In my hometown of Jackson, WI there is an officer named Kyle Henning. He’s been a Jackson police officer since December of 09′. He’s also the officer who ticketed me for driving without a license and got aggressive with me over the matter as seen in this video. He is pictured (above) in a photo he posed for while on duty at the local tavern a few months back.
After my first run in with Kyle I went to the chief of police, Jed Dolnick , to express my concerns on how quickly and the manner in which Kyle demanded my compliance even though I was peaceful. That I felt Kyle wasn’t interested in hearing my concerns instead he raised his voice and moved his hands toward his mase or taser. The chief ignored my concerns and I was left with no solution to the problem.
Out of that experience I felt that I should look into the Jackson police departments public records. So I started to inquire about the budget, prior complaints against officers, training of officers and more. It seems that the department took that personally and at that time stepped up the police presence around my home. I documented that increase and continued my fight. After a few weeks of the nonstop harassment, as several of my friends were pulled over visiting me and the department making me jump through hoops to get the public records, I wrote the chief this letter posted on my personal blog. I wanted to let him know that I was documenting the departments actions and that my request should not be taken as a personal attack.
After that things seem to cool down for a while. That was until my friend, Christina, approached me and told me how she has been pulled over three or four times by the Jackson PD. She stated that her car is registered to her brother, Joey, and that the police keep stopping her because he, not her, has a suspended DL. After several times of explaining (to the JPD) that her brother has given her the car to use and he doesn’t drive it anymore, they continue to stop her.
So last night (Sunday) Christina, Amber and I decided to drive around Jackson to see how long it would take the JPD to stop us. We left my place and just as we were pulling out, bam, there goes a Jackson PD squad car. We took a right to follow it but he (it was Kyle Henning) had a good jump on us. He used that jump to pull into the parking lot of a local diner and turn around to face our direction. We noticed him doing so and as we passed we all looked right at his car. He pulled us over and I shot this video:
I didn’t want to interfere while the stop was going on, even though Christina was asking me what to do. I think at this point it was best for Christina to answer his request and let me question him after. Which is exactly what I did. Notice how he states that he knows who Joey is and that none of us are him? If that’s so why didn’t he just walk up to the car and be like, “Oh no Joey here, sorry folks, have a good night.” Why does he have to run the driver when she has nothing to do with the reason for being stopped? To me, it’s because cops are trained to pry into people’s lives and not address the issue of the stop. They only look for something to pull you over for in order to question you.
I want to be clear that I don’t have anything against Kyle or the Jackson PD, though I wish they would focus more on crimes with victims than those without. It’s because they seem to be power happy, to the point where they run the plates of every car they see. They regularly drive by the Jackson Motel, local bars and who knows what other spots to check the plates on cars not on the road. Is this so they can keep pulling them over for petty infractions that have no victim? While I was in court the other day just about every police account started off with, “officer ran the plates” but never gave a reason as to why? As oppose to seeing person A speeding and then running their plates.
I wish the police, all of them, could stop wasting time with such nonsense. At night in Jackson it’s quite, so quiet that both officers on duty tonight seemed to enjoy playing cat and mouse with us. As they would disappear in a flash or as soon as they would spot our car they would drive in the other direction. I was happy tonight when we Cop Blocked Kyle from pulling someone over, as he made an illegal U-turn to chase them down, we got behind him and he knows we have cameras. But he must of ran his plates and couldn’t find anything to stop him for. Which for me is the problem, the Jackson police use tactics that are questionable. It starts with finding any reason to stop you, seat belt infraction, bad plates, registered to a suspended driver, anything they can. They then run the driver and passengers to dig deeper. I get that the law may allow for police officers to run the plates on cars or to stop you for not wearing a seat belt without actually seeing that car commit a violation or crime. But it doesn’t mean they have to do it and it definitively doesn’t mean to do it to every single car you see. Or in this case every time they can’t visually ID the driver.
Cops shouldn’t be out looking to ticket or arrest people. They should be out making sure people aren’t harming others. If the Jackson police see someone speeding and then find out they aren’t wearing a seat belt or have a DL then so be it. But it’s not right for them to abuse their ability to get information on you in order to stop you and possibly ticket you for other infractions. It might be legal but, to me, it’s not right and tax payers should be paying people to pry into their lives. If you feel the same way please contact the Jackson Police department 262.667.4949. Or email the chief at [email protected]
Though I was told by the Chief that my concerns for the police department are a waste of his time, I hope he replies to this. As he has never responded to my last email or maybe he’ll comment here as I’ll be emailing him the link to this post.
It seems cops are this strange breed of humans. They don’t really belong in a civilized society. It’s a shame, really. Most of them never did anything with their lives, never persued a college education or learned a trade where they would have to go out amongst others who are equal & compete for work & pay. To them, becoming a cop seems to be their grand achievement in life. The police business doesn’t function like the rest of the job market. Once you get there you’re fairly secure in work & pay. There’s no need to compete with others in the market or worry about selling your next job. There is no market for a cop, just a state protected monopoly on legal harrassment under the name of security.
That was bad ass Adam. Most cops are drones. They just do what they’re told without much thought at all.
It sounds like you are the ones trying to create problems, and the police don’t need to have a reason to run plates. Most of the time police officers are running plates of vehicles that match the descriptions of those whose owners have committed more serious crimes. Besides, my dad’s a cop, and the last thing he wants to do on his shift is follow people around to find reasons to pull them over. His job is long and stressful enough as it is. He doesn’t want to open up additional cans of worms and have more piles of reports and paperwork on his desk.
There are certain towns in which it is ill-advised to fuck with the police. Jackson, MS is up there on the list. They usually don’t bother with boring old stuff like probable cause or “rights.” If they don’t like your look, they will pull you over and harass you, search your car, put you over the hood, and then when they don’t find anything, they tell you in no uncertain terms to go back where you came from. A ‘we don’t like your kind’ sort of treatment. I’ve had it happen to me (about 15 years ago) and I’ve heard anecdotes from others that have simply passed through or went to a concert there.
Incorrect, to the above poster. Running a vehicle or ID check processes through a database called “NCIC” which is run via the FBI for the DOJ. There is no such thing as a local record check, as doing so while effecting a traffic stop would be in violation of guidelines set by the Federal Highway Administration and US Dept of Transportation.
Running an NCIC check without cause is a violation of someones 4th amendment right. Many officers, clerks and judges alike have been burned by this.
In the future, my advice would be to file a written complaint with the US Attorney in your area, local FBI field office and the state police or highway patrol (The latter agency manages the state database linking to NCIC and grants access to local agencies to NCIC.) I would just as a courtesy copy the Office of Professional Standards or Internal Affairs department for the local PD and the local prosecutor’s office.
Any malfeasance from that point should be sworn out in a criminal complaint with the prosecutor.
- Your friendly constitutional law attorney (Who is not providing legal advice, and should you have questions of a legal nature you should consult your state bar’s lawyer referral service to receive advice from an attorney who best knows legal remedies and statutes in your state.)
p.s. I accidently replied to your Arlington PD blog post, please delete that post.
This is the kind of crap that just makes cops more jaded and less likely to cut someone a break for minor violations. You seem to have devoted your life to making things difficult for cops, which is childish. But as long as we’re on the subject of your rights and liberties, here’s a shocker: Driving is a privilege extended by states, not a right. By driving, you are implying consent to an officer who requests your driver’s license and your name. You can be pulled over for any violation of law, be it a broken license plate light or breezing through a stop sign. This doesn’t mean that you will receive a ticket. If you aren’t driving while suspended (and you were) or drunk or with a dead body in the backseat, you probably have nothing to worry about. Being a smartass to a cop for the simple pleasure of being a smartass is tiring, excessive, and just plain silly.
The fact is, as long as the public demands that someone enforce laws and keep burglars and rapists out of their houses while demanding that they not have to pay the salaries of public officials, law enforcement has to be partially a for-profit business. Ticket revenues are how we pay cops because city and state government officials get their asses chewed every time the want to raise taxes or spend budgets on paying for a salaried (or hourly) law enforcement official. It sucks, but cops are constantly pushed by their bosses to write tickets or face unemployment. Don’t like it? Ask your local city/county council to raise taxes/spend budget earnings/pass around a donation plate. Stop complaining and be grateful that someone shows up when you call 911.
It looks like you may need to look at other ways to get the Chief attention, very really a small town can defend against documented legal case, see about getting an attorney to look at the case and take it for a percentage of the profits made on harassment or something like that. Let the town councilmember’s know that you are looking into legal action, and what the police are also doing this with the town time, then at the next police funding meeting raise your concerns that they have to many police officers on duty, so they are harassing towns people for something to do. Also raise to the town’s councilmembers that they are also notified of this harassment, and the police chief works for them, then you and your friends support the councilmember’s opponent at the next election.
There are also laws in certain towns, that allow the floor to vote on certain issues at meeting, check and see if there is one in your town. If so bring all your friends to the next meeting, raise the issue to remove the chief, then demand a floor vote, that will get his attention. If not get a balot question on the next election balot (small process in a small town) to replace the chief, this will get his attention.
wow i had heard some stories after i had a very similar incident with officer henning but the more i look at his report and see things like this he has proven that he isnt fit for the job he doesn’t even know his laws and that he is nothing more that a bold face lair. he told me at the time of my arrest that he had been on the police force for 2 1/2 years my incident was on june 7 of 2010 which by looking at public records is a lie. this would only be over a year.he was sworen in as a officer in january of 2009. he also told me that he had me on radar doing 37 in a 25 but when i asked to see the radar he stated that wasnt important at the moment. this was the reason he pulled me over. now he states he didnt have me on radar but that he had paced me another lie. he stated in the police report that he was following me traveling east on hwy 60 approaching the intersection on glen brook which the posted limit there is actually 40 and not 25 again another one of his lies. he also said in his report that i had a history which led him to believe i was doing something wrong but the prior crime he mentioned in his report was dismissed in court so how can he use this as a basis to go by if i was never convicted. also he had me outside of my car when he decided to search it which is illegal and just goes to show that he can be trusted and is un fit for the job