Hidden Camera Exposes Illegal Search by Police

Officer Blatantly Disregards 4th Amendment, Considers Possession of Gun Reason to Kill
Aaron Dykes
Jones Report
Dec. 15, 2006

A driver who wishes to remain anonymous has used a hidden camera mounted in the dash of his car to record instances with police as a protection against potential harassment or any violation of rights.

He was pulled over in a 2002 incident which reveals an illegal search by police recorded on his camera. The man clearly tells police not to search his vehicle because it would be in violation of his 4th Amendment right under the Constitution and threatens to sue if they do.

The officer blatantly ignores the warning and performs a thorough search, including the trunk of the vehicle. Moreover, he focuses on minutiae and obviously intends to exploit anything he can find in violation.

At about 2:50 in the video, the officer's female partner asks if she sees a TV. The male officer responds, laughing, "Yeah, too bad it wasn't on." The policewoman responds, "Yeah, we could charge him with that, too."

Later, at 3:57 in the video, she makes sure that her partner has verified that a Gatorade bottle indeed contains Gatorade-- obviously hoping that it contained alcohol and the driver, who was pulled over for a traffic violation, could be additionally charged with an open container or even a D.U.I.

The female officer asks if there is a gun. The male officer responds, "He'd be dead." The male officer also states that he thought he "caught a whiff of marijuana" when he first entered the car, though finds none during his unconstitutional search.

Even more shocking, the male officer becomes alarmed at a "gun bible" and "a bunch of pictures of him all camouflaged with a bunch of guns and sh**" and recommends a "10-0" advisory.

The female officer is somewhat alarmed at this and asks if there is a gun. The male officer responds, "He'd be dead," indicating that he would have killed the driver if there was a gun in the car.

This is a shocking position for the driver: not only has he been subjected to an illegal search, but his life is clearly threatened by the policeman's belief that it is his right to shoot in the presence of a gun-- though the driver has made no hypothetical threat (since he has already been pulled from the car).

So goes due process with police dismissal of everything else constitutionally guarded.

In Texas, shotguns and rifles are not prohibited from vehicles. Even handguns are permitted if the person is deemed a 'traveler' under Texas HB 823. Otherwise, carrying a handgun in a vehicle is generally considered a Class A misdemeanor. While the legal definition of 'traveler' has never been defined, the idea of carrying a weapon is clearly not a justified reason to kill someone.

Furthermore, the driver agreed that he had a 'gun bible' in his backseat, but that the "bunch of photos" mentioned was only one picture which was not of him--but rather that of his friend stationed overseas in official military service, holding his issued weapon (scan of actual photo from the vehicle below). The image of an armed member of the military should not make police officers wary.

In a separate incident, also recorded in 2002, the driver had a more anecdotal encounter when he was pulled over by Austin police for 'loud music.' As the video shows, he was arguing with an officer who accused him of "having an attitude."

The driver's side officer then interrupted the argument, saying, "Let me ask you something. Do you work for Alex Jones?" The driver responded, "Yes I work for Alex Jones."

He then clarified that that he works with Mike Hanson. The officer then repeated himself, clarifying that, "You work with Mike Hanson, who works for Alex Jones."

The driver says the officer had met him previously and was really using the question to signal to the other officer to back off, knowing that the Austin-based Alex Jones has the media presence to bring attention to misdeeds in the police state.

The arguing officer said nothing after the question and yielded to his partner for the rest of the incident.

Though this minor example shows that police fear having media personalities like Alex Jones exposing their on-duty behavior, the driver hopes that the very idea of cars with cameras might deter police from breaking laws or harassing citizens in the first place.

"If cops expected more people to be recording cameras," he said, "they would either search for cameras or they wouldn't violate rights."

The driver plans to continue recording police incidences and thus does not want to be identified in the videos he has released.