SOURCE: YouTube, 2017-03-10
K9 unit claims this dog indicates narcotics in my vehicle. [Source: YouTube
SOURCE: YouTube, 2017-03-08
Caught On Camera: WPD officers falsely tell driver he can't record during traffic stop
SOURCE: WWayTV3.com, 2017-03-08
Wilmington, NC. An attorney is speaking out after he says two law enforcement officers told him it was illegal to film them during a traffic stop. Jesse Bright said he was pulled over on February 26 2017 by the Wilmington Police Department and a deputy from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office.
Bright is an attorney, but he said he is also an Uber driver. Bright said he was taking a fare on a round trip when he was pulled over near Dawson and 16th streets. "I explained that I was an Uber driver and that, you know, my passenger, I don't even know him," Bright said.
Bright said the Wilmington Police Officer told Bright he had just taken his passenger to a known drug house. "They questioned me and what I was doing there," Bright said. "Didn't seem to believe I was an Uber driver."
Then, Bright said the officer noticed he was recording. "Sgt. Becker told me it was illegal to film the police and told me to turn it off or he would take me to jail," Bright said.
Bright did not stop recording. A Wilmington Police spokeswoman confirmed Sgt. Kenneth Becker was the officer involved in the case. "I knew that he was just trying to coerce me to not film him anymore," Bright said.
As an attorney, Bright said he tells all his clients to record interactions with law enforcement. "I didn't want to see anyone get fired or anything come of this I really just want people to understand their rights."
Bright said his biggest concern is that this is happening often. "If he's willing to directly lie to me, and tell me you know this is against the law to film police, then it worries me you know most people when they're given an order by an officer they don't know that it's an unlawful order," Bright said.
The Wilmington police department has launched an internal investigation. "The police department contacted me," Bright said. "He assured me that recording the police was in my right and that I didn't do anything wrong."
Bright already knew that. He just wants to make sure you know that. "You know to stand up to police if you do so lawfully. If you're within your rights you can tell an officer no I'm not going to do that. You don't have to be afraid to just to listen to everything that they say."
No one was arrested that day. A spokeswoman with the Wilmington Police Department said they have launched an internal investigation regarding the recent video-tape on February 26, of the interaction between one of their Police Sergeants and an Uber Driver. "Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right," Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said. "As a matter of fact we invite citizens to do so when they believe it is necessary. We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction."
New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon said he has viewed the Uber driver's video and believes it is clear that Officers were incorrect in stating that it was illegal to record the encounter. Not only does the Sheriff agree that it is legal to record encounters, he invites citizens to do so. As a result, the Deputy involved has been counseled.
SOURCE: CBSNews.com, 2017-03-31
Wilmington, N.C. When police stopped an Uber driver to detain his passenger last month, he immediately turned on his cellphone and started recording. The officers demanded he turn off his phone, citing a reportedly non-existent state law, but what they didn't know was that Jesse Bright was a defense attorney -- moonlighting as a driver to make some extra cash in an effort to pay off his student loans. Now, one of the officers involved has been demoted.
Local news outlets report Wilmington police Sgt. Kenneth Becker was demoted and hit with a 5 percent pay cut. Becker has been with the department 17 years. Police spokeswoman Linda Thompson told The Associated Press an investigation of the incident was closed Thursday. She could not say whether the demotion was directly related to the investigation.
In the first of three videos Bright posted of the February 26 2017 confrontation, one of the officers tells Bright that the passenger was caught leaving a drug house. He also asks Bright if he had anything in the car that he needed "to be concerned about" and if he would mind if he looked. "I do mind because I haven't done anything. I mind," Bright says in the video.
When Becker ordered Bright to stop recording because of a new law, Bright knew better. "I'll keep recording, thank you. It's my right," Bright is heard saying in the second video. "You're a police officer on duty. I can record you."
He then threatened him with jail and police began to search the car. Again, Bright refused to allow his car to be searched. "I know the law, I'm an attorney so I would hope I know the law," he tells the officer. "And an Uber driver?" Becker asked incredulously, refusing to see the attorney's bar card when offered.
Then a K9 unit was called and Bright was removed from the car. Bright again tells police that he didn't consent to being searched in the third video. After a search, police let Bright go -- without an apology, he tells CBS News.
After Bright went public with the incident, the police department released a statement saying they were launching an internal investigation. The department also addressed what it called a "crucial" question: "Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right," Chief Ralph Evangelous said in the statement. "As a matter of fact, we invite citizens to do so when they believe it is necessary."
A copy of the statement was to be distributed every officer in the department. "I'd like everyone to film the police during interactions with them," Bright wrote in an email to Crimesider. "It keeps both parties honest."
SOURCE: WECT.com, 2017-03-09 (updated 2017-08-15)
A Wilmington police officer who was demoted last year after he wrongly told an Uber-driving attorney he could not film law enforcement officers was reinstated to his former position earlier this year, then abruptly retired the next day. The Feb. 26, 2017 traffic stop involving Sgt. Kenneth Baker and Uber driver Jesse Bright -- during which Becker was captured on cell phone video threatening to take Bright to jail if he continued to video the encounter -- took the internet by storm.
Becker was demoted from sergeant to corporal and reassigned several weeks after the incident, and the Wilmington Police Department issued a statement to reassure the public that you can, in fact, record police. That statement was also passed to each officer in the department, officials said at that time. But Becker was later reinstated after appealing his demotion to the city's Civil Service Commission, a group that can overturn personnel actions taken by city departments. Though the Commission is subject to the state's open records law, discussions or decisions concerning personnel remain confidential, keeping most of this situation's details out of the public sphere.
Bright's vehicle was stopped because a passenger in his vehicle was suspected of taking part in a drug deal. "Be careful because there is a new law," Becker told Bright during the stop. "Turn (the recording) off or I'll take you to jail." Soon after, an unidentified deputy with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office confirmed Becker's assertion that there was a law that had "just passed" that prevents the public from recording law enforcement officers. Bright then identified himself as an attorney, saying he knew of no law that would prevent such an act, and continued to record.
Though the deputy, who was never identified, was only "counseled" following the encounter, three weeks later Becker was demoted, which included a pay decrease, and reassigned. What remains unclear, however, is the timing of his reinstatement.
According to the Commission's charter, Becker had to appeal the demotion to the city's Civil Service Commission, which ruled in his favor, within ten working days.
City officials declined to provide when the Commission met to hear Becker's case or when it issued its order. Its charter, however, does state the Commission has 60 days to hear that appeal. Although personnel records provided by the police department show Becker was reinstated to sergeant on Sept. 27, 2017, it appears that only took effect following an employee action request that was approved on Jan. 30, 2018. That action retroactively reinstated his rank and backdated a pay raise to Sept. 27, 2017, "per order from Civil Service Commission," the document states. The next day, Becker retired, according to records. Under North Carolina law, unless a public employee is terminated, no additional information regarding their separation has to be provided.
SOURCE: PortCityDaily.com, 2018-03-07
Update:One year ago, Wilmington Police Sergeant Kenneth Becker became a viral sensation when he wrongly told an Uber-driving attorney that it was illegal to film law enforcement officers. Becker is now "separated" from the force, but he wasn't fired over the Uber incident. Becker stayed on the force for nearly a year before, at the end of January, he had his rank and pay restored -- and backdated to September. The following day, Becker was off the force.
It's not clear how -- or why -- Becker left the job just one day after getting a promotion and a raise from the city. Even the Police Department appears partially in the dark about how Becker was reinstated as, apparently, Becker's demotion was overturned by the city's Civil Service Commission, a little-known group that can overrule personnel decisions made by the department.
Becker was part of a task-force stop that detained Uber driver Jesse Bright because they suspected his passenger of being involved in a drug deal. Early in the stop, Becker told Bright to stop filming, saying "turn it off or I'm taking you to jail." Shortly afterward, an unidentified deputy with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office confirmed Bright's incredulous request to know what law banned filming law enforcement officers. The deputy told Bright "they just passed it." That was not true.
Bright did not stop filming and, after he posted the video to Facebook, it went viral. The video received tens of millions of views on several YouTube channels. While both Becker and the NHCSO deputy both tried to get Bright to stop filming by incorrectly claiming it was illegal, it was Becker's threat to take Bright to jail that apparently made him the unwilling star of the viral video.
The story attracted stories by the Washington Post, The Daily Mail and the New York Post, which ran the blunt headline "Cop gets demoted for lying to Uber driver" when, after several weeks of internal investigation, Becker was demoted to corporal and reassigned.
In a statement at the time, Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said, "I cannot stress enough, that photographing and videotaping the police keeps us accountable. We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction." New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon confirmed that both Becker and the deputy were incorrect -- but the deputy was never named and was not formally disciplined. Instead, he was "counseled," according to Sheriff's Office spokesman Jason Augst.
According to Augst, McMahon instructed his staff to ensure that each deputy has been provided with information about the citizen's right to record encounters with law enforcement officers. The Wilmington Police Department, however, did not make any changes to its policies or training to ensure that officers were clear that the law allows the filming of law enforcement officers. According to Spokeswoman Linda Rawley Thompson, Evangelous' release was sent around to all officers as a reminder at the time of Becker's demotion, but the department does not "believe any further efforts are necessary at this time."
If Becker was to serve as an example, his sentence lasted only six months. After that, according to the Police Department, Becker was reinstated.
According to the Wilmington Police Department, Becker was reinstated to his sergeant rank on Sept. 27, 2017, three months before he left the department. Rawley Thompson declined to comment on Becker's reinstatement, which followed a hearing at the city's Civil Service Commission. The Commission, which has authority over all law enforcement officers -- except meter readers and the police chief -- and, according to its charter, has the final say in overturning demotions or dismissals initiated by the Police Chief.
According to Assistant City Attorney Meredith Everhart, there is no other public information available about the commission or its hearings. Everhart and Wilmington City Clerk Penelope Spicer-Sidbury, who takes minutes for commission hearings, both declined to answer questions about the commission, the scope or extent of its authority or the substance of its meetings. Everhart declined to give layman's explanation of the commission, and referred only to its establishing documents.
However, based on the nature of the commission it seems the decision to reinstate Becker did not come from Evangelous or the Police Department. According to its charter, the commission hears appeals, but does not launch investigations or make unsolicited changes to rank, pay, or employment status. Becker's reinstatement appears to be the result of his appeal to the commission, which by all appearances outranks Evangelous. According to the commission's charter, a demoted or dismissed employee has 10 working days to file an appeal, and the commission then has 60 days to hear that appeal.
Personnel record laws make it difficult to know how and why Becker was reinstated. They make it equally hard to know why he left the force. Rawley Thompson declined to comment on Becker's "separation" from the force on Jan. 31, 2018. According to city emails, Becker appeared on a list of unsigned time cards dating back to Dec. 2017.
In January, Becker was moved from the "No Employee Approval" list to the "No Supervisor Approval" list -- suggesting that Becker's supervisor would not sign off on his time card. By mid-January, Becker's name appeared on a Personnel Meeting appointment for Evangelous and Deputy Chief James Varrone. Two weeks later, Becker was "separated."
What's odd is that, although Rawley Thompson said Becker was reinstated to sergeant in September, an EAR -- employee action request -- to reinstate him was filed on Jan. 30, 2018, three months later.
The EAR was filed by Jeanne Sexton and ultimately approved by City Manager Sterling Cheatham. The request retroactively reinstated Becker's rank to sergeant and backdated an accompanying raise to late September. The day after the city approved Becker's backdated promotion and raise, he was off the force. Rawley Thompson said she could not comment on the EAR or how it might affect Becker's severance. She said she was unable to release information on whether or not Becker was receiving pension, healthcare or other benefits from the city or department following his separation.
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