KopBusters Hoax Looks Like It Was a Hoax Itself:
A few weeks ago, I posted about what was supposed to be a new reality TV show, "KopBusters," that showcased police misconduct. The first show was about a fake drug house in Odessa, Texas, that the police allegedly raided without probable cause based on a bogus warrant. I then added an update, to the effect that "[s]ome of the details about the show and the first episode seem sort of fishy at this stage, so perhaps it is best to approach this story with a healthy skepticism."
I thought it would be interesting to see if there were any new developments on the story, and it seems that recent developments point in the direction of the show being a misrepresentation and the claims of police misconduct being false. In particular, it seems that KopBusters staffers themselves made an anonymous tip to try to cause the police to get a warrant. (The show director has declined to say whether staffers sent in the tip -- a weird position perhaps best explained by the fact that making a false crime report is a crime. However, a Google cache of the show's message board shows a post, since edited, indicating that it did. Compare a contemporary reference to the pre-edited version here with the edited version here.)
In light of these developments, the KopBusters show is now taking the view that the episode doesn't show police misconduct but rather "judge misconduct," on the theory that the anonymous tip shouldn't have amounted to probable cause and the judge shouldn't have signed the warrant. (See here, at the bottom.) The problem with this argument is that as explained here, the anonymous tip had a number of details that would help corroborate the story and help create probable cause. It's hard to know without actually reading the affidavit whether its facts actually amounted to probable cause, but an anonymous tip can create probable cause if it's sufficiently detailed and the police corroborate those details, see Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983). I would need to read the warrant affidavit to know if that happened here. But at the very least the claims of police misconduct appear to be false, and all we seem to have left are some debatable claims that a judge may have signed a warrant that may have been based on less than probable cause.
I thought it would be interesting to see if there were any new developments on the story, and it seems that recent developments point in the direction of the show being a misrepresentation and the claims of police misconduct being false. In particular, it seems that KopBusters staffers themselves made an anonymous tip to try to cause the police to get a warrant. (The show director has declined to say whether staffers sent in the tip -- a weird position perhaps best explained by the fact that making a false crime report is a crime. However, a Google cache of the show's message board shows a post, since edited, indicating that it did. Compare a contemporary reference to the pre-edited version here with the edited version here.)
In light of these developments, the KopBusters show is now taking the view that the episode doesn't show police misconduct but rather "judge misconduct," on the theory that the anonymous tip shouldn't have amounted to probable cause and the judge shouldn't have signed the warrant. (See here, at the bottom.) The problem with this argument is that as explained here, the anonymous tip had a number of details that would help corroborate the story and help create probable cause. It's hard to know without actually reading the affidavit whether its facts actually amounted to probable cause, but an anonymous tip can create probable cause if it's sufficiently detailed and the police corroborate those details, see Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983). I would need to read the warrant affidavit to know if that happened here. But at the very least the claims of police misconduct appear to be false, and all we seem to have left are some debatable claims that a judge may have signed a warrant that may have been based on less than probable cause.
Related Posts (on one page):
- KopBusters Hoax Looks Like It Was a Hoax Itself:
- KopBusters Reality Show:
I'm not so sure. My understanding of the KopBusters story was as follows: "Yeah, we called in the tip. But we didn't give enough details to establish PC. We know that the police would have inserted some other details in order to establish PC." That's why, when the police showed up, they demanded a copy of the warrant.
If that is indeed what happened, then there'd still be serious police misconduct.
I'd like to see the warrant. Which, so far as I know, police have not released.
First, the police have released the affidavit and warrant to both KopBusters and the media.
Second, KopBusters is refusing to answer whether they called in the tip.
Third, I believe the only remaining allegation of police misconduct from KopBusters is the claim that perhaps the police made up the tip that KopBusters is refusing to answer whether they called in.
That would "bust" KopBusters pretty good.
If that is indeed what happened, then there'd still be serious police misconduct.
No. If the police act in good faith on a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate, the warrant is good and the police are blameless. Establishing that the police acted in bad faith by giving a tip to a judge is going to be a very tough sell.
What Mike&is construing as KopBusters' position is that the police fabricated details beyond the anonymous tip in order to increase the likelihood that a judge would find probable cause and issue a search warrant. Lying in a warrant affidavit would certainly be police misconduct. But, as Prof. Kerr points out, there's no evidence that that's what happened.
This is disappointing--I do believe that there's a substantial amount of low-level police misconduct surrounding procedural hurdles like probable cause for search warrants and properly interrogating suspects in compliance with Miranda but as Prosecutorial Indiscretion rightly points out, faked stunts like this only provide cover to the actual bad cops out there. I hope some nonprofit tries something along these lines in the future, but doesn't engage in lying or feeding police bad info in order to prove its point.
Cool. I haven't seen it. Have you read it?
Otherwise, you are something like the global-warming types who seem enormously cheered by every bit of bad news. "Yippee, the polar bears are drowning! Proves I'm right!"
If the Producers get to make reality TV out of their own trial, this sounds like a win-win.
Homer: My new television show is making millions! It's a hit!
Marge: That's wonderful, dear! What's it about?
Homer: Well, all we do is call in phony tips to the police. Then when they bust the door down, we've got them on tape committing police misconduct! It's ratings gold!
Lisa: Dad, calling in a false tip is a crime.
Homer: D'oh!
Kopbusters just feeds the trolls who say that police misconduct is extremely rare. It is also insanely stupid. If you really want to help victims of police misconduct, or victims in general, there are probably a lot more venues.
My guess is that Kopbusters is probably about stopping police brutality as much as Girls Gone Wild is about young female self expression.
According to the article, the story they're peddling now is that the police 'should have known' it was a bad tip because they couldn't smell marijuana from the AC unit, which is stupid. As for establishing probable cause, I'm no lawyer but the reported details seem comparable to those in Illinois v Gates.
Daryl: Lawsuits are probably unnecessary, given the actual criminal charges potentially at play.
i don't know how you define "extremely rare", but it's ridiculous to say that such a claim equals being a troll.
i used to think police misconduct was pretty common UNTIL i became a cop. i am well aware it happens, have read serpico, and prince of the city, bla bla.
it also varies significantly from agency to agency. you can blame everything from lax hiring standards/preferences (DC comes to mind), to horrendous pay and a culture of corruption (new orleans), etc.
Are you sure you haven't seen personally seen HUNDREDS of examples of corruption in the MANY jurisdictions you have been in? Tell us more!
Orin Kerr, if you find that affidavit and warrant I'll send you $20 paypal. You even say in your OP that you need to read it.
My experience has been living in DC and Columbus, OH. I should also add that I spend lots of time representing law enforcement.
Do I believe that most cops are good people who want to stop bad guys? Yes.
According to the Odessa American, Officer Garcia was the kop who swore on the warrant affidavit that Preacher Pierce gave him the anonymous letter. The Odessa American reports Preacher Pierce is denying any knowledge of the letter. We then learned the preacher is an Odessa Police Department Chaplain. Hmmmmmmm. Crazy things happen in small Texas towns. Go check this out and be certain to vote in their pole regarding KopBusters.
Do yourself a favor and lighten up.
I am a cop too, and my own views have been heavily influenced by libertarian thinking. But I often encounter this hostility myself, and I can't help but think that libertarians are pushing away potential converts. I would think that libertarians would be thrilled to have police officers reading libertarian thought. Don't you agree, loki13? Lighten up on Whit. He's one of the good guys.
btw, i have noticed the same thing. the reason.com website blog is a great example of this.
i guess it goes like this. libertarians hate authority (don't we all). cops represent authority. therefore, cops suck.
or something...
Perhaps there are no surveillance or validation steps possible for the police without a warrant, in which case they should be expected to garner one for non-invasive investigation. Perhaps they should have been expected to simply knock and request access, or look into uncovered windows to the extent they're allowed by law.
The linked oaoo.com post reveals that the anonymous letter details that there is a house at a certain location which has a nearby car with removed plates, tinfoil covered windows, and certain attributed which no reasonable person could consider suspicious (a chimney and an air-conditioning unit). The verification steps taken by the police merely ascertain that these facts are true, which doesn't strike me as useful in determining that there's any probable cause. I can look out my window and provide you with similar levels of detail about any of my neighbor's houses. Would that thereby elevate my letter to sufficient reason to invade their homes? I don't think a reasonable person would believe so.
If the person they determined was the renter of the home had some history of drug trafficking offenses or even connections to drug traffickers that might be a different story. However the connection merely seems to be that the person in indeed from Ohio. How is the useful information in believing that there's probable belief a crime is in progress?
The fact that the letter was supposedly delivered by a person with some credibility but that person denies being the recipient of the letter or providing it to police is a huge red flag in my opinion. That's a demonstrable falsehood on the part of the police and certainly counters the claim that there is nothing more than judicial laxness here.
The police have a finite quantity of time to enforce the law and have to prioritize their efforts based on severity of potential crime and quality of information. I don't think there's any credible position that their pursuit of this matter represents a useful use of their resources. That a private person with an axe to grind might have attempted to direct them in a bad direction isn't terribly useful in my opinion.
Barry Cooper could just as easily have been a local busybody who reports every occurrence of a neighbor failing to scoop their dog's poop, a disgruntled teen anonymously lashing out at a teacher who she felt had wronged her, a gang member trying to gain advantage over a rival, or any other private citizen who might have legitimate if unfounded concerns. We do not expect as rigorous a standard from these individuals, nor do we fund them with our tax dollars or need them to balance their efforts in this area with other priorities. Giving the police force added leeway because Cooper might not have been as diligent and reasonable as we'd like him to be isn't sensible.
in many jurisdictions, aguilar-spineli test applies.
imo, aguilar-spineli is a reasonable way to weigh credibility, basis of knowledge, probable cause, etc.
i've done (written or been involved) in dozens of warrants for a home. an anonymous tip has never been anywhere near enough to justify a search warrant. nor should it be.
like ALL pc questions, it's a totality of the circumstances test.
fwiw, i've never done or been involved in a search warrant for a grow that did not result in - a grow.
Duh. That's not the point -- the point is that the 4A requires you to leave those grows alone.
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