Deputies Harassing Motorists - February 15, 2023
- 5 months ago
Throughout the evening and night of February 15th, 2023, sheriff's deputies in rural Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, followed/stalked, ran/"misran" the license plates of, and stopped several random motorists.
The evening started with a deputy stopping a motorist who allegedly didn't have a license plate. We don't know whether the car had a temp tag in the back glass (like 98% of these "no plate" stops do), but he let the motorist go after running a warrant check on her, so we can assume the car was legal.
After that, another deputy "accidentally" misread a license plate and made a traffic stop (without calling in that he was making a stop...), while another deputy stopped a motorist for "no license plate." We don't know whether that one had a temp tag either, but they were let go quickly also.
After that, deputies stopped a vehicle that had 5 occupants inside. One deputy claimed to smell a certain prohibited substance so they searched the vehicle. One occupant was a female so they called for a female deputy (who happens to be a narcotics detective) to pat down the female. They issued a summons to one occupant for something they found in his sock.
Immediately after that stop, the same deputy stopped a man that they harass pretty often and were, in 2020, quoted as saying "we'll stop him and search him every time we see him." The deputy took the man to the jail for a body cavity search (after getting in trouble in 2021 for strip searching an old man on the side of the road). He allegedly found something worth issuing a summons over, but not enough of it to make an arrest.
After that, the same deputy stopped two young black males in a pickup truck, ran their license plate correctly then incorrectly, then ran it correctly again. Deputies couldn't find any reason to arrest them, so they let them go.
Sheriff Clay Bennett calls this practice "highway drug interdiction," but it sounds more like predatory policing to me...
The evening started with a deputy stopping a motorist who allegedly didn't have a license plate. We don't know whether the car had a temp tag in the back glass (like 98% of these "no plate" stops do), but he let the motorist go after running a warrant check on her, so we can assume the car was legal.
After that, another deputy "accidentally" misread a license plate and made a traffic stop (without calling in that he was making a stop...), while another deputy stopped a motorist for "no license plate." We don't know whether that one had a temp tag either, but they were let go quickly also.
After that, deputies stopped a vehicle that had 5 occupants inside. One deputy claimed to smell a certain prohibited substance so they searched the vehicle. One occupant was a female so they called for a female deputy (who happens to be a narcotics detective) to pat down the female. They issued a summons to one occupant for something they found in his sock.
Immediately after that stop, the same deputy stopped a man that they harass pretty often and were, in 2020, quoted as saying "we'll stop him and search him every time we see him." The deputy took the man to the jail for a body cavity search (after getting in trouble in 2021 for strip searching an old man on the side of the road). He allegedly found something worth issuing a summons over, but not enough of it to make an arrest.
After that, the same deputy stopped two young black males in a pickup truck, ran their license plate correctly then incorrectly, then ran it correctly again. Deputies couldn't find any reason to arrest them, so they let them go.
Sheriff Clay Bennett calls this practice "highway drug interdiction," but it sounds more like predatory policing to me...