Response to Racerx's Comment
This is a response to the following comment made by Racerx on my post The Third Hadley Encounter: Relapse,
I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have gotten from the Hadley police. If you're like me, you must feel angry, frightened, and humiliated. So far, I have been unable to find someone who is willing and able to help me. I can offer you some advice and point you to some information but it is unlikely to be entirely satisfying.
The first thing you should do is document your experiences as clearly and precisely as possible. Getting help will be vastly more difficult without a good record of your problem. I would be interested to hear what happened to you and I can publish it on this blog if you want. Once you have documented your experiences you can show it to people who might help. Even if they refuse to help, you will at least have raised their awareness of the problem and they might act on it once their awareness is driven to a critical level by hearing from enough people who have had similar experiences.
I probably do not need to tell you that, if the police have charged you with a crime, you need a good lawyer. Depending on your financial situation this might be a problem for you. It has been a problem for me. Fortunately, I was able to get help from a good lawyer, Don Frank, in the West Springfield case. There is not much else I can think of to say about this.
You should also prepare for future confrontations with police officers so that you can handle yourself properly. I have written an article on the subject specifically for cyclists based on my experiences and Keri Caffrey has written another that combines and summarizes advice from several cyclists that have been harassed by the police recently. An organization called Flex Your Rights has some good advice on their website and has published two videos on the subject (Busted (45:22) and 10 Rules for Dealing with the Police (Part 1 of 4 (9:33), Part 2 of 4 (9:34), Part 3 of 4 (9:35), Part 4 of 4 (9:24)), which are available on Youtube at the links I have given. This video is also interesting.
Some organizations you might want to contact are:
Anything you can do to collect up more people who have been abused by the Hadley police would also be helpful. The more stories we can tell and the more support we can collect, the more likely we will be able to get someone to pay attention. I am considering making an address to the Hadley selectboard about the issue, although I am not committed to it yet. More people and more stories would certainly carry more force. With enough people there is also the possibility of a class action lawsuit.
Good luck. Keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Eli Damon
A Hadley cop is messing with me now, a charge of something likeCorruption, and he is flat out fabricating words that he attributes tome. Is there a website or a group anywhere that is a watchdog on thiscorruption of Democracy?Dear Racerx:
I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have gotten from the Hadley police. If you're like me, you must feel angry, frightened, and humiliated. So far, I have been unable to find someone who is willing and able to help me. I can offer you some advice and point you to some information but it is unlikely to be entirely satisfying.
The first thing you should do is document your experiences as clearly and precisely as possible. Getting help will be vastly more difficult without a good record of your problem. I would be interested to hear what happened to you and I can publish it on this blog if you want. Once you have documented your experiences you can show it to people who might help. Even if they refuse to help, you will at least have raised their awareness of the problem and they might act on it once their awareness is driven to a critical level by hearing from enough people who have had similar experiences.
I probably do not need to tell you that, if the police have charged you with a crime, you need a good lawyer. Depending on your financial situation this might be a problem for you. It has been a problem for me. Fortunately, I was able to get help from a good lawyer, Don Frank, in the West Springfield case. There is not much else I can think of to say about this.
You should also prepare for future confrontations with police officers so that you can handle yourself properly. I have written an article on the subject specifically for cyclists based on my experiences and Keri Caffrey has written another that combines and summarizes advice from several cyclists that have been harassed by the police recently. An organization called Flex Your Rights has some good advice on their website and has published two videos on the subject (Busted (45:22) and 10 Rules for Dealing with the Police (Part 1 of 4 (9:33), Part 2 of 4 (9:34), Part 3 of 4 (9:35), Part 4 of 4 (9:24)), which are available on Youtube at the links I have given. This video is also interesting.
Some organizations you might want to contact are:
- The Civil Rights Division of the Attorney General's Office - See my earlier post The Attorney General. They accept complaints of civil rights violations by police officers and departments. They have been useless to me so far but it is important to raise awareness whenever possible.
- The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts - I have a meeting with ACLU attorney Bill Newman. He might help with the wiretapping issue but probably not with the other issues. However, ...raise awareness... See their page about submitting complaints of civil rights violations. Their Northampton office is at 39 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060. The phone number for the Northampton office is 413-586-9115. You might also consider becoming a member.
- Western Massachusetts Copwatch - I have never contacted them. I think that their mission is only to document abuse by police officers and that they cannot offer any direct help but I thought I would mention them anyway.
Anything you can do to collect up more people who have been abused by the Hadley police would also be helpful. The more stories we can tell and the more support we can collect, the more likely we will be able to get someone to pay attention. I am considering making an address to the Hadley selectboard about the issue, although I am not committed to it yet. More people and more stories would certainly carry more force. With enough people there is also the possibility of a class action lawsuit.
Good luck. Keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Eli Damon
Comments