the K-9 would have hit? As me being nervous, please list the exact time of the video when I indicated this.

Also, you seem to base much of you argument on a Mike Martin article, even after he painted you out as a murderer. Have you considered how he may have misconstrued the facts to make our relationship with the department seem much more volatile than it actually is?

[usmcct]

Hey I am not a fan of cpd but Chris hedrick is one of the few good cops man. I really mean that.

[CFJComo]

@usmcct Yeah, we don't disagree. Hedrick seems like a pretty good guy who didn't really want to be a part of this situation.



[geekiesthuffman]

So lets get this straight. You leave a high crime area, and when a cop is behind you swap lanes, swap lanes again, then quickly turn into a parking lot. Instead of leaving like a normal citizen would, you park and they watch you video tape and stare at the police presence.  The Lawyer may say it was overkill but as member of the Columbia General Public, see it as a paranoid group with a camera acting in a manner that prompts suspicion that feeds their paranoia

[CFJComo]

@geekiesthuffman The first lane change was to move from the fast lane. The officer approached at a high rate of speed and Failure to Yield to an Emergency Vehicle is illegal. He changed lanes with us, following almost inch for inch. There is nothing illegal about lawfully changing lanes, turning into Taco Bell, or video taping the CPD. In fact the camera may have saved us from being assaulted; you do know that Officer Sanders was fired 4 days ago for breaking a guy's vertebrae in a holding cell?

[CFJComo]

@Kathryn50320 Which part do you consider harassment? The part where we were called by the people involved to document their traffic stop, because they had had negative encounters with the department before or the part where we were followed by through the Taco Bell drive through and detained for a "safety check"?

[joybetainak]

This is how it should be done. All the Officers were identified. In this case, they were identified in detail. Their past histories are now available to others whose rights are violated by these rogue officers. The stop and detention were illegal, since there was no legal basis for the stop, which police admitted on camera. I believe there are already grounds for a 1983 suit. I believe these are officers also liable for false arrest? I believe a baseless detention is treated as a false arrest

[ymarielady]

lolz you told that one cop "none of your business" when he asked who bought the camera.. HAHAHA #treated

[gbenay]

It's a good thing that officer sanders got fired. Not for this case but for something else.

[BenP574]

and i hear Matt say: "Bro get the Camera" haha keep it up CFJ for life

[hairbabe2u]

Well it does seem weird being pulled over for nothing, but come on, don't look so dumb to have an open container in the car if you are trying to cite them for doing something wrong.

[geekiesthuffman]

@jddawg01 I don't think you know what ignorant means. You probably think it just means "You are dumb for not agreeing with my views" what it actually means is that someone willfully ignores all sides of an issue to only see their own side. Hence the "ignore" in ignorant. Now I brought up some topics that were contextual. I'm assuming you dismiss them, so by definition that would make you ignorant.

[jddawg01]

@Chuck65201 What are you talking about?? lol

[jddawg01]

@coopcooper1988ya You sound like a complete idiot. Go back to high school and learn how to spell before you start voicing your opinion!