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My brother was driving (my car) in Durham today. He stopped in a gas station for some gas and to buy a soda. When he left, he was immediately pulled over by two Durham police officers. They pulled him from the car and put him in handcuffs. They then told him that they had video of him involved in a drug transaction at the gas station. One played good cop, the other bad cop, berating him and swearing at him. They searched him, his wallet, and the car, and of course came up with nothing. After about 10 minutes of this, and after finding nothing, they let him go, with a warning to not come back to Durham.
I moved here from another town (Huntersville) where I had to put up with similar harrassment from time to time, and couldn't wait to get out. I've enjoyed the Raleigh PD since getting here, since they seem to be rather cool and a bit relaxed.
If you are happy in Raleigh you should be looking for a house there, but the bigger issue is how your brother was treated - I would file harassment charges against the officers involved.
You certainly need to base decisions, at least to some extent, on personal experience. My personal experience with Durham police is very limited (but good). I don't think I've ever heard of, or read, any stories that sound similar to your brother's experience, but I also don't watch the news or read the paper every day. Personally, I love Durham and at the moment wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but if I, or my brother, had an experience like yours then I guess I would reconsider as well. While I can understand wanting to move to Durham from Raleigh, as they are pretty different cities IMHO, if you're happy in Raleigh then staying there might be the right choice.
I have lived in Durham for many years and never experienced this. The Durham PD members I have met or worked for in their homes were always nice guys.
I have been treated very rudely by Chapel Hill cops several times. Once at Apple Chill where they pulled me over for a passenger who had no seat belt. Rudely removed all 6 people from the van I was driving, searched all the passengers, cuffed all the passengers.. Found nothing. They didnt even search me, cuff me or even ask for my licence. Course I am white and the others were all AA males. I DID file a report then.
Sounds like your brother stumbled into a stake out. I wish they didnt treat him so rudely, but I guess Im glad the Durham PD is looking for actual criminals.... instead of just pulling over speeders or seat belt violators ...
Good luck in your house hunt....
Where in Durham was this? And where are you looking for a house?
Keep in mind, Duham is very large (city is almost the full size of the county). So if, as Ncmickey said, your brother was on Holloway or certain parts of Miami he very may have well just stumbled into a stake out.
If you are looking for homes in similar areas, I'd be worried not only about that but about some of the possible crime in the area. But if you are looking in other areas (North Durham closer to Bahama or maybe over in the Soutpoint area) then you are probably going to have fewer problems, both in terms of police & crime.
My father had a similar experience with Raleigh PD when we first moved to the area. They thought he had robbed a bank because he had a vaguely similar car as the getaway car. Never mind the license plate was completely different from the one caught on video. After about 30 minutes of being manhandled and harassed by the police while I sat in the car being a hysterical kid they got the call over the radio they had the wrong guy and they didn't even offer so much as an apology. But once my father visited the main station downtown and filed a complaint and said he was considering filing assault charges, suddenly the department took his concerns seriously.
So long story short, you'll find overzealous police officers all over the place and the best thing to do is pursue a complaint with the department to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else!
I'm a defense attorney in Durham and I occassionally do see stuff like this. I don't think it happens more in Durham than anywhere else though. I do actually have a case right now where a man was pulled over based on a drug deal in a parking lot and illegally searched (at least I believe it was illegal). My advice is to file a complaint with the police department. The officer has to have probable cause to search you...and if your husband was simply a customer in the wrong place at the wrong time the officer did not have probable cause.
I had him call our other brother, who is a cop, to get his opinion. His thought was that this was a bit over-the-top, but that any futher action would prove to be pointless.
I was walking around downtown Saturday night, and it occured to me at that moment that I was more afraid of seeing a cop than anyone elae who might be walking around on the street. Kind of a shame it has to be that way.
About that cop - I wouldn't avoid the city because of it - I admit I don't know, but it doesn't seem indicative of Durham PD at large.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 12-04-2012 at 04:49 AM..
Reason: Split post to fit into two separate threads
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