|
.jpg)
Recent Posts by onionRecent Similar ArticlesPolice and Prisons:repression: |
The Philadelphia Police Raided My House
by
onion | 06.19.2008
by Jen Rock on the morning of friday june 13th, three plain cloths cops and captian wilson of the ninth district of philadelphia came to my front door. they said they were responding to a complaint about "trespassing in an abandoned building". we have lived in our home for almost 4 years. we are curious about the origin of this "complaint." after one house mate answered the door, asked for a warrant and refused to let the police in they arrested him and stole his keys. they broke in. there was no warrant. they arrested myself and my two other roommates. when asked if there was a warrant they informed us that they didn't need one. we were also informed that we weren't arrested, but were detained...and under investigation. Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 2:25 PM by Jen Rock dear friends, this is something that i want to communicate to as many people as i know, and as many people as they know. please forward this widely. on the morning of friday june 13th, three plain cloths cops and captian wilson of the ninth district of philadelphia came to my front door. they said they were responding to a complaint about "trespassing in an abandoned building". we have lived in our home for almost 4 years. we are curious about the origin of this "complaint." after one house mate answered the door, asked for a warrant and refused to let the police in they arrested him and stole his keys. they broke in. there was no warrant. they arrested myself and my two other roommates. when asked if there was a warrant they informed us that they didn't need one. we were also informed that we weren't arrested, but were detained...and under investigation. fortunately, we called our incredible network of friends when we realized what was happening to our first house mate and they started to show up as witnesses. although the police were threatening to arrest folks who were trying to photograph the scene, seeing so much support made the cops squirm. it speaks to our power. and to their criminal behavior. we were brought to the ninth district jail. we were not processed because there were no charges, but taken directly to two separate jail cells. we spent the next 14 hours asking for our phone call and information about charges. no one working in the jail seemed to have information or understand what was going on. while were were being held in this basement cell, a whole host of police, detectives, crime scene investigators, the department of homeland security, state troopers, the housing authority and department of license and inspection (l & i) among others trespassed into our owned property...our home. after hours and hours of investigation nothing was found! we were released from jail, but were informed that l & i found heaps of code violation and were going to seal the building the next day. i was released from jail at 3:30 on saturday morning. i then learned that in 6 and 1/2 hours (at 10 am) we would have 2 hours to move out of our home. in those two hours, we would only be allowed in to our home one at a time, under the supervision of police escorts. after 2 hours of collecting what we thought we would need for the next indeterminable amount of time l & i boarded all of our windows, and locked the front gate to our home. we are homeless, staying with friends, and trying to understand what happened. some of you are not unfamiliar with experiences of unlawful arrest. it is important to recognize that police harassment is not unusual for people in our neighborhood, francisville. what happened to our home is an extreme case, but not an isolated incident. we live in a neighborhood that is predominantly poor and black. there is violence, crime, no grocery store, and few resources for the kids. we also sit between two areas that have experienced rapid economic development and transformed demographically. we are the last standing ghetto amongst all this development. the city is transforming, and folks who don't fit into the agenda of that transformation are targeted by the police, who are employed by the developers. philadelphia is experiencing something mayor nutter calls "a crime emergency." it is a tool to justify marshal law, to suspend civil liberties more than ever. it is a tactic of repression. we talk to our neighbors, have community gardens, and give out free food weekly. and we were targeted. many folks are targeted not for choices they make, but rather the inability to make choices at all. poverty and race are the reasons they are targeted. we want to go home. we want that home to be a place safe from police harassment. we want to hold the responsible parties accountable for their crimes. but beyond all those things we want to employ to voices of those who are so rarely heard. to call attention to the sources of the problems and not the symptoms. mayor nutter has responded to the needs of philadelphia by dramatically expanding the philadelphia police department. we are skeptical. we want to see real support for the communities that need it. fortunately, we have the ability, for whatever reason, to reach out and ask for help. we have a phenomenal network of friends, activists, and community organizers. if you have skills, resources, questions, or suggestions please don't hesitate to respond. we have a lot of needs, and as they become more clear it will help to know who we can and should contact. thank you so much for taking the time to hear this story...please pass it along. -jenrock |
|
© 1999–2008 Philadelphia Independent Media Center |
|
Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by PhillyIMC.
|
Comments
The police captain did say it was a "kidnapping"
Submitted by Jamie (not verified) on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 12:33amThat sounds like a complete and uncoerced confession to major felony to me- and it FITS! It was a KIDNAPPING! If like charity, law enforcement begins at home, I think Capt. Wilson needs to turn himself in for prosecution.
After all, he should know where the police station is...oh, and that kidnapping is illegal. Well, maybe not- he is a PHILLY cop. As a Philly native, I see that they see arbitrary and illegal detention as a job perk, not a violation of the Constitution and international law, and a crime against humanity.
Before somebody chimes in with "wait until you're victim of a crime..blah, blah, blah," I HAVE been a victim of a crime in this city several times and I can tell you from personal experience that the cops here are less than useless. I'm not saying that they are dumb- although some are- it's that just don't care if you get shot if you're not a cop.
Can someone clear up "detention?"
Submitted by Cheesesteak the Impaler (not verified) on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 11:57pmI think this whole matter sucks in the way the "not ready for prime time" police who thought they could go a little hardball in their "fringe" Philly fiefdom (I think lack of competency may be why Wilson had been assigned to the Francisville precinct). That said, can a lawyer clear up whether there's actually case precedent in police's ability to detain people without charges? Yes, the four were detained while their house was processed by various law enforcements types, but I think there's actually an established window wherein police can "hold" people uncharged, sounds like the 1/2 day spent in custody was the limit they could spend while figuring out whether they could "drum anything up."
From what I understand, and I believe these come from Moffat himself, Moffat was evasive and never claimed to be an owner or tenant of the house (from what I've seen of police investigating actual break ins, that does seem to give them some access to a property) until after being detained under suspicion (of course there's the "police should have looked it up" defense, but I think there's more precedent nationally for police to make a judgement call on the spot or back at the precinct without doing deed and title research). The keys, which to the police's knowledge Moffat had no right to since he refused to divulge his relationship with the property, were not taken from his person but recovered after Moffat tossed them.
I think we can all agree that police instincts tend to be pretty blunt instruments, and Moffat's behavior would certainly show up positive on the Philly PD "suspicious guy" detector. Now, has anyone any real knowledge of what the police can do in that situation?
Frankly, my hunch tells me the "procedure" underwent by the PD et al. post doorway encounter really won't stick to much in any sort of civil rights suit, unless the Mayor's office tells the city to suck it up and just settle before trial. What really matters, and should be focused on is this "targetting." If there were indeed complaints, what was the nature of the complaints, and what access does the public, and "victims" in this situation have to records of those complaints and documentation of the police's decision to move on those complaints? I mean if the _captain_ of a precinct is going out in the precinct (which may just be a consequence of Ramsey's "everyone regardless of stripe goes in the field" directives) to move on a property, there must be some log of that.
Re: the injustice of being without access to a phone call. In my own trivial experience, it's a catch 22, you don't get access to a phone call until you have an actual charge and documentation of that charge on you (you probably got documentation of being brought in, but that's not the charge sheet that grants you the magic phone call). This is why "detention," as opposed to arrest on charges, while I believe is granted in case precedent as a necessary law enforcement tool, is subject to a limit of "reasonable duration."
Totally different legal foundation (Louisiana), but I was detained in a holding cell (which was a very educational "Group W bench" style scenario) once for 11 hours prior to receiving my charge sheet and granted access to a phone ... part of the reason it took so long my attorney and police in other cities (and a few regulars in the holding cell) told me was that the jail system is funded by an equation based on the number of people in the jail by the hour. If the population isn't at a certain level over time, Orleans parish sheriff deputies lose their jobs. Wonderful way to protect a society, eh?
Philadelphia police
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/18/2010 - 1:32pmPhiladelphia police are probably the worst in this country!
Most of them don't have any peopl skills. Now, they are competing with street thugs for the most shootings.
Just think about it. How can you train someone in few months to police the city of Philadelphia. Most of them do it for pay. And most are scared to death. That's why they respond so violently. So their emotions and fear overwelm them.
Post new comment