NEW HAMPSHIRE POLICE ARREST MAN FOR GATHERING EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM
Dover man charged with taping his DWI arrestMay 7, 2007
ROCHESTER, N.H. --A 48-year-old Dover man has been charged with tape-recording his own drunken driving arrest early Monday.
Police say they saw Christopher Power sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle with its motor running just before 3 a.m.
After speaking with Power, police charged him with drunken driving, and discovered a running audio recorder on the driver's seat. In addition to drunken driving, Power was charged with wiretapping.
COMMENTARY: Here, in San Diego, police began using video recording devices some years ago. They stopped when defense attorneys started figuring out that what the arresting cops put in their reports wasn't matching was really happened according to the videotape. The cop would write that the suspect failed all of the field coordination tests. The video didn't show that. The cop would write that the person seemed impaired. The video didn't show that. So, what was the outcome? They canned using the videotapes. It wasn't good for police business. This New Hampshire man should get a medal for taping his stop. Cops should be prosecuted if they destroyed the evidence.
