Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public maybe?

[Shaun__]

Link Do you think it is fair to detain someone committing no crime, just because some women standing on the street talking on phones are prostitutes?

 

[mynameisbob84]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Probably would have been beneficial to everybody involved had she presented ID when asked but that doesn't negate the fact that had the idiot cop not just assumed that a black woman kissing a white man on the street must be a prostitute and must therefore be arrested cos said idiot cop has nothing more productive to do with his time, none of this would have happened. I hope she sues.

 

[Shaun__]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Probably would have been beneficial to everybody involved had she presented ID when asked but that doesn't negate the fact that had the idiot cop not just assumed that a black woman kissing a white man on the street must be a prostitute and must therefore be arrested cos said idiot cop has nothing more productive to do with his time, none of this would have happened. I hope she sues.

Did her ID have a check box stating she was not a prostitute? Some people do not even have ID if they do not drive.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Here's a better page with a video of it. Seems like pretty much a non-issue to me. The police saw what they thought was suspicious behavior, asked them for ID. She refused, which is normally her right. But the police have the right to detain you if they see you doing something suspicious, at least until they can ascertain who you are. They didn't arrest her, they simply handcuffed her and made her sit in the car. Then they let her go once they found out who she was and everything was alright.

IMO Pretty much by the book with no harm done. Shouldn't even be a news item really.

 

[Gen]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Here's a better page with a video of it. Seems like pretty much a non-issue to me. The police saw what they thought was suspicious behavior, asked them for ID. She refused, which is normally her right. But the police have the right to detain you if they see you doing something suspicious, at least until they can ascertain who you are. They didn't arrest her, they simply handcuffed her and made her sit in the car. Then they let her go once they found out who she was and everything was alright.

IMO Pretty much by the book with no harm done. Shouldn't even be a news item really.

But the suspicious behaviour was a black woman kissing her white husband? That's fucked up.

 

[Nordling]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Here's a better page with a video of it. Seems like pretty much a non-issue to me. The police saw what they thought was suspicious behavior, asked them for ID. She refused, which is normally her right. But the police have the right to detain you if they see you doing something suspicious, at least until they can ascertain who you are. They didn't arrest her, they simply handcuffed her and made her sit in the car. Then they let her go once they found out who she was and everything was alright.

IMO Pretty much by the book with no harm done. Shouldn't even be a news item really.

But the suspicious behaviour was a black woman kissing her white husband? That's fucked up.

Agree, and if that's "by the book," then the cops need new books.

 

[AmberCutie]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Here's a better page with a video of it. Seems like pretty much a non-issue to me. The police saw what they thought was suspicious behavior, asked them for ID. She refused, which is normally her right. But the police have the right to detain you if they see you doing something suspicious, at least until they can ascertain who you are. They didn't arrest her, they simply handcuffed her and made her sit in the car. Then they let her go once they found out who she was and everything was alright.

IMO Pretty much by the book with no harm done. Shouldn't even be a news item really.

But the suspicious behaviour was a black woman kissing her white husband? That's fucked up.

Agree, and if that's "by the book," then the cops need new books.

And if this sort of thing is a priority to spend their time and salaries on, we need some new guidelines for how our law enforcement prioritizes.

 

[weirdbr]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

But the police have the right to detain you if they see you doing something suspicious, at least until they can ascertain who you are. They didn't arrest her, they simply handcuffed her and made her sit in the car. Then they let her go once they found out who she was and everything was alright.

To me, there's multiple problems even if they didn't arrest her, all of which are fucked up:
- why detain someone when you could just ask them to wait a bit while they check their identity given that she didn't produce an ID? (and only detain them when they dont cooperate) Sure, she could had produced some ID if she had one with her, but not having an ID isn't a criminal ofense AFAIK
- why did they consider her behaviour suspect? From the description, her behaviour matched the behaviour of a few million/billion people per day. It seems to me her 'suspicious behaviour' can be described as 'walking while black' and we all know how fucked up that is.

And the worst part is that this isn't an incident from the POV from the police, simply because there wasn't an arrest. So you can just go around harassing people as long as you don't arrest them and then there's no record of your activity? Really? This sort of thing should be tracked so we know how many unnecessary stops are being made (and where the hidden racial profiling is happening).

 

[goldenaye666]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

It is one thing to not have ID, another to refuse to show it. Which is what allegedly happened here. They have to treat you like you're likely a criminal if you refuse. That's what a person with a record or warrants out for their arrest would do. A big part of an officer's job is to investigation reports of people who look suspicious. Should always cooperate with reasonable requests from police officers or you're just asking for problems. I can only imagine a cop must feel like a cam girl on Streamate given the amount of rude & stupid people they deal with every day. From her own quotes to the media, she said her emotions could not be controlled. Handcuffing her sounds excessive at first, but I don't think it is given the alleged details of the story.

I have been held at gun point before by a police officer. And I'm a skinny, red-haired, Caucasian. Not normally suspicious looking, but that day I was sick and wore a bandana over my mouth while I was out walking to catch a bus. I guess I was reported as suspicious because I walked down a street right by a bank with the bandana on. I was just sitting at the bus stop when the out-of-uniform officer came up to me with his gun drawn. Thought I was being robbed at first. He held me with his gun aimed on me until his backup showed up. Then I was asked for ID, which I didn't have on me. I was frisked, and told to wait there sitting where I already was, while they got a camera to photograph me with. They operated under the assumption I may have robbed the bank, even though there was no robbery. Had I been uncooperative, I assume I would have been cuffed and taken in for fingerprinting & identification.

 

[Shaun__]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

A big part of an officer's job is to investigation reports of people who look suspicious.

What did she do that was suspicious?

 

[JickyJuly]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

You don't have to give the police your ID because they ask for it. But, if you know and use your rights they just find ways to inconvenience you further. I argued with and threw my wedding ring at a cop a few years ago when my husband was being arrested. They took me in and impounded my car. There was nothing to charge me with, but it wasn't fun riding with the fuzzies, calling to get a ride home or paying to get my car out. They're out of control, and if stopping every attractive black woman on the street is their best plan to find prostitutes, they're out of control and not very clever. That's a bad mix.

 

[weirdbr]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

It is one thing to not have ID, another to refuse to show it. Which is what allegedly happened here. They have to treat you like you're likely a criminal if you refuse.

To me, that is incorrect - it is flipping the 'innocent until proven guilty' into 'guilty until proven innocent' .

I have been held at gun point before by a police officer. And I'm a skinny, red-haired, Caucasian.

And so have I, together with a friend (me, a pasty-white brunette.. and he, a pasty-white blonde dude). Our 'crime'? Sitting in my car at 2AM in front of the apartment building of a third friend who we were waiting to come down so we could take the 5 hour drive to a beach in Rio de Janeiro... All because the cops got a hint by someone (quite likely the porter of my friend's building) who thought we were suspicious for being there at that time of the night - in a neighbourhood full of rich people... And according to the cops, because that place is a haven of drug trafficking..

And that's one reason why I hate this sort of thing - I know very well that I am privileged by being a white guy and it pissed me off to no end for being profiled simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time to scare someone who had nothing better to do; imagine being in that situation every single day of your life simply because of the colour of your skin? That's why I will fight any over-reaction from police (or any other entity) based on random profiling.

 

[GracieHart]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

I have been held at gun point before by a police officer. And I'm a skinny, red-haired, Caucasian. Not normally suspicious looking, but that day I was sick and wore a bandana over my mouth while I was out walking to catch a bus. I guess I was reported as suspicious because I walked down a street right by a bank with the bandana on. I was just sitting at the bus stop when the out-of-uniform officer came up to me with his gun drawn. Thought I was being robbed at first. He held me with his gun aimed on me until his backup showed up. Then I was asked for ID, which I didn't have on me. I was frisked, and told to wait there sitting where I already was, while they got a camera to photograph me with. They operated under the assumption I may have robbed the bank, even though there was no robbery. Had I been uncooperative, I assume I would have been cuffed and taken in for fingerprinting & identification.

This is considered normal and acceptable police behaviour in your mind?

There is no robbery so they pull a gun on you and photograph you for the imaginary one or the one that hasnt happened yet? Or on the off chance a bank has been robbed but not reported it yet?

 

[DDuckworth]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Probably would have been beneficial to everybody involved had she presented ID when asked but that doesn't negate the fact that had the idiot cop not just assumed that a black woman kissing a white man on the street must be a prostitute and must therefore be arrested cos said idiot cop has nothing more productive to do with his time, none of this would have happened. I hope she sues.

Well she was never arrested, but that doesn't make this situation any better.

Prostitution should be legalized, but decriminalized at the very LEAST.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Here's audio of the entire incident.
http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_4i6bq2rn/

The cop handled it professionally and did it correctly. He got a call of lewd acts which gave him probable cause to ask for id. She refused. She turned it into a race card. She acted like a spoiled little brat 'I have a publicist...talk to my daddy....' She alone escalated it into a situation where she could cry about it to post it on facebook to garner fake sympathy.

As he said in the audio, if she'd have simply acted like responsible adult he'd have figured out she had no priors after a simple backround check and he'd have been gone in two minutes.

I stand by my first post, she's an idiot.

Edit: and notice there's a witness now saying they weren't just making out like she said, they were having sex in the car out in public.

 

[mynameisbob84]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

http://uk.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/ ... ium=social

This changes things a little (assuming it's legit).

EDIT: Jerry totes beat me to it.

 

[bud9752]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

As Paul Harvey would say," AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY "

 

[Shaun__]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

TMZ is not always the most trustworthy source, and I am a bit shocked nobody recorded that if it was true.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

TMZ is not always the most trustworthy source, and I am a bit shocked nobody recorded that if it was true.

I'm not sure what you mean. TMZ isn't the source. The police recording is the source. They recorded the entire thing.

 

[Shaun__]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

TMZ is not always the most trustworthy source, and I am a bit shocked nobody recorded that if it was true.

I'm not sure what you mean. TMZ isn't the source. The police recording is the source. They recorded the entire thing.

I was talking about the eye witnesses, who told TMZ. I did just go listen to the audio, and I did not hear the cop tell them to get dressed or stop having sex or anything. They must not have been doing anything to cause concern.

 

[Nordling]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

The police recording only taped the conversation after the alleged "sex act." Who's the witness? In the US, you have a constitutional right to confront our accuser--so if the accuser didn't want to be there, it's all s/eh said she said. Why was s/he looking in a private vehicle? Were they naked? What sex act specifically? Is the witness going on Fox Cable News? And if the claim was true, then why didn't they carry the arrest forward? If a crime was committed, what does her identity matter? Why didn't they arrest this dangerous criminal?

And no, she did not have to give up her ID, and the cop was wrong claiming he had that right. He has a right to REQUEST it, but still what difference, at that moment in time, does her true identity even matter, since some busy body claimed she (and her boyfriend) committed a crime.

 

[camstory]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Went about 5 deep here - started wierdbr and stopped at "There's Multiple problems..." There are, but I didn't want to get spread out beyond a couple of basic thoughts.

JerryBB is right, this is very much how things are handled. Her own description is one of standard operating procedure. What ppl like Jerry, most middle Americans, don't understand is that cops everywhere in the U.S. (or everywhere I have lived – 5 states) stereotype/profile as SOP. Being right about this being how things are done, does not make how things are done right.

I understand the argument that goes something like, if a cop sees someone leaving an apartment where there is known drug activity at 3AM light em up, or, if a cop see 2 black men in a predominately white neighbourhood driving a white van, and there was a burg in the same hood where a white van was suspect, light em up, or, if the cops see someone leaving a bar at 1:45 light em up and do a field sobriety test, or, if a cop sees a white man talking to a black woman in an area prostitutes frequent roll on em, b/c most of the time the cops are right, and you will catch more criminals, profiling works! If the cops were right 99% of the time, it's still an ends justifies the means argument. Much of the time the cops are not right, as in this case. This is a news event b/c the cops had no justification to make contact. (it is a news event b/c the victim was a somebody. This shit happens everyday, all over. Where the cops are right 99% of the time, is in that the ppl they abuse will not be paid any attention to.)

And know this Jerry and others who believe cops by and large respect all civilians they come in contact with, do not violate ppls constitutional rights, and would not conspire to lie/make false statements in their written reports, you are very wrong. It is understandable that most ppl do not believe these things, b/c most ppl never put themselves in one of the above situations. They therefore are only exposed to cops acting with respect and integrity, and when something out of line does come to their attention, it is understandably thought to be an isolated event or anomaly. Well how cops behave when they are dealing with the majority of ppl, and how they behave when dealing with someone they have already decided is a scum bag are worlds apart.

And yea I know this b/c for some years I was that scum bag, or at best was associating with scum bags. But ppl who are 100% innocent and just in the wrong place at the wrong time get caught up and abused all the time.

Bottom line the cops had no justification to make contact ImhO. What followed after they did pretty clearly shows their attitude from jump. (The most visible example is cuffing someone who was no threat, but I guarantee you all the less visible little things that are degrading, disrespectful, and from complete ascendancy were present as well.) We need our police to respect everyone's rights, all the time, even the scum bags. The police are part of our JUSTICE system. To treat anyone as if they are sub human is never just.

 

[camstory]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

This is a funny story, and sad at the same time. I think it is worth a listen if you really care to understand how those who don't fit the cops idea of ok, and are treated like they are not ok. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... act=1#play

 

[schlmoe]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

...There's Multiple blah blah blahs here...(shortened for brevity)

camstory makes a lot of good points here. A lot. And adds some BS, as well. No biggie, that's just part of his narrative

This will not be well received here. No matter, the truth is usually not well received.

If you are approached by the police and refuse to show an ID, you are a dumb ass. End of story. This doesn't mean you deserve a beating or maltreatment because of that. But if you think any police will just let you go on your merry way without ascertaining your identity, you are a dumb ass once again.

If you think that asking for your ID, that you are being abused, the correct time to state your case is not at the scene. If you have done nothing wrong, why is it a good idea to escalate things then and there? File a complaint later.

In this instance, if the lady had shown her ID when requested, I am almost 100% certain that she would have been on her way in a minute or two. Her boyfriend/husband/RAWKer cooperated and wasn't handcuffed. She is trying to make it a black/white thing, but it appears to me that it was a cooperating/UN-cooperating thing. The RAWKer cooperated right away and he wasn't handcuffed or detained.

There's been a whole lot of talk here about "rights", "my rights", her rights", all that crap. I'm positive that the commenters have spent years studying the law at presigious law schools. /s Whole lot of silly comments like:

In the US, you have a constitutional right to confront our accuser--so if the accuser didn't want to be there, it's all s/eh said she said.

Come on Nordling, this is silly, even for you. Yes, we DO have those rights. IN COURT. Not at the scene. Feel free to fan the flames, but in this case, you just look silly.

'innocent until proven guilty' into 'guilty until proven innocent'

Again, this applies when the case gets to a court/jury. Not at the scene.

Of course, I expect that some here will think that I am a gun toting, NRA card carrying, Neanderthal red-state-r who thinks that the police can do no wrong. That's OK. Not true, but OK if you feel that way. The truth of the matter is that I'm appalled at any story of real police brutality, BUT I am not ready to paint all police with the same brush, and refuse to believe that 100% of the police are bad and out to get us. I feel sorry for those folks that believe that. If you do feel that way, what are you doing about it? Are you voting? Are you petitioning your City Council, or demanding a Citizens Review Board? It is safe to say that our collective police forces have some bad apples. Just as any segment of our population. Bad camgirls? Bad MFC members? You bet. Pretty easy to deal with those examples. Not so easy to deal with the bad apples in the police forces. Go ahead and complain, it's your "right". But unless you're willing to do something about it, you're part of the problem.

I believe that there are a lot of facts in this case that we don't know about yet. There have been reports that this was not a "random" stop, that the police were called. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. I find it funny (not really funny) that solely on this lady's facebook post that there was a rush to judgement that the police profiled her, abused her, etc. People, please. I have a hunch that even if there is irrefutable proof (doubtful that exists) that the police were not "wrong", there will still be folks complaining on this incident. Hey that's their "right" to do that. But I'm going to save my outrage for real problems.

I admit to being cynical, so when the 2nd & 3rd round of news started filtering down, my thought was that this lady engineered and escalated the incident for publicity and sympathy. If I'm proved wrong, I'll come back here and apologize to her

 

[PunkInDrublic]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

So, turns out the cops were just doing their job and it had nothing to do with race? Internet rushed to judgement before any facts were present? Shocking.

 

[Shaun__]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

So, turns out the cops were just doing their job and it had nothing to do with race? Internet rushed to judgement before any facts were present? Shocking.

The cops still had not reason to bother either of them. They were doing nothing wrong. What would be really shocking would be if the police had decided not to waste their time, and instead had gone to look for more important things.

 

[camstory]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Once again I start by saying I'm an idiot, or selfish, or something b/c i once again have not read all post - started backwards from Shaun and read back to Schlmoe, now I have to get outside to cover b4 rain. But this...

As a person who does not know law, but does know cops rather too well, I would like to forget what I would advocate as far as rights go, b/c, what is,and, what should be are two different things most of the time, and almost always when involved with police when things are other than routine.

The thing one needs to know above all else, is the cops have the power. All the talk of what is right and wrong matters not. Well it matters, but don't think it has anything, or very much to do with what happens at the scene.

My big problem with cops and how police handle ppl in general - not so much about them stereotyping - I do not like it and think it is wrong, but understand it is unavoidable and will always happen.

What I find distressful are the attitudes that police tend to inhabit once they feel their authority has been questioned. The police are given the power to police - this is a huge power and is the fundamental soul of a cop - it's what he/she is all about. There are very few cops that I have ever meet who do not take it personal when you try to take some of their power, weather you have the right or not. It's like taking a plumbers pipe wrench - the difference is the cops use their wrench on ppl not pipes.

Power is a intoxicant, and we load cops with it, yet we expect cops to not get drunk on it. In a perfect world and in a correct world we screen the ppl who we give this power to much better, and there is much better oversight. In a perfect world the average Joe does not automatically believe the word of a cop over a civilian, and it is not just the exceptional Joe who understands how power unchecked can turn the best into monsters.

But it is far from a perfect world, did I say far, very far, and the failure to look at how cops behave much of the time today, b/c we are most concerned with getting a handle on crime, has allowed cops to get away with all sort of abuse that would appall most if it were not ignored and dismissed b/c "the police wouldn't do that"

I am not saying crime should not be our main concern, but it has blinded us to all else and the cost is the abusive, hurtful, and sub human attitude the police much of the time display when their power is questioned.

I recently meet and talked to a local police officer who I have always liked. A police officer that arrested me once and with which I had many contacts. I told him of the death of the father of a lady who I have been friends with 20+ years. Two hours later I got a call from this friend - the officer had stopped by her mothers' home where she now cares for her mom most of the time, and expressed his condolences. This man a 18 year vet always treated me with the respect one should always treat another human - Always!

I do not hate cops, and do not believe all cops are abusive ppl. I do hate how most cops, (it has been my experience) can come to behave in some situations. And what I hate even more is the lack of most ppl to even consider these things are happening all the time, b/c when you know you can abuse your power without consequence, most will sooner than later.

 

[PunkInDrublic]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

The cops still had not reason to bother either of them. They were doing nothing wrong.

Maybe but we weren't there so how do we know? Cops could have been responding to a call and simply doing their job. Will wait for the full story.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

So, turns out the cops were just doing their job and it had nothing to do with race? Internet rushed to judgement before any facts were present? Shocking.

The cops still had not reason to bother either of them. They were doing nothing wrong. What would be really shocking would be if the police had decided not to waste their time, and instead had gone to look for more important things.

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_4i6bq2rn/

16 seconds in - Police Officer - 'Someone called the police saying there was lewd acts in the car.'
at 1:18 'Do you know what probable cause is? I have probable cause. I received a radio call.'

They had reason. There was a witness who called it in well before the police even arrived. They were responding to that and thus already had reasonable suspicion and at that point ID is required according to the Supreme Court.

 

[PunkInDrublic]

Re: Daniele Watts cuffed and detained for being in public ma

Lucas and Watts did not return calls or text messages Monday from The Times, despite previously agreeing to an interview

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81378328/
lmao probably agreed to the interview before they knew that her stupidity was recorded