Dallas Police Manufacture an Excuse to Harass and Attempt to Question Man Legally Filming in Public

The following post was shared with the CopBlock Network by Patrick Roth of CopBlock Oklahoma, via the CopBlock.org Submissions Page. (See “related posts” section below for previous submissions from Patrick.)

In this video, as the name of the post implies, Patrick was legally filming in public at the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department. As he does so, two Dallas police officers arrive and approach. Shortly after walking up to Patrick, those officers stated that they had received a call about him and where just checking to see if he was alright. However, within the description below Patrick maintains that no such call was made and that this was just an excuse they were using to justify attempting to question him (which is not an unusual tactic among cops conducting fishing trips).

For the vast majority of the encounter Patrick remains silent, invoking his Fifth Amendment right and refusing to speak to the officers. After a minute or so of awkward silence, the cops give up and head back to their car. One of the officers readily admits that filming in public is legal and the harassment is actually fairly minimal. Once they have driven away, Patrick returns his attention to filming the headquarters building and everyone seemingly lives happily ever after.

If you have a video, personal story involving police misconduct and/or abuse, or commentary about a law enforcement related news story, we would be happy to have you submit it. You can find some advice on how to get your submission published on the CopBlock Network within this post.

Date of Incident: December 17, 2016
Department Involved: Dallas Police Department
Department Facebook Page: Dallas PD
Department Twitter Account: @DallasPD
Department YouTube Channel: Dallas Police Dept.
Department Phone No.: (214) 671-3001

I was doing some public filming at the Dallas Police Department when two officers approached me wanting to know what I was doing and illegally claiming they got a police call. I actually found out later that there was no police call and I reported both of them. So, they had no authority to come up to me and question why I was filming. They also didn’t respect me remaining silent and it obviously bothered them.

– Patrick Roth
Copblock Oklahoma

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