[Vision2020] Proper Law Enforcement/ was Local Hero

[Garrett Clevenger]

Noise ordinance foe arrested
Claims retaliation
By Ima Jo Ker
April 1, 2012
The Daily Blues

   Police arrested noise ordinance foe Garrett Clevenger Saturday for excessive noise. Clevenger was playing rock and roll in his basement when Officer Gonna Getcha was biking by. Getcha claimed the music was too loud and Moscow's noise ordinance gave police officers the discretion to ticket offenders for any noise. Getcha warned Clevenger of his violation.
   "When I finally was able to get Mr. Clevenger's attention, he agreed to turn his guitar amp down, but when I returned, it was actually louder," Getcha said.
   Getcha issued a citation to Clevenger, who then was alleged to tear it up in front of Getcha.
   "He told me the noise ordinance was illegal, thus the ticket and my intrusion were unwarranted. I gave him a ticket for littering," Getcha said.
   Clevenger was then alleged to have taken his clothes off and run around the neighborhood. Getcha called for backup and eventually apprehended and arrested Clevenger.
   Clevenger gave a different account, claiming Getcha retaliated for Clevenger's recent Vision 2020 post regarding officer Phil Gray. That post created an uproar.
   "I understand why that post was misinterpreted. It's unfortunate that it's point was proven by the way a certain law enforcement officer reacted. I'm just glad that most officers see where I'm coming from," Clevenger explained.
   Clevenger's post was about how should the community expect law enforcement officers to behave, either serving us or working against us? Clevenger compared Gray's recent actions, where he prevented a car accident by blocking an out-of-control car with his own vehicle, to an email Gray sent to Clevenger during his attempt to prevent the city from modifying the noise ordinance.
   "I was trying to prevent the city from passing a law that gives police officers the right to ticket anyone at anytime for any noise the officer deems offensive. That effort was stressful enough.  Officer Gray sent me an email which I found to be hostile. When he never replied to my response, I realized he wasn't interested in dialog. Two hours after replying to his email, though, two of officer Gray's colleagues came to my house for something supposedly unrelated. It was creepy and I felt intimadated. This shouldn't happen to citizens who are just exercising their rights and civic responsibility," Clevenger explained.
   Clevenger let that go and never made public which officer sent that email. His feelings changed when he heard about Gray's accident. Clevenger posted on Vision 2020 his thoughts.
   "I hesitated about what I should say. I knew it would upset people. It was a serious subject and would probably be misinterpreted. My mistake was probably keeping humor out of it. I never thought I'd be arrested for it, though," Clevenger said.
   Clevenger did concur with some of Getcha's story.
   "We were jamming Keep On Rockin' In the Free World. When we stopped, we heard banging on the door. I opened it to find officer Gonna Getcha there. He told me he heard us playing music while biking by. I've never had a neighbor complain about us rocking out. I try not to play too loud and too late. It was still early evening. We weren't the loudest thing around," Clevenger said.
  "I definitely was torn then. I didn't want to offend anyone, but we wanted to jam more. I really felt like officer Getcha was being too strict with his warning. Would you stop doing what you're doing just because on over-ambitious officer reads an illegal law to the letter? I told him we'd lower the volume, and I think we did. When he returned and gave me the ticket, I knew he was looking for an excuse to harass me. I knew my Vision 2020 post was probably the cause. He must not have liked the way I looked at him then because the next thing I know I was on the ground and handcuffed," Clevenger said.
   He denies tearing the ticket up and taking his clothes off.
   "I'm sure there'd be a YouTube video out now if I was running around naked. It's ironic because I fought against the nudity ordinance when it was passed, but I'm really more modest than that," Clevenger said.
   If the city presses charges against him, Clevenger plans to sue. He thinks he has a strong case against the noise ordinance for being over-broad and unconstitutional and Idaho state law prevents cities from passing obscenity laws.
   "I really just wanted to have a dialog about proper law enforcement conduct. Officer Gray's heroic effort to stop that car is exemplary. That's how I want to think of him when I hear his name, not that he was the officer who seemed hostile towards me trying to be a good citizen. Hopefully we can get past this and start focusing on how all of us can get along better. I hope he gets better soon. Maybe we can jam out some day," Clevenger concluded.

[Vision2020] Proper Law Enforcement/ was Local Hero

Garrett Clevenger garrettmc at frontier.com 
Fri Mar 30 11:00:34 PDT 2012
Previous message: [Vision2020] How to submit to slavery
Next message: [Vision2020] Keep on rockin' in the free world
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
To stir the pot, I'll say it's kind of ironic what happened to officer Gray considering what he wrote to me when I was fighting the noise ordinance modification:

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 04:55
"Mr. Clevenger,
 
I think the opinion from magistrate Hamlett, as he is NOT the District Judge-that would be Judge Stegner, regarding police officers not being able to represent themselves as citizens because they represent all citizens is just that, his opinion.  He is also the judge that says being struck by a suspect when trying to arrest him/her is just part of the job, hence the small bail amount for battery on a peace officer.  I’m not sure about you, but I didn’t see anything in my job description stating something like, “as part of your job, you will be kicked, hit, punched, slapped or otherwise abused by any person while attempting to fulfill your duties as a police officer “  
 
Question to you….Have you ever been to any noise complaints where the violators yell and scream at you, call you, your family, your kids names, threaten you, your family, your kids with bodily harm etc….????  I doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.  Apparently you have little or no trust in the MPD to fairly enforce such an ordinance."


I'll let you decide if it's appropriate for police officers to send emails like this to those who are fighting to try to limit their power and stand up for constitutional rights.

Personally, I thought it was a form of intimidation, particularly in light of what happened following my response to him. This is not how police officers should behave. Fortunately it's on the more tolerable end of crossing the line.

People who want the right to enforce the law should be held to the highest standard. They need to prove they are worthy of trust, not be given a free pass. Things are sometimes black and white, not shades of gray.

Sometimes how officers are perceived to be acting is more important than how they really act. Their job becomes a lot easier when the people they are empowered to enforce the law over respect and trust them.

Perhaps this is all paranoia, but seeing what's happening pretty much every where, I wonder why or if Moscow is different. In other words, why wouldn't one assume that, even though we're in Moscow, the tendency is for those in power to cross the line? Why wouldn't someone be concerned when they feel intimidated for speaking out? Hard liners in Iran crack heads, but it can happen anywhere.

My point is that sometimes even the finest officers do things which are inappropriate and disconcerting to citizens. If they are recognized for their heroism, they should be recognized for crossing the line.

Officer Gray's recent actions preventing a worse accident are an inspiration. That's the way I want to think of him.

I'm only writing this because I'm still irked by the whole noise ordinance fiasco.

I can only hope there won't be fallout from my comment, but if our officers really are trustworthy, there shouldn't be a problem. I think they should understand that if officers start crossing the line, things can get out of control.

Hopefully my message that those in power cross shouldn't cross the line outweighs any repercussions. 

I wish officer Gray will get well soon. He did a good thing here.

Garrett Clevenger

PS His email wouldn't have been so bad if he had replied to my response to him, which is found below. But I guess he really wasn't interested in engaging in dialog about this issue:

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 11:09
"Honestly, I don't have an issue with party houses or
the situation you describe.  I'm more annoyed by
late-night fire crackers.

Is there a law against people being assholes, which
sounds like the people you are describing?  I don't
like people like that, but this proposal wouldn't
specifically solve that problem.
 
As I stated on v2020 earlier, I have no reason to
believe that MPD would abuse the proposal.  But that
isn't the point.  We can have the finest police
officers around (I have only had good encounters with
them) but that doesn't mean there isn't the potential
for abuse now or in the future.

I believe you are a police officer and if so, I thank
you for your service.  I am sure you see all kinds of
crap.  There are lots of idiots out there.  I assume,
though, no body made you become a cop.  I wouldn't
want the job myself, so I assume you have a passion
for what you are doing and must enjoy some aspects of
it.  You probably had an idea, though, that you would
be dealing with the low lives and potentially be
threatened.

My cousin is a cop and he's told me some heinous
stories.  I realize that you guys have experiences
that give you a different perspective on things than
us civilians.

My best friend is living in Mexico right now where the
law enforcement carry ak 47's.  And they are very
common.  He says things are very peaceful and the cops
are nice.  But that doesn't mean I'd want to replicate
that scenario here. [There also is no noise ordinance and things can get noisy]

Frankly, I distrust most people, including those in
power.  Obviously innocent until proven guilty, but
that doesn't mean you infringe our constitutional
rights to cover a few bad apples (assholes) who are
annoying you.

Did you hear about the guy being tackled and tasered
in Florida questioning John Kerry a few weeks ago? 
From what you know, do you think they handled the
situation responsibly?  Do you think all cops are
good, or are there bad cops out there who should not
be in a position of power

I believe people have the right to free speech, though
the courts often rule against someone expressing
themselves in a negative way.  But I ask you, should
it be illegal for someone to yell at you?  Isn't it
already illegal to threaten someone?  Or are you
saying that as a police officer, you don't have the
right to not be threatened?

Perhaps you know more about Hamlett's opinion.  That
was news to me when our city attorney Randy Fife made
the statement at the city council meeting.  I doubt he
would say it if it wasn't important.

I imagine that is his opinion based on the right to
face your accuser in a court of law, but perhaps there
is another reason.

Does Idaho code back up Hamlett's opinion?

Lastly, do you support this proposal to give police
officers the right to issue a citation on the spot to
anybody, anytime, anywhere in Moscow for being noisy
enough to annoy the officer?  If so, do you think it
is right for the council to vote on this issue without
inviting the public to testify?

I appreciate you being objective listening to my
points.  I hope you appreciate that I am uncomfortable
taking such a public stance as this.  People are shot
for challenging the powers given to authority. There
is a threat of retaliation from your fellow officers
for me standing up for my rights.  I just hope you
don't take this personally and decide to target me
personally.  Perhaps that is the risk I take.  But
that still wouldn't be justice and ultimately serve
what I assume is your oath to serve and protect us
citizens and the laws of the land.

This proposal is more than about you or me.  It is
about the ideals that make up America.  How much blood
has been shed trying to grant these freedoms to
Americans?  The struggle between equal rights, liberty
and security continues.  As an American, it is my duty
to stand up when those in power are acting
irresponsibly.

Thanks,

Garrett

ps On another note, I invite you to listen to a song I
wrote, A Guy I Wouldn't Want To Know, as tribute to
those slain by the sniper last May so that you know I
am not a bad guy.

I know Lee Newbill was a friend of yours and I am
truly sorry he suffered the worst fate in the line of
duty.

visit http://profile.myspace.com/garrettclevenger to
listen."



I never received a response.  I would have felt better had this officer answered my questions.  Two hours after replying to him, though, two of his fellow officers came to my house to ask me questions about my ex-fiance from 4 years ago who is a witness in a trial that will start in January.  Instead of calling, they wanted to come in.  This was either a strange coincidence, a cruel joke, or they were trying to intimidate me.  I believe in free speech for everybody, but when someone gets a hostile email from the police when at the same time working on limiting the powers of the police, that skirts pretty close to violating the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.  If government officials intimidate people who speak out, that could be construed as an infringement of our First Amendment right.

 



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20120401/b262ebf7/attachment-0001.html>