On Thursday, July 1st 2010 Pete and I headed into the Franklin County Jail to bail out Rich Paul, who had been arrested the day before. We were initially told that we could not film in the lobby by Franklin County Sheriff’s but later were told we could do so. We left and 15 minutes later returned with the bail money and Pete’s ID but were then told that we were not permitted to film on the property. We stated that public officials can be recorded while conducting their duties, that no one in the building had any expectation of privacy and that we had our cameras as a means of protection as well as accountability for everyone involved. It was those with badges who then took action against us for standing our ground and doing what we believe is right – actions that did not harm anything.
Sgt. Todd M. Dodge placed myself and Pete under arrest without disclosing what we were actually being arrested for. We were taken to the Greenfield Police Department where we were abused, finger printed, photographed, stripped and had our personal possessions stolen from us. The police, under the watch of Sgt. Dodge, threw us into a cage without blankets, a phone call or telling us exactly what we were being charged with. The jail, with concrete floors, was extremely cold. We were monitored via a camera in the ceiling. We did anything we could to keep warm and to occupy our minds/time. We did chants of ‘no victim no crime,’ sang songs, preached libertarianism and even did a workout.
Finally after 12 + hours in our cages we were taken to court to face a judge. We finally learned what our charges were: felony wiretapping and resisting arrest for us both Pete also has felony firearm/ammo and VIN manipulation charges. We were released on personal recognizance and have court dates on July 29th and Aug 2nd.
Feel free to read the more below and stay tuned to for updates here at CopBlock.org.
We have a donations-related post in the works and will get that up soon. Thanks again to everyone who gave of their time and treasure to help us out in our time of need. Without such support it would be more difficult, both internally and logistically, to have had such an outcome. But we still have much work to do. We must not let these individuals who so willingly violated our rights continue to operate without being held accountable.
We didn’t ask for this to happen – we wanted to pay the ransom and leave Greenfield with our friend Rich, however, Dodge and his colleagues prevented that from happening. Despite doing nothing to harm the rights of anyone else, we were kidnapped, our freedom of movement was taken and our privacy was violated. Dodge and his ilk treated us as criminals because they disagreed with our views. They definitely did not uphold their Mission Statement, which, in part, notes:
For us, harm to our lives, property and rights was very real and it was due to the actions of Dodge and his colleagues.
If you want to call, email or write to the folks involved to let them know what you feel about their actions, here’s contact info for the Greenfield Police Department, “Office of the Mayor”, and the Greenfield Daily Reader – the local paper. If you do contact them please feel free to share your communication as a comment below. Thanks in advance!
I normally wouldn’t waste my time, but considering the Greenfield police haven’t responded to me I figured this would do. “GreenfieldPD” has left several comments to which I felt the need to reply to. I’ve broken up each comment to focus on specific areas but you can read the entire comments under this post.
*I’ll refer to and assume this person is a Greenfield Police Officer because of the following statement below by him/her, “When he just went on his rant about armour piercing bullets and re-enforced doors, he made him self out to be a nut and not a person looking for what is true and just.” Though this isn’t exactly what was stated–we talked about protection–it’s a comment that only a person who helped kidnap us could make.*
You people kill me. If we did not have laws we would have anarchy. I know I do not want my kids growing up in a land with no laws and no accountability. If we did not have “man made” laws, what would we do to the people who hurt our children and steal our property. Who would make the decision as to what to do then?
Yes, without “‘man made’ laws” there would be anarchy, but anarchy is not chaos–it is order. It’s the acceptance of the non-aggression principle, the idea that people should be free to live their lives so long as they don’t initiate force against others – something many police do on a daily bases. Every time you arrest a person for a victimless crime (remember, victims are individuals, not states or governments) you’re using force, or the threat of, to steal money from them. You do this under the color of law which, to you, makes it right.
I’m also not saying that you can’t raise your kids in a society that has ‘man made’ laws, regulations and force. I’m just asking for you to let me live in my voluntary society which is absent of things of that nature. Will you allow my family to live as we wish, without sending people with guns to steal from us?
We need laws and we need people that are accountable. The best ways to fight these ‘Laws” is to get out there and get you message out. Let people know you are trying to do the right thing. Don’t just look like a crack pot by “questioning the man”. You sound like fools. Let people hear you. Post messages, hand out fliers, have rallies and try not to sound nuts. You might get people on your side. Then you vote people out of of office. That is the only way to get something done.
We don’t need man-made legislation, we need accountability, something government shields itself and its agents (like police) from. You can’t honestly say that police are held accountable to the same extent of those without badges. If I broke into someone’s home I’d be put in a cage. If I pulled someone over for a victimless crime, I’d be accused of kidnapping or something. But again you claim to have this authority over others.
No a monopoly is not the best way. Are you comparing the police to a monopoly? How do you suggest that americans live safe and productive lives without these “man made” laws. Who would punish those who have done wrong to us?
The police claim a legitimate monopoly on force. Like I stated before, and to Todd M. Dodge, if I broke into your home – like your buddies did to me – I would be locked in a cage. Even Dodge stated he’d “Fucking kill me” if I broke into his home–which isn’t a bad answer considering protection is your responsibility, not the polices’. This is something I’ll touch again on later, as there is a comment about guns coming up.
Rosa parks was a brave and dignified woman. She stood up for what was wrong and did it in a peaceful manner. She never got in anyones face and compromised their safety. Nor did the cops beat her. What happened was wrong and sense then we have grown. Not to our full potential, but progress has been made.
EXACTLY! Rosa wanted to sit in the front of the bus because she was too tired from work to walk to the back. She didn’t want to be a hero. She just wanted to SIT, a peaceful action that wasn’t violating anyone. But at that time people felt she should be in her place and not at the front. Well, how is video tapping any different? You’re statement suggest that Rosa was in the right because she was peaceful. Was I not peaceful?
Knowing yourself [talking to Brad J a former cop and CopBlock.org contributor] how a secure facility works, you should know better than to try and film in a jail. You know it is against the rules. They knew the consequences, and they are paying the price. If everyone just went around doing what they wanted this place would be nuts. You can not have a civilized society when people can not be held accountable.
Is it against the LAW to film in a jail?? How come no one could show me the law/rule that stated no filming in jails/public spaces? How am I to know the consequences if the person who’s responsible for enforcing them can’t even tell me the law in the first place? Should you be allowed to enforce laws you can’t clearly explain? How come trespassing was the word used while at the jail? Is that because there is no law about filming in public spaces?
If the RV was in a legal spot, it should not have been towed. If it was not they have to inventory any important items. Otherwise people would say the cops are stealing from them. *eople on here have even said they are looking for theings to sue them for. But I think that was mostly you being a pain in their ass and they were repaying you.
So police have the right to deliver justice immediately? That’s what I get out of this statement, “I think that was mostly you being a pain in their ass and they were repaying you.” Is that the job of police? Is the RV in the picture parked illegally? The cops did steal from me: they took my camera, cell phone, necklace and time.

You can not expect to annoy the sh*t out of someone and not have them do it back. They are cops but thay are also human. If anyone got in my face like that and kept trying to push buttons just for the sake of pushing buttons, I would give them exactly what they wanted.
You shouldn’t be a cop then. You obviously can’t control your anger and feel that force is the only way to get people to comply. I feel bad for you. I hope at some time in your life you find a way to resolve issues in a different manner. Unless your life or life of a loved on is being threatened, the use of force should only be in defense.
The main thing here is that most of the cops I have met and worked with want to make the place they live a better place to live. That mens taking the bad guys off the streets. I very rarely see them bothering people who do not harm anyone. They go after people who victimize society.
Work hard to make the place they live better? By following laws and orders that harass and victimize peaceful people? Is that the job of police? Have you ever thought of what would happen if you privatized protection?
They get the dealers, the bullys, the wife beaters, the child abusers. I cant tell you how many times I have seen a small stash just get thrown away.
What happens when the cops are the bullies, wife beaters and abusers (not just of children)? Why did you or other police get rid of the small stash? Is it because that person wasn’t harming anyone or is it because people should be allowed to put whatever they want in their bodies? If those are the reasons then why wouldn’t your officers and jailers allow us to film and leave under the same pretense? Why did they decide to use force? Because we said no?
I know you guys are trying to do some positive things. Your just doing it in a real negative way.
I think the same thing about police and you. Instead of using reason and logic you decide to use force to get people to comply.
It sounds to me like you were the kid that poked the bees nest with a stick and then got upset with the bees when you got stung. EVERYONE has a boiling point. Cop, judge, nurse, rabbi, priest, you name it. They are PEOPLE.
I think you have this backwards. We’re the bees, the ones who will go about our business in a peaceful manner. Then police are men who will show up and poke our nest. At which time we’ll stick up for our rights and defend ourselves as well as our property.
Police should not be allowed to infringe upon peoples rights. No doubt about it. When it comes to safety and police being around other people with guns, it makes us a little uneasy. All I am saying is that if try and try and try to get a cop to do something bad, your going to get it sooner or later. You absolutely do not have the right to infringe upon anyones right to peace and quiet.
An armed society is a safe society, everyone has the right to protect themselves. It’s the initiation of force that’s wrong. The fact that cops dislike and harass people who carry firearms is a direct reflection of their need for control and compliance. I feel unsafe and more than ‘a little uneasy’ when around men in uniforms and guns. I don’t believe peace and quiet is a right, it’s a luxury. I have the right to protect myself, the right to put what I want in my body and the right to spend my money as I choose so long as I don’t initiate force against the equal negative rights of another. But peace and quiet aren’t a right… those are things people seek.
Do you think that the gang shitheads have the right to walk around with guns if they have not been convicted yet? Not a safe istuation. A normal every day person does not walk around with a gun in a civilized society. Who do you turn to when some has done something to you or your family? Just curious.
This statement was priceless, “A normal every day person does not walk around with a gun in a civilized society.” Isn’t this what cops do every day: walk (or drive cars, bikes, ect) around with guns on their hips? Oh, I bet you think all cops are trustworthy and would never use it unless they really had to. And that cops are the only ones capable of being taught such responsibility. What a joke.
I don’t think anyone has the right to restrict anyone from protecting themselves. Why should I not have the right to defend myself because some people believe my actions – which again, harmed no one – strip me of my right? “When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.” Think about that. Taking guns from felons, such as myself, not only make me less safe, but everyone else (including cops) as I’m the type of person who would come to the aid of someone in need. I know several ‘normal every day’ people who carry firearms. They take it just as, if not more, seriously than those with badges because, unlike police, they know if they use their weapons, they will be held accountable.
And if you really want to know how a cop feels, “GreenfieldPD” lays it out in his next comment:
Even when police are held to a higher standard they should not have to deal with someone in their face all of the time rambling on and on about their rights. If someone infringes upon your rights, there is a course of action to be taken. When he just went on his rant about armour piercing bullets and re-enforced doors, he made him self out to be a nut and not a person looking for what is true and just. Do it the right way and I will stand with you. Act like a fool and you’re on your own.
Again, look at the mindset of a police officer today, “Even when police are held to a higher standard they should not have to deal with someone in their face all of the time rambling on and on about their rights.” Yeah why should anyone have to hear about those silly rights, except the right to peace and quiet which seems to have a huge value to those with badges so much that they’ll steal, abuse and punish at will whoever they please to get it.
What’s foolish to me is that you won’t even give us your name, badge number and rank. Are you that ashamed of your job that when you comment in defense of it you hide? Are you afraid others might see you and your buddies for what they are?
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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2010/07/finally-some-justice-in-polanski-case.html