From wirecutter, we see that a man saw cops doing donuts in a local parking lot and posted video to the Internet. The local police union has begun posting videos and pictures of the man, along with his identifying information. I was going to comment over there, but my thoughts became too wordy for a comment.
The cops get caught by a citizen doing something that they would ticket others for, and a citizen posts video of it. The cops get in trouble, and a social media war ensues. Here is the issue. You, as a public servant, are driving around in a highly visible vehicle that has a huge billboard painted on it. We had things like this happen to the fire department when I worked there. You know that you are being watched, you can expect to be in the spotlight, and you act accordingly.
At most, the officer involved would get a talking to about “don’t do that again.” That wasn’t what happened here. The police union decided to up the ante by posting in a public forum what amounts to public threats against the citizen who did the reporting. At best, the actions of the union are poor optics, discouraging citizens from reporting crimes for fear of retaliation. At worst, the posts of the man are thinly veiled attempts at intimidating a witness to police’s illegal acts, which makes this witness tampering, a serious crime in itself. Go with cyberstalking or even witness tampering
Cyberstalking is a crime in Texas. Texas law includes provisions that prohibit stalking and harassment through electronic communication. Including email, social media, instant messaging, and other forms of digital communication. Cyberstalking is defined as the use of electronic means to repeatedly harass, alarm, or annoy another person.
Under Texas law, cyberstalking cases can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Depending on the specific circumstances of the offense. The penalties for cyberstalking in Texas can include fines, imprisonment. As well as a restraining order to prohibit the offender from contacting the victim.
A reasonable person would consider the statements made by the police through their union to be a threat. Here are some of the posts that they made, each of them included videos, photos, and links to the guy who posted the video of the cops:
Never post anything on the internet you don’t want to see on the news… or the internet.
If you are going to ghost ride your car, like Hamon Brown, make sure the doors aren’t locked when you climb on top.
Remember Hamon Brown? The hater that went on the news to run his mouth about police cars in the snow (in a parking lot)? #DontBeAHater #ComingDine #GotEeem
Tag local auto glass repair companies. We’re looking for someone who can help Hamon Brown get his broken windshield repaired. He didn’t get any Crime Stoppers money for s̷n̷i̷t̷c̷h̷i̷n̷g̷ tattling, so we need a good sponsor that can hook him up.
The police union also posted screen shots of the man’s criminal record.
Comments made by police officers to those posts include statements like:
- I bet there is no weed smell coming from Hamon Brown’s vehicle
- Throw stones at cops, expect cops to look at your glass house
In my book, that makes the police union (in this instance) a criminal conspiracy. To threaten a member of the public who reported criminal behavior, simply because it was a member of your organization, is no better than the mafia or the South American drug gangs. I hope this man gets a lawyer, and I hope he sues the police union, who by the way do NOT have qualified immunity. The loss in this lawsuit WILL come out of the police officer’s pockets.
5 Comments
Tom235 · February 1, 2025 at 8:18 am
There are times when I agree with the “Defund the Police” people. Maybe eliminating “immunity” and unions (the devil’s curse on workers) would be the answer.
Don Shift · February 1, 2025 at 9:45 am
I think it would be really interesting to investigate a psychology of crappy police departments. It definitely seems to me like there are regions and agencies that engage in this kind of crap more than others. I can’t put my finger on it, but there just seems to be some sort of common thread.
TRX · February 1, 2025 at 10:10 am
In the 1980s my town had the usual inbred small-town PD that did pretty much as it liked. They were all locals. Blue uniforms, cop hats, and mirrorshades.
In the 1990s they got black Gestapo uniforms, gimme hats, blacked-out windows on their police cars, black sunglasses, and body armor. The locals were gone, and the new guys were all hires from elsewhere, mostly out-of-state.
In the early 2000s they started hiring former military Security Police, and they were AT WAR! Unfortunately, their war seemed to be against anyone who wasn’t wearing a police uniform. There was some serious crazy going on.
A few years ago they finally got their new “Law Enforcement Center” to replace the old police station. It is windowless and surrounded by tall fences and razor wire. Even in the old station, it looked like their primary concern was to prevent people from breaking in than breaking out. The new place looks like a prison. Well, yeah, I’m sure there’s a jail in there somewhere. The cops must like it just fine; they almost never leave. It’s notable to see a cop car out and about, and I can’t remember the last time I saw a cop out of his car. Even the unmarked cars are easy to spot. When the police urged the legislature to pass strict limits on window tent “for the safety of the officers”, they got an exemption for police cars. All the police cars got tinting that’s completely opaque from outside, making the “unmarked” cars easy to spot.
Univ of Saigon 68 · February 1, 2025 at 11:29 am
As I initially posted over at Knuckedraggin (Wirecutter’s site) a day or two ago –
“I told my kids that driving in the snow was something that had to be relearned every winter. After they got their licenses I would take them out to the big parking lot at the high school on the first snowy day and have them practice.”
Divemedic · February 1, 2025 at 12:04 pm
So you support the cops getting away with that which they would readily ticket the proles?
That’s what we are really talking about- cops breaking the same laws that they are enforcing while using the weakest of arguments in an attempt to justify their illegal actions. Let’s face it, that’s what it is, is a weak attempt at justifying their actions, or else they wouldn’t be targeting this guy for catching them. You receive the most flak when you are over the target.
Even then, how can you justify using social media to dox him, and the thinly veiled threats against him? Or is that police training as well? Their actions and words tell us that they KNOW they are guilty, engaging in whataboutism to justify their lawbreaking shows a distinct knowledge of their own guilt. Note that the majority of my post was centered on the threats and cyberstalking, which in my mind raised a small issue of joyriding into a serious crime. We can’t have the police threatening people for daring to question their public acts. That’s a violation of Mr. Brown’s Constitutional rights (the right to petition the government for his grievances).
Badge bunnies and holster sniffers will make any excuse they can in order to justify a police abuse of power.