In Texas, just like in California, you can be cuffed and even arrested for refusal to show ID if the police officer has a valid reason to suspect illegal activity is going on, the cop in this situation was responding to a 911 call with allegations of indecent exposure. Her playing stupid games and not forking over her ID was why she got cuffed, had she simply cooperated there would have been no issue whatsoever. I'll never understand why people would want to play games with cops, but if that's their desire they shouldn't whine when they get cuffed or even arrested....that's just part of the price to play that game.
1. Anyone else thinks that the officer in question looks like Erik Estrada? 2. Both the cops and the actress could have handled the situation better. On one hand, are there not better ways to maintain public order than to stop a random kissing couple for possible prostitution? On the other, just because a cop is prejudiced and stupid, it's still probably best to show your ID when asked. The cops can run your ID number and find out that you have no prior record or outstanding warrant and stuff. Probably helps them realize that you are unlikely to be a prostitiute or whatever miscreant they erroneously thought you were. You can still get outraged, post it on Facebook, go to the media or even file a complaint with the LAPD. It's just better not to make a antagonistic situation caused by the cop's prejudice worse.
Insert Chris Rock [how not to get your ass kicked by the Police] here As for the story....that's some BS. Crazy.
She should have shown him her ID. She also should have asked for his, then filed a complaint. Not that it would have accomplished anything.
There's really nothing to even complain about, the officer wasn't picking on her and didn't stop them for making out or whatever, the cop was responding to a 911 call that someone made saying they were exposing themselves. Sure it sounds like the call was bogus, but trying to make this some race related nonsense is a bit of a stretch but to a hammer everything looks like a nail.
She looks like a man. Given the her shabby general appearance, I can understand why the cop would think it was a prostitution scenario. If she had been a little more cooperative, nothing would have happened. Make no mistake, she allowed it to escalate by her feelings of lashing out and her impressions of her father being mistreated. Police have the right to ask for ID if investigating possible crimes. It's idiots like this lady that escalate things needlessly.
She is under no obligation to show ID, so who is playing the stupid game, her or the police? Standing up for your rights does come at a cost, but to call it whining is really, truly, un-American.
No, she's not under any obligation to show ID, but if a cop is investigating a potential crime.....like the officer in this case was, and you refuse to show ID you can, and usually will, be detained until you do produce it or until they have to release you 48 hours later. Also, she wasn't standing up for her rights because clearly she didn't know them. When a cop is responding to a call about the car you're in, you have to show your ID or you'll be detained, simple as that. This is very similar to someone yelling "fire" in a crowded theater and then trying to talk about a rights violation when they are arrested for it. People who don't actually know the law shouldn't play those games because they'll lose almost always.
Unfortunately, this is just part of life being black in a traditionally white supremacist society. I know that, for some people, the last straw in the 2nd class citizenship thing can be anything at any moment. And maybe this was just hers. It is quite a powerful statement this officer was making in his actions. I am not surprised to see the usual "reverse racism"/FoxNews crowd coming out. But I am surprised that, no matter how one feels about how hard blacks/whites/greens have it that more folks aren't up in arms over the police state-like appearance of this whole thing. And to think there are groups of people in this society for whom these stops -- and this was a very polite stop, compared to others -- are a regular occurrence.
An officer must have reasonable suspicion to detain someone and not producing identification fails to meet that definition for anyone who isn't brain dead. That does not mean you will not be arrested, but you'll have a lawsuit since the police are operating beyond the scope of their powers.
I have been questioned several times, but nice try to make me something I'm not to help your argument. Show your ID and move on.
People that piss me off in this world are people that abuse their power. These are teachers and cops, mostly that have troubled me. Why? Because there are a lot of judgemental people out there. Alpha talk 101
Bias detected, more facts posted? Looks like an eyewitness is now claiming that the reason she was approached by the police officer was that they had sex in the car? http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/15/django-actress-daniele-watts-lapd-race-card-fame-audio/
tmz poll: After listening to all the audio, I must say that it was clearly her fault and my previous post was wrong. The cop was called by someone (whether there was cause for that or not is another question), was just responding to that call, and clearly had a right to ask for ID. She immediately went to the race card, then to the fame card, and was hysterical. The cops actually remained remarkably calm and professional.
Not sure what prude called the police, but regardless this sounds like a case of police responding to a call. Unless we are suggesting police should ignore reports of crime, there is really nothing to see here. I can understand why she'd be annoyed. The media never hesitates to jump on a potential race issue. This is on the front page of CNN for Christ's sake.
If anyone was racist at all, it was maybe the person who called the police, but we'll never know that. The cops sounded like they were just doing their job. And yes, I guess I can see why she was upset, but she could have made it easier for everyone by NOT immediately pulling the race card and by just showing them her ID (or saying why she didn't have it with her).
There's no need to whip out the heavy rhetoric. With that out of the way, police abuse is a nationwide problem, and I hope it gets brought up often during the next Presidential election.
If they were having sex in the car, then I apologize for my prior comments. The police officer definitely had probable cause to ask for identification.
