Middletown, CT Police Officer Detains Man for Filming, Says Filming Police Dept. a Crime

YouTube
Jun. 07, 2013

Via Youtube:

This is a film of my encounter with the Middletown CT Police Department on June 5th, 2013. In the 10 minutes before this video begins, I was filming police entering and exiting the MPD building, then filming their rear parking lot. All filming was done from on the public sidewalk, and I did not enter the building or the parking lot. This video begins as I was walking back to the front of the building. As I was passing the side entrance, officer Peck exited the building so I started filming him.

Officer Peck illegally detained me without Reasonable Articulable Suspicion that I had committed or would commit a crime, as required by the Constitution (See: Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)). Officer Peck then lied to me and told me that filming the police department building and parking lot was a crime.

Eventually the officers gave up on detaining me since I was doing nothing wrong. Immediately after this film ended, my brother happened to ride up on his bike, and I started talking to him, telling him what had just happened. After I left, the MPD retaliated against my brother for associating with me, and wrote him a $90 citation for riding his bike on the sidewalk.

The officers that were involved in this illegal detention are:
Officer Peck, Badge #7099
Officer Schreiner, Badge #8666
Officer Maturo, Refused to provide Badge #

I do not know what officers detained my brother as I was not present for that encounter.

To complain about these officers' violation of 4th Amendment rights, please contact the Middletown Police Department:

(860) 638-4000