Illegal Traffic Stop Caught On Camera
- 5 months ago
On an unknown date in December 2015, a now-former sheriff's deputy in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana stopped a motorist in a black minivan.
In this exclusive video, which was posted to the sheriff's department's Facebook page in 2015 but has since been taken down, this deputy outlined that the motorist was driving safely and lawfully, and had not violated any laws. So why did he stop her?
He stopped her, to give her a gift certificate to a restaurant he owned, as a Christmas reward for driving safely. You see, for many years the department would stop people who weren't breaking any laws, and would give them a Christmas reward for driving safely. Most years before and since 2015 it was hams or turkeys, paid for out of the department budget of course, given to random motorists who were driving safely. The department would boast about it on Facebook, in the local newspaper, and sometimes on local TV news (before the TV news people started digging into excessive force incidents...).
It's a nice gesture, yes, but it ran afoul of the 4th Amendment (and Art. 1 Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution), various Federal civil rights laws, and various Louisiana state laws - including laws relating to the use of public funds. The practice finally stopped after 2021, after an over half-million dollar embezzlement scheme drew the attention of state investigators and subsequently found its way into the national spotlight. (the embezzlement scheme made national news, not the Christmas ham scheme)
What's sad is that the former sheriff (who retired in 2016 as part of a plea agreement on 15 felony charges he had faced) has admitted, privately, that the practice was intended to make people accustomed to being unlawfully stopped. I would say it succeeded.
Though this stop was relatively benign, deputies continue to illegally stop people who haven't done anything wrong, all throughout the year. Unlike this motorist, most victims of these illegal stops are - at the very least - unlawfully searched as well, some are unlawfully arrested, and others have been beaten. This practice of illegal traffic stops continues to this day.
Now before you go calling me a grinch, understand this: I am NOT against law enforcement giving back to the community. I AM against law enforcement preying on and violating the civil rights of random community members under the guise of giving back. Wanting to give back to the community is noble, but it MUST, absolutely MUST be done legally and in a way that does not violate the rights of the people you're giving back to.
In this exclusive video, which was posted to the sheriff's department's Facebook page in 2015 but has since been taken down, this deputy outlined that the motorist was driving safely and lawfully, and had not violated any laws. So why did he stop her?
He stopped her, to give her a gift certificate to a restaurant he owned, as a Christmas reward for driving safely. You see, for many years the department would stop people who weren't breaking any laws, and would give them a Christmas reward for driving safely. Most years before and since 2015 it was hams or turkeys, paid for out of the department budget of course, given to random motorists who were driving safely. The department would boast about it on Facebook, in the local newspaper, and sometimes on local TV news (before the TV news people started digging into excessive force incidents...).
It's a nice gesture, yes, but it ran afoul of the 4th Amendment (and Art. 1 Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution), various Federal civil rights laws, and various Louisiana state laws - including laws relating to the use of public funds. The practice finally stopped after 2021, after an over half-million dollar embezzlement scheme drew the attention of state investigators and subsequently found its way into the national spotlight. (the embezzlement scheme made national news, not the Christmas ham scheme)
What's sad is that the former sheriff (who retired in 2016 as part of a plea agreement on 15 felony charges he had faced) has admitted, privately, that the practice was intended to make people accustomed to being unlawfully stopped. I would say it succeeded.
Though this stop was relatively benign, deputies continue to illegally stop people who haven't done anything wrong, all throughout the year. Unlike this motorist, most victims of these illegal stops are - at the very least - unlawfully searched as well, some are unlawfully arrested, and others have been beaten. This practice of illegal traffic stops continues to this day.
Now before you go calling me a grinch, understand this: I am NOT against law enforcement giving back to the community. I AM against law enforcement preying on and violating the civil rights of random community members under the guise of giving back. Wanting to give back to the community is noble, but it MUST, absolutely MUST be done legally and in a way that does not violate the rights of the people you're giving back to.