Aurora police officers accused of handcuffing random people at gunpoint during search for bank robber (Denver: lawsuits, safe)

[tablemtn]

Yikes... is this really how things work in the Denver area? How do people in Aurora and the Denver metro in general feel about this?

Aurora Chief Addresses Aggressive Mass Motorist Search

Responding officers barricaded the area, trapping about 25 cars near the intersection. Then, police went car by car and pulled out each occupant at gunpoint and handcuffed them.

Is that really considered acceptable police behavior in Colorado?

[Count David]

I was pretty outraged by it, I'm surprised it's not a bigger deal in the media.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

Is that really considered acceptable police behavior in Colorado?

Unreasonable search is unconstitutional everywhere in the United States. There must be serious consequences for the offending officers. If they are not punished, then it is clear that we are now a police state with no rights.

[CAVA1990]

Doesn't the fact that this is not normal police procedure indicate pretty clearly that it was the wrong thing to do? There must be some reason the thousands of other PDs in this country don't do it. I recall a case here in VA where a local sheriff was convicted of false imprisonment for doing something like that. However, your state laws may be different than ours in that regard. If that's the case perhaps your state legislators need to fix the laws so this doesn't occur in the future.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Doesn't the fact that this is not normal police procedure indicate pretty clearly that it was the wrong thing to do? There must be some reason the thousands of other PDs in this country don't do it. I recall a case here in VA where a local sheriff was convicted of false imprisonment for doing something like that. However, your state laws may be different than ours in that regard. If that's the case perhaps your state legislators need to fix the laws so this doesn't occur in the future.

Unreasonable search is forbidden by the US Constitution.

[JrzDefector]

I think when you pull someone out of their car at gunpoint with no basis other than they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, it's a pretty clear violation of procedure and the Constitution. If someone's life was in immediate danger and that was the only safe course of action (though I cannot imagine what this scenario would be), it COULD have been acceptable. But this was not the case - they were merely worried a bank robber would get away.

I'm waiting for the lawsuits to start piling up. In addition to the civil rights violations, I wouldn't be surprised if your average law-abiding citizen walked away from that experience with PTSD or a related syndrome. And were there any kids in any of those cars?

[Count David]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

And were there any kids in any of those cars?

That's the first thing that came to my mind.

If I had been there, I'm not about to let my 15 month old get shackled (or have my kids held at gunpoint by the police, etc).

[Dorthy]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

I was pretty outraged by it, I'm surprised it's not a bigger deal in the media.

Me to. It's surprising to me how many people are seemingly ok with this.

[ohazco]

Originally Posted by Dorthy

Me to. It's surprising to me how many people are seemingly ok with this.

People don't care about most of whats in the constitution anymore... just look at the 10th amendment, or the 2nd, or the....

Seems like people (from both sides) cry "constitution" when it benefits them, but completely ignore it when it goes against their position.

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by ohazco

People don't care about most of whats in the constitution anymore... just look at the 10th amendment, or the 2nd, or the....

Seems like people (from both sides) cry "constitution" when it benefits them, but completely ignore it when it goes against their position.

I think you're right, and it's because people are more interested in the idea that there's sacred, theoretically enforceable document out there and not because of what it's supposed to protect. We've basically been "desensitized" to the notion of constitutionality. Maybe rightly so. We all need to remember *why* we have these protections and not just run around going, "because the constitution says so!" The document itself, in reality, is no guarantee of protections. Only vigilance, dialogue and democracy can protect us.