I need some insight and help on how a to obtain a copy of the dash cam video from a traffic stop involving my sister.
Do you HAVE to have an attorney to get a copy of the dash cam video? or can the citizen/person involved get a copy by requesting it?
Here is the situation,
My sister was pulled over by a male officer for not wearing a seatbelt. She had all her documentation ( license, proof of insurance). When the officer returned to the side of the car he asked her to step out of the car. She asked the officer why she was being ordered out of the car (she had no warrants or anything of the like) and he started yelling at her and told her he was going to arrest her if she didnt get out.
So she gets out of the because is terrified of this jackass at this point and in tears because she is so scared and then the cop proceeds to body search her front and back! Places his hands on her breasts, crotch, inner thighs, and her ass crack!! He even made her pull her shirt up to her bra and turn around!!!
He then cites her for no seatbelt and tells her she is allowed to go on her way and tells her next time she is asked to get out of the car by a cop that she better do as she is told. She drives her car a half mile to a wal-mart where she calls me hysterical and crying so hard she can hardly talk.
So my first question here is, to my knowledge this is against policy/law and a female officer must be called out to do a body search on a female suspect. Is this correct?
So i decide to look into this matter for my sister and i go the police dept to request a copy of the dash cam from that night and boy did i get a s*** storm going. First the lady at the front desk asked " why do you need it and what for" it doesn't matter what for, does it? i am requesting a freaking copy of it lady because i feel like my sisters rights were violated.
Then the lady at the desk tells me to "hold on" and 15 mins later a captain greets me in the lobby to question me about my sisters incounter and tells me that not all LEV's have dash cams..........
If the LEV the officer was driving was not a traffic enforcement vehicle then it would not have a dash cam onboard. BUT... he did not know for sure if it did or didnt. He never offered to check into it to see if it did. The vehicle the male officer was driving was a marked city police car with all the trimmings (apparantley without a dash cam, according to the captain i spoke with).
My question is, what are our options on this? We really don't want to have to "lawyer" up to get a copy of the dash cam video that will possibly show misdonduct by an officer. But it is clear to me that this police dept is trying to keep me from obtaining this dash cam video. The captain did say if my sister feels her rights were violated she can file a complaint which she is doing tomorrow. But we want a copy of the dash cam video.
Let me be clear here, no i was not there that night with my sister so i did not witness anything this is a fact. My sister HAS NEVER been in trouble with the law in her entire life! This incident will be the first traffic ticket (no seatbelt) she has ever received in her life. She is NOT the person to just makeup a story like this and to hear her voice that night when she called me after this encounter something was wrong.
Any advice would be apprechiated.
Do you HAVE to have an attorney to get a copy of the dash cam video? or can the citizen/person involved get a copy by requesting it?
Here is the situation,
My sister was pulled over by a male officer for not wearing a seatbelt. She had all her documentation ( license, proof of insurance). When the officer returned to the side of the car he asked her to step out of the car. She asked the officer why she was being ordered out of the car (she had no warrants or anything of the like) and he started yelling at her and told her he was going to arrest her if she didnt get out.
So she gets out of the because is terrified of this jackass at this point and in tears because she is so scared and then the cop proceeds to body search her front and back! Places his hands on her breasts, crotch, inner thighs, and her ass crack!! He even made her pull her shirt up to her bra and turn around!!!
He then cites her for no seatbelt and tells her she is allowed to go on her way and tells her next time she is asked to get out of the car by a cop that she better do as she is told. She drives her car a half mile to a wal-mart where she calls me hysterical and crying so hard she can hardly talk.
So my first question here is, to my knowledge this is against policy/law and a female officer must be called out to do a body search on a female suspect. Is this correct?
So i decide to look into this matter for my sister and i go the police dept to request a copy of the dash cam from that night and boy did i get a s*** storm going. First the lady at the front desk asked " why do you need it and what for" it doesn't matter what for, does it? i am requesting a freaking copy of it lady because i feel like my sisters rights were violated.
Then the lady at the desk tells me to "hold on" and 15 mins later a captain greets me in the lobby to question me about my sisters incounter and tells me that not all LEV's have dash cams..........
If the LEV the officer was driving was not a traffic enforcement vehicle then it would not have a dash cam onboard. BUT... he did not know for sure if it did or didnt. He never offered to check into it to see if it did. The vehicle the male officer was driving was a marked city police car with all the trimmings (apparantley without a dash cam, according to the captain i spoke with).
My question is, what are our options on this? We really don't want to have to "lawyer" up to get a copy of the dash cam video that will possibly show misdonduct by an officer. But it is clear to me that this police dept is trying to keep me from obtaining this dash cam video. The captain did say if my sister feels her rights were violated she can file a complaint which she is doing tomorrow. But we want a copy of the dash cam video.
Let me be clear here, no i was not there that night with my sister so i did not witness anything this is a fact. My sister HAS NEVER been in trouble with the law in her entire life! This incident will be the first traffic ticket (no seatbelt) she has ever received in her life. She is NOT the person to just makeup a story like this and to hear her voice that night when she called me after this encounter something was wrong.
Any advice would be apprechiated.