by DL-Online
Wahpeton police officer suspended for arresting teen with lack of probable cause
May 17, 2011 at 4:26 pm in DL-Online
WAHPETON, N.D. A police officer here has been suspended for five days without pay and must take 40 hours of remedial law enforcement training as punishment for arresting a juvenile with a lack of probable cause an incident the teenager recorded and posted as a YouTube video that went viral. Continue Reading
Officers have enough to worry about without being DISTRACTED by somebody video taping them. That kid was wrong and could have caused the officer to be harmed by the person in the vehicle.
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Officers should not have to follow the law they swore to uphold. The gull of that kid to walk down a public street, with a cam corder, AND to answer the officer when the officer asked a question! (watch the video you’ll see).
I can’t believe the officer got the hand slap for disgracing the badge as he did – Thank god the kid had a camera – otherwise who do you think the judge would believe – an officer or a teen. Makes me wonder how many other false arrests this crooked cop has made. Pathetic… Absolutely pathetic.
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I admit the officer was wrong for the way this was handled from the onset but how many of you sitting in judgment of the officer have never said something or done something in haste that you regret after your head cools? How many have reacted to a situation and said, “I could have handled that better?” How many of you know ALL the facts regarding Mr. Wanek and his history with the law? This kid isn’t out to just do an innocent story or something like that, he got the reaction from the officer that he pushed for. This kid is not an innocent little teenager trying to do something right. This will not be the last time you see Wanek’s name in the newspapers. I will however bet that the next time you see it, the charges will be legitimate and he will have to answer for his actions. People make mistakes, how you learn from the mistakes is what tells of your character. Again, before you jump all over my opinion here, I did say the Officer Hill was in the wrong.
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You nailed it Ironsidestud… This will not be the last time you hear Wanek’s name in the paper. I would venture to say it will not be a positive mention next time.
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The office may have made a mistake, but until you are in those situations it is easy to judge. He should have asked the kid to shove off to another time and place to cause problems… If you watch the video, did it look as if there was a unlawful raid taking place??? That is what he is claiming to be documenting. If you look into this teenager, he has a whole lot of issues with authority. To me it seems there is no respect for others unless they buy into his nutjob conspiracies. Office Hill probably took it to far and was punished, but this kid needs to be sat down at a table with mommy and daddy telling him to end this now. But children seemed to learn from parents more often than not… Hmmm
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dont know the kid, might be a typical pain in the arse teen …. i have tried on the shoes of dealing with those who like to test ones patients and never have used the power I have to repress another’s civil liberties, which is what happened here. The question here is simple, who is the adult and who broke the law.
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This kid is out looking to cause problems for the police officers. He thinks he’s doing this honorable service to society. Use your energy for something positive. What would he do if he needed police assistance????
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Some of you crack me up!!! Ha ha
So many dislikes for that comment? Do something positive with your energy. My thoughts are, if you need assistance, do not call the police when you need them I guess. Otherwise you are a hipocyte.
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Well we are just lucky that this teen didnt get the officer killed. That situation could’ve been alot worse regardless.
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