is there any way to check if a LEO is really on duty even though he is not in uniform

[45calibre]

Here you go:

IC 9-30-2-2
Uniform and badge; marked police vehicle
Sec. 2. A law enforcement officer may not arrest or issue a traffic information and summons to a person for a violation of an Indiana law regulating the use and operation of a motor vehicle on an Indiana highway or an ordinance of a city or town regulating the use and operation of a motor vehicle on an Indiana highway unless at the time of the arrest the officer is:
(1) wearing a distinctive uniform and a badge of authority; or
(2) operating a motor vehicle that is clearly marked as a police vehicle;
that will clearly show the officer or the officer's vehicle to casual observations to be an officer or a police vehicle. This section does not apply to an officer making an arrest when there is a uniformed officer present at the time of the arrest.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.18.


Now, in Maynard v. State (I think), it was held that if no contact between the officer and the defendant occurrs, that doesn't apply. For example, an officer views someone driving, and he knows for a fact that person's driving privileges were revoked. He can draft an information, probable cause affidavit, and a traffic ticket, and drop them off at the prosecutor's office for further action. In this type of situation, he wouldn't be performing a traffic stop.

Look what two minutes on Google reveals. Google is your friend.

so he can be out of uniform but in a marked car also?

 

[downzero]

Yeah, cops have never been known to harass protesters. Of course not. Never happens at all.....

 

[downzero]

so he can be out of uniform but in a marked car also?

That's my reading of the statute.

 

[phylodog]

so he can be out of uniform but in a marked car also?

Correct, it's either or. Clearly marked vehicle and plain clothes or unmarked vehicle and in uniform. The law was put in place after there were several women raped by men who were putting lights in their cars and making traffic stops pretending to be police officers.

Not a bad law in my opinion but it has caused a few problems by people who didn't understand it and refused to pull over when they should have. Better to be safe than sorry I guess, don't think anyone has been hurt in one of these misunderstandings.

 

[phylodog]

Yeah, cops have never been known to harass protesters. Of course not. Never happens at all.....

And protesters never step outside of what is considered legal. Of course not. Never happens.

 

[j706]

so he can be out of uniform but in a marked car also?

Yep- I make a lot of stops out of uniform. Even got a bank robber off duty once,

 

[downzero]

And protesters never step outside of what is considered legal. Of course not. Never happens.

I don't think anyone would criticize them for arresting people who are breaking a constitutional law.

 

[j706]

After watching the OP video I can say one thing,those two guys were some smart mouth punks. And if dispatched on a run/complaint on the two,they would need to provide some ID as it would be an investigation IMO. I can't stand people like those dip sticks. Idiots I say.

 

[phylodog]

Give me a break. People criticize LE for anything and everything they do.

Be fooled into believing what the people who posted that video want you to believe if you choose. In 12 years working LE I have never, ever, ever stopped someone who was walking down the street with a sign and asked them for ID or questioned them about what they were doing. It takes more than that. You can walk from one end of this country to the other, keeping to yourself and holding a sign and you may find one or two LE officers who might stop you but these men were trolling for contact and they found it. They then edited a video to show only what served their purpose and posted it online. Those who are looking for an excuse will blindly jump on the bandwagon and start throwing stones.

Dare to think outside of the box and common sense just might smack you in the mouth. I am a police officer. If you honestly believe I spend one second of one day out of every year trying to think of an excuse or a way to hassle someone who is doing nothing wrong then you have way too much time on your hands. I put my pants on just like everyone else and I have much better things to do with my time. There are plenty of stupid criminals who are much more entertaining to pursue. Why fish in an empty pond?

 

[38special]

I think videos like this CAN be good.

Weed out the bad cops. Most officers are not unreasonable (as partially evidenced by their courteousness at our open carry walk downtown). Most are not on power trips.

However, some are. Weeding those outs helps cops and citizens alike.

 

[downzero]

Dare to think outside of the box and common sense just might smack you in the mouth. I am a police officer. If you honestly believe I spend one second of one day out of every year trying to think of an excuse or a way to hassle someone who is doing nothing wrong then you have way too much time on your hands. I put my pants on just like everyone else and I have much better things to do with my time. There are plenty of stupid criminals who are much more entertaining to pursue. Why fish in an empty pond?

I'm sorry to inform you that many members of your chosen occupation lack the professionalism that you claim to have. I have met many, many good police officers in my time--on the right side of the interaction. Any interaction I've had where there was SOME suspicion that I was doing something illegal, whether it was a traffic stop or other interaction, the general attitude of intimidation and force is the norm, not the exception. For the record, I have never been arrested, I hardly ever get pulled over, and I have a clean motor vehicle record.

I have a friend who travels throughout the country making the same sort of documentary films you saw these two men making in the video. This is a personal friend of mine and he has hour after hour of video tape that, unedited, looks an awful lot like what you see in that Youtube clip.

The general doctrine of so-called "proactive" law enforcement has bred officers who presume the worst, use force, and ask questions later. And, unless their conduct is particularly egregious or actually results in a lawsuit, which happens, obviously, in only the most extreme factual examples, there is basically no accountability.

And because officers enjoy qualified immunity in the performance of their official duties unless a plaintiff can prove that their conduct knowingly violated the Constitution, individual officers, who you and I both would agree should find another line of work, pay nothing, lose nothing, and remain on the force.

There is a very real problem in this country of police officers who disregard the Fourth Amendment, relying on the ignorance and general helplessness of the public to do their "job." And because courts are very reluctant to intervene into less-serious issues for fear of separation of powers concerns, this is likely to happen for quite some time.

I'm glad that there are good, solid, professional, liberty-protecting police officers out there. But the fact remains that the presumption is hardly ever that citizens who are out legitimately exercising their first amendment rights aren't up to "no good."

It will take a century of exposing the forced confessions, abhorrent violations of fourth, fifth, and fourteen amendment rights, and a very real overhaul of court precedents involving police interactions with citizens before there will ever be a legitimate presumption of liberty in this country.

Over the past ten years, reading the first hand accounts of these sort of reactions from the perspective of officers has encouraged me to attend law school. It is most unfortunate, though, that the people often on the "wrong side" of these tyrants seldom ever have any money, and thus settle for bad, or worse, no legal counsel to assist their defense.

You need look no further than our own very forum right here to observe this (the incident from a few weeks ago in Saint John is precisely what I'm talking about).

 

[serpicostraight]

After watching the OP video I can say one thing,those two guys were some smart mouth punks. And if dispatched on a run/complaint on the two,they would need to provide some ID as it would be an investigation IMO. I can't stand people like those dip sticks. Idiots I say.

they seemed very polite to me. what part did i miss that makes them smart mouth? or punks?

 

[j706]

they seemed very polite to me. what part did i miss that makes them smart mouth? or punks?

Well if you can't see it I will be unable to help you.

 

[DocGlock86]

These two idiots were clearly out to cause trouble. I'm sure that will find some resistance on this board but whatever. It's easy to recognize that kind of instigation. I'm curious what these two fellers do for funds. Why aren't they working?

However I do have a hard time finding the balance between these two very interesting concepts:

1. Some cops are on a power trip and will be a jerk just because they can.
2. People should show Police officers more respect and quit screwing with them.

So you're saying every time INGO does an OC event we are being a bunch of idiots who are out to cause trouble???

People do not owe any respect to police officers. They are public servants and they work for us. They do, however, deserve our contempt when they violate our constitutional rights, using force and intimidation for no reason. A suspicionless stop and detention is ILLEGAL. It doesn't matter if it's done by a police officer--it's still a violation of the law.

Well said

People who believe this should expect the same in return and stop getting their panties in a wad when it happens.

As an adult, in this country, you should show respect to anyone until they give you reason not to.

Looked to me the LEO's gave plenty of reason to show no respect.

 

[IndyMonkey]

Everyone that is on the wrong side of the law lies to police, could you imagine a job where that was the norm. Where you deal with 5 turds a night and they all lie to you about what happened.They have to wade though all the BS to figure out whats going on.

You guys should do a ride alone some time and it will give you a different perspective of what they deal with and why police act the way they do.

There are some cops that do dumb stuff, but there are a lot of Citizens that operate with zero common sense.

The majority of cops are good and the majority of Citizens are good, its the 10% that cause 90% of the problems for the rest of us.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I'm going to say right upfront that, while I have had some LEO training, and was a Special Deputy for 6 years, I never worked on the street; I was basically a security guard. That being said, I worked in a public safety job for 13 years and had the opportunity to see all sorts of public interactions with public safety personnel in general, and law enforcement officers in particular.

Cops on the street are immersed in the crap of our society. They get to see the murders, the abuses, the craziness, and the hostility of our citizens on a regular basis. They get put into situations where they have to make split-second decisions that can result in peoples' injury or death - and we get to second-guess their decisions at our leisure. They have to not only be _right_ all the time, they have to be able to justify their decisions, sometimes to persons whose aims are antithetical to the LEO's. This can result in the "us versus them" mindset that causes Downzero and others to view them as they do. Certainly, it is the cops who over-react (or are just bad) that get the bad publicity; cops who do their jobs politely and correctly don't generally make the news.

As IndyMonkey said, you ought to ride along with them, not just once, but repeatedly, say - on the Downtown or Eastside districts and see what they see day after day. It might not change your mind, but it will at least give you a different perspective.

 

[phylodog]

Over the past ten years, reading the first hand accounts of these sort of reactions from the perspective of officers has encouraged me to attend law school. It is most unfortunate, though, that the people often on the "wrong side" of these tyrants seldom ever have any money, and thus settle for bad, or worse, no legal counsel to assist their defense.

Now I get it. Congratulations on your chosen profession, I am sure you will be quite successful and will be surrounded by those who share your sentiments.

 

[PaulJF]

Some police officers act as though they were drafted into the profession, and can therefore treat citizens with disdain. You chose the job and are expected to act in a manner that "the people" feel is appropriate to the position. Yes, you were hired by the city, county, or state, but you represent the people in your area. Yes, you even represent those "dregs" that you all seem to hate. They are still a part of your community and by default are the ones you work to protect.
If you can't handle the scrutiny and the responsibility of the job, don't let the door hit on the way out.

 

[serpicostraight]

I'm going to say right upfront that, while I have had some LEO training, and was a Special Deputy for 6 years, I never worked on the street; I was basically a security guard. That being said, I worked in a public safety job for 13 years and had the opportunity to see all sorts of public interactions with public safety personnel in general, and law enforcement officers in particular.

Cops on the street are immersed in the crap of our society. They get to see the murders, the abuses, the craziness, and the hostility of our citizens on a regular basis. They get put into situations where they have to make split-second decisions that can result in peoples' injury or death - and we get to second-guess their decisions at our leisure. They have to not only be _right_ all the time, they have to be able to justify their decisions, sometimes to persons whose aims are antithetical to the LEO's. This can result in the "us versus them" mindset that causes Downzero and others to view them as they do. Certainly, it is the cops who over-react (or are just bad) that get the bad publicity; cops who do their jobs politely and correctly don't generally make the news.

As IndyMonkey said, you ought to ride along with them, not just once, but repeatedly, say - on the Downtown or Eastside districts and see what they see day after day. It might not change your mind, but it will at least give you a different perspective.

the whole us vs them mindset isnt from the citizens its from the cops. i still remember when the stuff we see on a day to day basis now would have been grounds for several felony charges on the cop years ago. i know several retired and ex cops that are just as shocked as i am in the behaviour we see from cops now. theres probably even a few here on ingo. the vast majority are still good people doing a tough job and get it right but the numbers are rising rapidly of the ones who see everyone thats not a cop as a scumbag and treat them as such.

 

[redneckmedic]

So you're saying every time INGO does an OC event we are being a bunch of idiots who are out to cause trouble??

How in the world did you draw that conclusion? Clearly we should agree to disagree, some people will hang onto anything they can I suppose. You win, I'm wrong