By Carlos Miller
Like many cops, Ft. Lauderdale police officer Jeff Overcash did not appreciate a citizen asking for his name and badge number, so he placed the citizen under arrest as many cops do on a regular basis.
But this time, the citizens’ girlfriend videotaped the interaction.
And the video led to Overcash having to resign rather than face termination, according to the Broward Palm Beach New Times.
Of course, this also means that Overcash will most likely pop up at any number of neighboring police agencies in South Florida.
So remember the name. And never hesitate to film a cop if you feel something is not kosher.
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14 responses so far ↓
1 Tommy // Jul 5, 2010 at 10:39 PM
Carlos,
You and others involved in this at UM need to call the media, and hopefully some station will pick it up.
I’ve been following your blog for a few weeks, and I think it’s time to contact local and national media to air this story which, from what I’m seeing, is a national problem where photography is being treated as a crime by authorities.
2 Black Sabbath // Jul 5, 2010 at 10:47 PM
War “on Uppity Serfs” Pigs.
We’re all Vietnamese now; we’re all Iraqis now.
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait ’til their judgement day comes
Yeah!
Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pig’s crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
Oh lord yeah!
3 Carlos Miller // Jul 5, 2010 at 10:49 PM
I’ve been talking to one TV reporter who may do a story this week on it. The holiday weekend slowed things down around here.
Carlos Miller recently posted..Ft Lauderdale cop forced to resign after wrongful arrest caught on video
4 the bulldog // Jul 5, 2010 at 11:06 PM
as long as its not that jackass rosh lowe
5 adam // Jul 5, 2010 at 11:10 PM
The scary thing is, the cop knew he was being recorded as did the rest of his gang. Yet, they all acted as though the response by Overcash was normal.. to arrest the guy for daring to ask for a name and badge number. After all the publicity brought to situations like this one through websites such as the one here, it’s amazing that cops still act in this manner. Maybe it’s because they know nothing will ever happen to them personally? They don’t care how much the department (taxpayers) pays out in a settlement if it ever gets that far… as long as they can keep their job or at worst, find another one in a neighboring department, they aren’t concerned with their actions. They would rather attempt to harass, intimidate and belittle the citizen who dares to stand up to them then worry about upholding the law.
6 Jody // Jul 6, 2010 at 2:38 AM
I think wrongful arrest settlements etc. need to come out of the pension funds and salaries of so called public servants, when that happens you will see a lot of this crap stop instantly, hit the people responsible in the balls, not the taxpayer.
Jody recently posted..Public Schools Are Anti-Mind
7 Matt B // Jul 6, 2010 at 7:46 AM
Definitely. The problem is that the cops who do it have no punishment, or if they do, its very minor. Even getting fired isn’t a big deal as they just find another government agency to work at.
If they are fired, or even resign before being fired, they should never be able to work as a public official again. If they are sued, some of that money should come out of their salary. 20% should work nicely.
8 Tom Jankowski // Jul 6, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Make sure the reported isn’t Rick Sanchez!
9 genewitch // Jul 6, 2010 at 3:31 PM
Or, they have to have malpractice insurance. it starts out high for 2 years, then decreases for good behavior until they do something like this and get sued.
I was under the impression that police agencies were underwritten anyhow, but that might just be for property damage… anyone know?
10 Tony Voltron // Jul 6, 2010 at 4:52 PM
You missed the part when the “victim” was kicked out of porterhouse for picking a fight and told to leave.
11 Michael Owen Sartin // Jul 6, 2010 at 5:09 PM
In the interest of full disclosure, I only spent 45 minutes in law school and did manage to get a C in Constitutional Law. Here’s my take on the “wiretaping” laws: Point one, if a crime is being committed by a police officer, any public official or the guy at the corner who cleans your windshield, he or she has no right to privacy. In fact, if my dog pees on your lawn, Fido’s got no expectation of privacy.
Point two, anyone who reads Carlos’ blog knows how to photograph almost anything without being noticed doing it. Maybe it is time for everyone to buy a 3.5 megapixel shirt button. (Women get to wear broaches, so they should be shooting video and audio in 3D.)
12 the bulldog // Jul 6, 2010 at 7:40 PM
he WAS leaving…and on the way home he asked the cop a question…no biggie…again, if the cop did nothing wrong then why did he resign?
13 Carlos Miller // Jul 7, 2010 at 8:46 PM
Inside source tells me the cop resigned because his wife accepted a six-figure salary job in Washington DC and it had nothing to do with the investigation, which may be true because we all know internal investigations are a joke anyway.
14 Bob // Jul 10, 2010 at 1:25 PM
“And never hesitate to film a cop if you feel something is not kosher.”
Unless you’re in Massachusetts or Illinois where ‘you can’t have a police state without the State Police’
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