27-yr retired firefighter & elected LEO | Writer - true police & fire chronicles | Bodycam + 1A auditor videos | Heroism & accountability - showing good & bad
Joined April 2014
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How would you respond if a deputy ripped your door open over mud flaps?
On Feb. 16, 2024, a Tom Green County (TX) Sheriff’s deputy stopped a driver on narrow Moon Lane near San Angelo for mud flaps he said were too short.
The deputy turned his flashing lights on near the start of the tight road (fences close to the pavement). The driver continued a short distance to a wider spot so he could pull over safely without blocking traffic, then stopped.
The deputy called that “rolling,” said people who roll usually have warrants or drugs, and approached with his gun already drawn.
He then yanked the driver’s door open, ordered him out, and frisked him.
He claimed the driver had pot all over his pants/lap and on the edge of the seat. The driver said it was sawdust from a full day of cutting wood.
No drugs were found.
The driver stayed relatively calm, repeatedly asked for the reason and probable cause, and got the deputy’s name and badge info (Robertson).
Equipment violations can justify a stop. Drawing a gun, forcing a door open, and escalating to a drug search over sawdust on a delayed safe pull-over is a different story.
❓What do you make of this one?
❓Is “mud flaps too short” a reasonable reason to approach with a gun drawn?
👨🚒I lost a significant portion of my lung capacity from an on-duty injury at a house fire in 2008 — so when firefighters say their air might be contaminated, I listen.
Share for transparency and accountability because Huntsville, Alabama firefighters deserve far better than this.
Huntsville, AL firefighters filed 69 grievances after a June air-quality test on a cascade trailer used to fill SCBA bottles showed 2.27 mg/m³ of oil particles — above the NFPA recommended limit of 2.0.
In early August, during physical training drills on air, more than 50 firefighters reported coughing, throat irritation, chest tightness, and other respiratory symptoms. Some say issues have lingered.
The city denied the grievances. It cited a later retest that passed, noted the reading was still under the OSHA limit, and said there is no established link between the June result and the August symptoms. Subsequent testing of other equipment passed.
Requests for tank tracking, chemical cleaning, additional testing, and mandatory health checks (including CT scans) were also denied.
The Professional Fire Fighters of Alabama has since sued the city and Fire Chief Howard McFarlen, alleging the city improperly withheld public records related to the air quality issue and testing history.
The portable trailer remains out of service pending further review. The department’s internal report listed the cause of the symptoms as undetermined.
Firefighter breathing air is a basic safety issue.
The dispute now centers on testing protocols, notification, equipment tracking, and what level of response is required after a failed sample.
❓How does a department justify denying every grievance while firefighters are still reporting breathing issues?
❓Have you ever been told by a chief that filing a grievance was “not the right way to handle it”?
❓Is a chief who sides with the city still the chief of the firefighters, or just the city’s representative in a uniform?
👮♂️🚒 Tales of Badge & Blaze™ retweeted
🚨PLEASE HELP US BRING OUR ZEUS HOME! 🚨
Interstate-55 travelers in southwest Mississippi.
👨🚒Sharing this because some great people have worked really hard to find ZEUS and they need our help:
⠀
👉To the good people of Summit, Mississippi, and our neighbors throughout Pike County,
⠀
We are Shari and Charles Shackelford, and we're asking for your help finding our beloved Great Dane, Zeus.
⠀
On September 21, we were involved in a terrible vehicle accident on Interstate-55, just south of the Summit exit. During the accident, Zeus became frightened and ran from the scene.
⠀
Because of our injuries, we were being transported to the hospital and couldn't search for him. Leaving that scene without our boy was heartbreaking, and four weeks later, we're still praying for the day we can bring him home to South Carolina.
⠀
NEW POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS IN SUMMIT, MS!
⠀
We've received several possible sightings around Robb Street, Summit Exit 20A, and Robb Street Extension East.
⠀
Most recently, two possible sightings were reported on October 19 and October 21 in the Summit area. We've included a map showing those locations.
⠀
We want to emphasize that NEITHER SIGHTING HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE ZEUS. However, these reports give us hope that someone in the area may have information that could help us find him.
⠀
WE NEED YOUR HELP, SUMMIT, MS!
⠀
If you live, work, or travel through these areas, please keep an eye out for Zeus. He's a large black Great Dane mix with a white chest and gray around his muzzle.
⠀
If you see a dog resembling Zeus, PLEASE take a photo or video from a safe distance and note the exact location, time, and direction of travel.
⠀
DO NOT CHASE, APPROACH, OR CALL OUT TO HIM. This could frighten him and push him farther away. We have experienced volunteers ready to help verify sightings and coordinate humane trapping efforts to bring him home safely.
⠀
REPORT POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS: 901-481-7313
⠀
Please continue sharing Zeus's picture and putting flyers throughout Summit, Pike County, and surrounding communities.
It's possible he's traveled farther away, or someone may have taken him in without realizing we're searching for him.
⠀
To everyone who has searched, shared, prayed, or offered to help, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.
⠀
We're still recovering from our injuries, but the hardest part has been not knowing where our boy is.
⠀
We know there are good people in your community, and we're asking you to help us bring our family back together.
⠀
With sincere gratitude,
⠀
Shari and Charles Shackelford
⠀
PLEASE SHARE — HELP US BRING ZEUS HOME!
🚨PLEASE HELP US BRING OUR ZEUS HOME! 🚨
Interstate-55 travelers in southwest Mississippi.
👨🚒Sharing this because some great people have worked really hard to find ZEUS and they need our help:
⠀
👉To the good people of Summit, Mississippi, and our neighbors throughout Pike County,
⠀
We are Shari and Charles Shackelford, and we're asking for your help finding our beloved Great Dane, Zeus.
⠀
On September 21, we were involved in a terrible vehicle accident on Interstate-55, just south of the Summit exit. During the accident, Zeus became frightened and ran from the scene.
⠀
Because of our injuries, we were being transported to the hospital and couldn't search for him. Leaving that scene without our boy was heartbreaking, and four weeks later, we're still praying for the day we can bring him home to South Carolina.
⠀
NEW POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS IN SUMMIT, MS!
⠀
We've received several possible sightings around Robb Street, Summit Exit 20A, and Robb Street Extension East.
⠀
Most recently, two possible sightings were reported on October 19 and October 21 in the Summit area. We've included a map showing those locations.
⠀
We want to emphasize that NEITHER SIGHTING HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE ZEUS. However, these reports give us hope that someone in the area may have information that could help us find him.
⠀
WE NEED YOUR HELP, SUMMIT, MS!
⠀
If you live, work, or travel through these areas, please keep an eye out for Zeus. He's a large black Great Dane mix with a white chest and gray around his muzzle.
⠀
If you see a dog resembling Zeus, PLEASE take a photo or video from a safe distance and note the exact location, time, and direction of travel.
⠀
DO NOT CHASE, APPROACH, OR CALL OUT TO HIM. This could frighten him and push him farther away. We have experienced volunteers ready to help verify sightings and coordinate humane trapping efforts to bring him home safely.
⠀
REPORT POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS: 901-481-7313
⠀
Please continue sharing Zeus's picture and putting flyers throughout Summit, Pike County, and surrounding communities.
It's possible he's traveled farther away, or someone may have taken him in without realizing we're searching for him.
⠀
To everyone who has searched, shared, prayed, or offered to help, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.
⠀
We're still recovering from our injuries, but the hardest part has been not knowing where our boy is.
⠀
We know there are good people in your community, and we're asking you to help us bring our family back together.
⠀
With sincere gratitude,
⠀
Shari and Charles Shackelford
⠀
PLEASE SHARE — HELP US BRING ZEUS HOME!
🚨The Random Patriot @RandomPatriot_ knocked it out of the park on this one!
Excellent audit of May 2026 incident.
Watch how a simple gas leak turns into something else when an officer gets his feelings hurt and whips out his handcuffs to try to scare someone into submission.
That single threat escalated the entire situation.
Rector, Arkansas PD bodycam release exposes Police Chief’s attempt to withhold footage.
A gas-line strike led to a 911 call and the disorderly-conduct arrest of members of the McCluskey family.
(Father Lloyd Jason McCluskey and son Zachary McCluskey)
Chief Kelly Baker later claimed the department only possessed roughly 3 minutes of relevant bodycam video.
The full recording that was ultimately released runs approximately 33 minutes and includes the full sequence of the stop and arrest the chief had downplayed.
When a police chief tells the public that only a few minutes of footage exist and a much longer recording later surfaces, it raises basic questions about what was withheld and why.
This is a straightforward transparency issue.
The contrast between the official claim of ~3 minutes and the actual ~33-minute recording is documented in the released material.
Credit to The Random Patriot for obtaining and releasing the bodycam footage and the update on the records battle.
❓How often do police tell citizens that no other bodycam footage exists, when — as in this case — there is actually substantially more?
❓Why does asking “why do you need my ID?” so often get treated as resistance?
❓What would the officer have done with Mr. McCluskey's ID besides running him for warrants?
❓Is it reasonable to ask someone to stop and provide their ID when they are in the middle of dealing with a gas leak on their property?
❓Who, if anybody, behaved disorderly in the video you watched?
⭐️Sheriff Defends Flock Cameras After Federal Judge Throws Out 91 Pounds of Meth:
“We’ll Keep Using Them”
"We’re Not Stopping Until the Supreme Court Says Otherwise"
Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado held a press conference addressing the federal ruling that suppressed evidence in a major meth case over the use of Flock/ALPR cameras.
On October 1, U.S. District Judge Sara Hill ruled in United States v. Kyle that a Tulsa County deputy’s warrantless query of historical vehicle location data through Flock and VehicleManager systems violated the Fourth Amendment.
She described the technology as “indiscriminate mass surveillance” and suppressed all evidence obtained afterward, including roughly 91 pounds of methamphetamine seized during a May traffic stop on I-44. The government is appealing to the 10th Circuit.
At the press conference, Sheriff Regalado stated that the deputy followed department policy and the legal standards understood at the time of the stop.
He said the office will continue using automated license plate readers until higher courts resolve the issue, calling it reckless to treat the action as unconstitutional based on one district court ruling.
He expressed hope that the case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court for a definitive decision on the constitutionality of the technology.
Regalado highlighted the system’s value for investigating crime, deterring criminal activity, and locating missing children.
He also noted internal safeguards, including requirements for an investigative purpose and case number, a roughly 30-day data limit, monitoring of searches, and the fact that no misuse by Tulsa County users has been identified.
The ruling is limited to this case and does not ban the technology, but it is among the first federal decisions to hold that a warrantless historical ALPR search can violate the Fourth Amendment.
Video of the sheriff’s full remarks below.
❓Should police be able to pull 30 days of your vehicle’s location history on a minor traffic stop without a warrant just because you have an out-of-state plate?
❓Are we heading toward a future where every highway drive is permanently logged?
❓Why should anyone have to justify where they’ve been for the past 30 days to a deputy on the side of the highway?
👮♂️ It's Hilarious When A Police Officer Thinks That Just Because They "Have Been Doing This For 22 Years" That They Must Be Doing It Right!👮♂️
On October 31, 2023, and again on November 20, 2023, a First Amendment auditor with the YouTube channel I.A.M. Free – Inland Auditing Media went to the Washington State Department of Corrections Work Release Office in Port Orchard, WA 98367.
He was there to film publicly accessible areas and submit a public records request after tips about issues at the facility.
DOC staff confronted him, claimed the state property was effectively private (comparing it to a library), refused full identification at points, and ordered him to leave, saying he needed permission or a pass.
Port Orchard Police responded. Officer R. Luke (Badge #720) and Sgt. T. Holden (Trey Holden, Badge #716) arrived.
Officers issued a verbal trespass warning, stating that remaining or returning could lead to arrest for criminal trespass under Washington law.
They treated the location as subject to exclusion after warning even though it is state/public property.
The auditor argued the site is public property, that he was in an accessible area without adequate restrictive signage, and that he was engaged in protected activity.
He maintained that arbitrary exclusion for viewpoint or press activity requires proper time/place/manner justification.
The DOC employees called higher ups and realized the mistake they were making then withdrew their trespass warning.
👮♂️The police sergeant who had bragged of knowing the law after having been on the job for 22 years was proven to be completely wrong about the law.
Outcome: No arrest.
No public court records or mainstream news reports indicate charges, a formal complaint outcome, or further legal action from this specific incident.
❓Is it appropriate for uncomfortable staff to call police simply because someone is filming and asking for records, with no other disruptive behavior?
❓How often are public areas unrestricted until an employee sees someone walking around filming and then suddenly they're a restricted or secured area?
Is it legal hemp or illegal marijuana? Can you tell the difference by smell?
Many police officers don't know the difference and most don't care.
If it smells like marijuana and looks like marijuana they'll make an arrest and there are judges who will sign off on it, hemp be damned.
Regardless of the actual law.
Officer Austin Wolfe of the Fletcher, North Carolina Police department responded April 2026 to neighbor complaints about a strong marijuana-like odor coming from an apartment.
At the door he told the resident he’d received multiple complaints and wanted a quick discussion about the smell, which he identified as marijuana.
The resident stayed inside, spoke through the doorway (camera running), and stated he does not smoke marijuana.
He explained the odor was from legal hemp / THCa flower purchased nearby—across from a police station—and that it is fully legal federally and in North Carolina under the Farm Bill standard (under 0.3% delta-9 THC).
Wolfe replied that marijuana is not legal in the state and that, without proof the product was compliant hemp, he had no reason to accept the explanation.
He noted the smell was detectable before he even reached the building and that it was entering neighboring units with open windows.
Wolfe didn't push the issue.
The resident agreed to be more mindful.
No warrant was presented, the resident never fully opened the door or stepped outside, and the encounter ended with the officer advising consideration for neighbors rather than an entry, search, or arrest.
This is a textbook example of the practical gray area created by legal hemp that is visually and aromatically identical to illegal marijuana.
Officers can knock and talk on a neighbor odor complaint; they generally cannot force entry into a private residence on smell alone.
North Carolina courts have continued to treat cannabis odor as a relevant factor in vehicle probable-cause analyses even after hemp legalization, but home-entry standards remain higher.
❓Do you know the difference between hemp and marijuana?
❓Was this person smart to keep the door to his apartment closed? What could have happened had he opened it?
❓Should a person have to prove to the police that a product they purchased legally is not illegal?
❓Why do so many police officers act like they’re there to back up the person who called them, instead of calmly checking what’s really going on with an open mind?
Lubbock PD responds to a USPS post office after an auditor films exterior/public areas.
Officer Simons and Officer Aarp arrive.
Aarp issues a criminal trespass warning at postal staff’s request and threatens arrest if the auditor doesn’t leave the property (including the parking lot).
Auditor cites the right to record in publicly accessible areas and leaves under the threat rather than test the arrest.
He requests a supervisor and Sergeant Mora arrives, only to be dismissive and flippant.
No charges were filed.
USPS Poster 7 generally permits news-purpose photography in lobbies, entrances, and public spaces absent actual disruption.
Full video shows the exchange.
❓Should simply existing with a camera at a post office be treated as a criminal disturbance?
❓Can a postal employee decide what is or isn't a disturbance based solely on his or her comfort?
❓Who sets the official rules of the post office? The United States Postal Service or the random uncomfortable employee?
What happens when a real police officer arrives and he's as wrong about the law as the hostile female security guard?
SeanPaul Reyes (@LongIslandAudit) filmed outside a New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission office in 2024.
Supervisor Brito first demanded he stop recording, then she called a female security officer named Gonzales.
Gonzales escalated the situation.
A sworn police officer later arrived and also claimed the state-owned facility was private property.
Reyes pushed back on camera, noting taxpayer-funded public buildings open to the public remain public for First Amendment purposes in accessible areas.
None of these officers seemed to grasp the concept of state owned property not being private property.
Reyes was not arrested or trespassed.
❓Was that the outcome you expected once the real police officer arrived?
❓If he doesn't know public from private, how well do you think the police officer at the end knows the laws he's sworn to enforce?
🚔The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and Tishomingo County sheriff's deputies recently made a stop at IES kindergarten to visit with the kids.
MHP Trooper Reagan demonstrated drones as another trooper told the children what will happen if they ever run from the police.
The children received a visit from the fire department earlier.
❓Do you remember the police or fire department visiting your school for programs like this when you were a kid?
❓What do you think is the one message these children will take away from this visit?
👮♂️🚒 Tales of Badge & Blaze™ retweeted
Why did Harris County Sheriff Sgt. Jimmy Cook treat a man recording like some kind of criminal?
In 2019, a man filmed the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy and firing range in Humble, Texas, from the public right-of-way.
Sgt. Jimmy Cook (then with HCSO, involved in training and the Special Response Group) approached, questioned his purpose, and demanded identification.
With a condescending attitude and heaping disrespect he cited reasonable suspicion based on the man’s presence near the facility and range.
The filmer refused to ID himself. He stated he was on public property, had committed no crime, and was exercising his First Amendment rights to film public facilities.
He also invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
Cook raised concerns about the active range and nearby traffic and directed the man to move farther from the entrance.
The man later spoke with Captain Schmidt, the academy director. Schmidt indicated there was no issue with filming anywhere on the public right-of-way.
No arrest was made and no charges were filed.
The encounter ended without further incident.
❓Did Jimmy Cook come across as professional, or did he sound like an ***hole in the video?
❓Is this just one bad interaction, or a pattern with some HCSO deputies?
❓Should deputies be required to identify the specific crime they’re investigating before demanding ID?
❓Should police be allowed to lie to you about your legal obligation to provide ID?
Did the marshal use excessive force when he arrested an auditor, or was it necessary restraint?
Dec. 9, 2024, Dover, Arkansas
Marshal’s Office Capt. Colin Lillard arrested YouTuber Justin Alex MacHenry (aka - The Random Patriot) at City Hall for disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental operations.
MacHenry had arrived with associates to file a public-records request tied to an earlier arrest of Cody Duos.
Days before, Lillard had stopped Duos for expired registration after the brothers made middle-finger gestures.
Duos was later arrested for disorderly conduct after allegedly using profane language and refusing to leave City Hall.
MacHenry carried a sign reading “ F*CK Dover Marshals,” used repeated profanity and personal insults toward Lillard and staff, and continued recording after being told there was no profanity. He was taken into custody.
🔸MacHenry alleges excessive force: Lillard slammed him into a window/door frame (causing a busted lip and bruised tooth), pressed his face against the glass, put him on the ground, and later grabbed him by the throat in a back room with no cameras.
He frames the arrest as retaliation for protected speech and First Amendment auditing.
🔸The Marshal’s Office and City of Dover dispute this account.
They say MacHenry intentionally provoked the encounter for online content (his channel had substantial views on the incident), refused to leave, disrupted City Hall operations, and thrust his shoulder/elbow into Lillard during the escort, causing the officer to strike the door frame.
They describe the force as necessary restraint while Lillard was the only officer present and outnumbered.
MacHenry was convicted of both misdemeanors in Pope County District Court in March 2025. He appealed.
In a July 2026 circuit court hearing, the judge denied motions to dismiss the charges and suppress statements.
Video was reviewed; area police chiefs testified for the defense on the force used, while the city argued the footage supported provocation and contact initiated by MacHenry.
MacHenry also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit (MacHenry v. Lillard) alleging unlawful arrest and excessive force.
The case was dismissed without prejudice by joint stipulation on Oct. 6, 2026, with each side bearing its own costs.
❓Did MacHenry go to Dover to audit police conduct, or to provoke an arrest for content?
❓Did Lillard slam MacHenry into the glass door, or did MacHenry drive into the officer?
Should First Amendment auditors be allowed to film inside government offices while customers are inside conducting business?
On Oct. 30, 2024, First Amendment auditors walked into the Nye County Planning Department at 2041 E. Calvada Blvd in Pahrump and began filming public business.
A female NCSO deputy responded and dropped an f-bomb while dealing with them.
When a sergeant arrived, he escalated the situation and talked down to the auditors instead of de-escalating.
Sheriff McGill later said the men were “pushy,” hoping to provoke a reaction for a viral video, and that deputies used discretion by removing them without an arrest.
The DA reportedly backed the removal but declined charges.
Auditors claim they were simply documenting public transactions.
Transparency works both ways.
❓At what point does filming in a government office stop being a right and start becoming a disturbance?
❓Have you ever been in a situation where a deputy or officer escalated instead of calming things down?
❓How come when a deputy loses it and starts cursing it's no big deal but when you do it the charge is disorderly conduct?
Does the bodycam support the DA’s version or the defense’s version more?
On Jan 14, 2024, just before 3:40 p.m., East Rochester PD Officers Brad Steve and Kyle Walsh responded to a 911 call of “cause unknown” at 709 Garfield St.
🔷Police/DA account:
Steve encountered 52-year-old Raymond Noel in the driveway with an illegally possessed handgun visible. Noel ignored repeated commands to show his hands and stop, entered the home, then pointed the gun at Steve. Steve fired two rounds, striking Noel in the upper torso. Noel returned fire six times, hitting Steve once in the chest—his ballistic vest stopped the round. Both had non-life-threatening injuries. Bodycam captures the exchange and Steve radioing “Shots fired. I’ve been hit.”
🔶Defense account (Public Defender’s Office):
Noel was home on his day off. A part-time officer followed him down the driveway at gunpoint, kicked in the front door with zero evidence of criminality, and shot him through the chest. Noel only fired afterward in self-defense while standing in his own foyer. They argue the jury received inadequate self-defense instructions and that evidence of the officer’s prior responses in similar situations was excluded. Appeals are planned.
A jury convicted Noel in Nov 2024 of attempted aggravated murder, attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, and two counts of 2nd-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He was sentenced in Jan 2025 to 35 years to life. Bodycam footage was released post-sentencing.
❓After watching the bodycam, do you think Officer Steve’s decision to open the door was reasonable?
❓After watching the video and hearing both sides, do you lean more toward the official account or the defense account — and why?
🚨His son had been shot in the back and paralyzed by another Paris officer. ---- Lt. Derek Belcher taunts, “tell your son we said hi.”
On Jan. 2, 2023, Paris (TX) PD Lt. Derek Belcher confronted Joey Carico after Carico flipped him off while driving.
Carico’s son, Colton “Coco” Carico, had been shot in the back and paralyzed in June 2021 by another Paris officer during a response to a single-vehicle crash.
Colton came outside holding a rifle pointed only at himself, threatened to shoot himself, then turned to go back inside.
Texas Rangers found the shooting justified; a grand jury no-billed the officer. A later federal lawsuit was dismissed on qualified immunity.
In the 2023 stop, Belcher referenced the prior incident and taunted Carico about flipping off officers and sitting outside the PD.
When Carico pointed out Belcher’s hand near his gun, Belcher replied: “Is that illegal? … You have a problem with it? … Then do something about it. Do it. You’ll get away with it. It’s just me and you right now.”
He also told Carico to “tell your son we said hi.”
Belcher was placed on paid administrative leave.
In June 2023, the department put him on indefinite suspension — the Texas civil-service equivalent of dismissal.
Flipping off an officer is protected speech.
The taunting and “do something” invitation while armed, in the context of the prior shooting of Carico’s son, is what drew the strongest criticism and led to the outcome.
❓How would you have responded to the officer's taunts?
❓Does the fact that Belcher was present the night Carico’s son was shot change how you view this confrontation?
❓Is taunting the parent of someone you (or your department) shot a policy violation, a judgment failure, or both?
Have you ever seen an off-duty officer get involved in a situation that on-duty officers should have handled instead?
Off-duty Nye County Sheriff’s Capt. David Boruchowitz arrested Michael Garcia at the May 18, 2022 Nye County School District board meeting in Pahrump.
Garcia had been trespassed from district property on Feb. 24, 2022 after disrupting the business office. At the meeting, administrators asked Boruchowitz (there as a private citizen) to address him.
Garcia acknowledged the prior trespass, was told multiple times to leave, returned to the meeting, and refused to leave.
The officer claimed he resisted being escorted out and was then arrested for trespassing and resisting.
He was convicted of both charges on Oct. 12, 2022. Sheriff Joe McGill reviewed the incident, called the arrest lawful, and said the circulating video showed only the final moments and was part of a smear campaign.
Boruchowitz later pleaded guilty in 2025 to federal deprivation-of-rights and wire-fraud charges in an unrelated 2019 case and received probation.
❓Should an off-duty officer wearing shorts and flip flops be able to make an arrest at a public school board meeting just because administrators ask them to?
❓Do you support or oppose off-duty officers acting in an official capacity at public events?
Why did Harris County Sheriff Sgt. Jimmy Cook treat a man recording like some kind of criminal?
In 2019, a man filmed the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy and firing range in Humble, Texas, from the public right-of-way.
Sgt. Jimmy Cook (then with HCSO, involved in training and the Special Response Group) approached, questioned his purpose, and demanded identification.
With a condescending attitude and heaping disrespect he cited reasonable suspicion based on the man’s presence near the facility and range.
The filmer refused to ID himself. He stated he was on public property, had committed no crime, and was exercising his First Amendment rights to film public facilities.
He also invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
Cook raised concerns about the active range and nearby traffic and directed the man to move farther from the entrance.
The man later spoke with Captain Schmidt, the academy director. Schmidt indicated there was no issue with filming anywhere on the public right-of-way.
No arrest was made and no charges were filed.
The encounter ended without further incident.
❓Did Jimmy Cook come across as professional, or did he sound like an ***hole in the video?
❓Is this just one bad interaction, or a pattern with some HCSO deputies?
❓Should deputies be required to identify the specific crime they’re investigating before demanding ID?
❓Should police be allowed to lie to you about your legal obligation to provide ID?
🚨This police officer bears an uncanny resemblance to Damon Green.
Allenstown, NH — During a hit-and-run call involving a pickup parked in a suburban driveway and an elderly man, Officer David Fencer drew his weapon on the 80 year old.
When Press NH Now began filming the stop from a public area, Fencer confronted him and said he had to confiscate the phone simply for recording.
The filmer refused, demanded Fencer’s name and badge number, asked if he was detained, and dared him to take it, warning of a First Amendment lawsuit.
Fencer replied he’d “get it with a warrant.” The citizen was told he was free to go—no phone was seized and no warrant was secured.
❓Have you seen similar phone-seizure threats in other police interactions?
❓Should police be allowed to threaten to seize someone’s phone just for recording them in public?
❓Under what circumstances could a police officer actually seize a camera as evidence?