To those unfamiliar with the methods used by police to make absolutely certain that no possible criminal gets away, the story of Gregory Drummond’s arrest might seem incredible. There is nothing incredible about it. Indeed, it’s so ordinary as to evoke little more than a passing “tsk” from the casual reader.
Via RT.com:
Gregory Drummond and his dog were at the apartment building his girlfriend owns in the Bushwick neighborhood of the borough last September when police were called to the location for a domestic disturbance between two downstairs tenants.
When the police officers arrived, they talked to the second-floor tenant through a gate. “They then grabbed the second floor tenant through the gate and put their hands in his pocket, retrieved keys for the gate and the property, and entered the apartment,” the lawsuit said.
Once inside, they proceeded to search the other two apartments in the building, even though the disturbance was limited to the second-floor apartment. In that apartment, they discovered a gun and drugs. The tenant was arrested.
But so was Drummond.
Who’s who? What’s what? All that requires thinking, and whenever thought is involved, mistakes can happen. No cop has ever been criticized internally for arresting too many people, but letting a bad guy go by mistake is a unforgiveable sin.
While inside the third floor apartment, the plaintiff said the police seized his property, including televisions, video game consoles, cell phones and cash. He was not provided a property voucher for any of the items, and can therefore not reclaim them, the lawsuit claims.
They also seized Drummond’s dog, despite his pleas to call his girlfriend to come get the dog since he was being arrested, the documents said.
One of the greatest weapons in the war on crime is seizing the offending proceeds of crime. Or cool electronics, if you prefer to use the non-legal jargon. That Drummond received no voucher for his seized property is hardly unusual. They cart out whatever the kids want for their birthday and there’s no evidence it ever existed or was ever removed. Try explaining that to the property clerk in the basement of One Police Plaza when you want it back.
But the dog. It must have been a remarkably passive creature, perhaps warm and cuddly, with a bit of drool and a happy wagging tail, because the police didn’t shoot it on the spot. Dogs can be grave threats to police, and the cops tend to be far more inclined to eliminate anything that presents a threat of potential fear than care about the life of a pet. But this one survived the bust, suggesting that not even the greatest adherent of the First Rule of Policing could find fault with the dog’s demeanor. But it still had to be dealt with.
Instead, the officers took the dog to the pound, where they informed the staff that the unaltered male was a stray.
“Because the dog was considered a ‘stray’ at the representation of the Defendant police officers, the pound neutered the dog,” according to the documents.
“The Plaintiff did not wish to neuter his dog.”
The dog may not have been too keen on the idea either. For the folks at the pound, neutering is a way of life, a means to prevent the proliferation of unwanted strays suffering the indignities and pain of life on the streets. It’s an understandable reaction. But then, this dog wasn’t a stray, but Drummond’s pet. Perhaps Drummond was insufficiently practiced in the art of obsequiousness of the innocent in his dealings with the police. Perhaps the cop who brought the dog to the pound just didn’t give a damn, and wanted to get back to the precinct before all the really cool electronic stuff disappeared. Who knows.
Well, the dog knows. But then, that only matters if you consider a dog worthy of not being wrongfully neutered. You know, like an actual living thing.
The charges from the September bust were finally dismissed in May, a mere nine months of court appearances later. See how they finally sorted it out? Of course, the uninitiated might think that nine months to distinguish the potentially guilty from the clearly uninvolved is a bit long, as it could have been accomplished in about thirty seconds had some kid prosecutor put his mind to it.
But then, the prosecutorial mindset might have kicked in, and if the cops thought him guilty enough to arrest him, he must deserve it. And even if he didn’t do this, he surely did something worthy of prosecution. After all, aren’t all defendants worthy of prosecution?
Drummond is suing the NYPD for $1 million compensatory and another $1 million punitive. It will be adequate to compensate him for the false arrest and imprisonment and for the theft of his property, but it isn’t going to much for his dog. Business as usual for the NYPD.
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I wonder what the tipping point is for this crap? I’m a fairly “dedicated” hermit, and the savings from entertainment, travel, and other amenity costs has enabled me to purchase some good stereo/PC equipment. Knowing how difficult it would be to pry this stuff from the greedy LEO system is terrifying to this retiree. I’m just constantly hoping beyond hope that none of the neighbors are doing anything illegal.
I assume these are the same folks that mugged a judge. The list of things that are wrong is very long. Does anybody besides you care?
I assume some must, but then, the question I ask is why I seem to be the only lawyer in New York who thinks it’s worth the effort and risk to write about it. Or maybe everybody else is fine with how things are.
As the criminal blawgosphere dwindles to the point of near non-existence, and while the babies and the clueless are busy writing shallow, insipid posts on popular web outlets for their own self-aggrandizement, and I continue to do what I do here, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is me, not others, who is the fool wasting his time for no cognizable purpose.
Maybe I can limit my efforts to a few cute twits a day and be internet famous.
Analog thinking speaks for itself esteemed one. Cute twits or not digital just won’t do.
While I may try to help, never forget that my true purpose in doing this is for my own amusement. When it ceases to be fun, then it will cease to exist.
Yeah me too.
Give me the heads up when you get bored with it. I will buy the domain from you.
Mwa ha ha ha ha!
I will carve out a spot for you on Tuesdays to write about your new hobby.
I agree it is winding down but I hope you will persist. I was think about quitting myself but I went to retirement reception for a friend and they told me that even a small difference is better than no difference.
When I started I knew it would be like water dripping on a stone. It never occurred to me that they would replace the stone and that was disheartening. However things change not the way we want them to but if you look back twenty years it was worse then in some respects and not much different in others.
In 1914 women did not have the right to vote and juries were all white males. Women got the right to serve on federal juries in 1953 and the last state allowed them to serve in 1976. It took 62 years so the pace is slow and not at all steady.
Meh. The crimlaw blawgosphere used to be vital. It was fun. It’s not much fun flying solo most of the time.
Keep fighting the good fight. You have at least two regular upstate readers.
Thanks, Jill. Readers I’ve got. Other blawgers, not like I used to.
“Modern” bloggers understand blogging primarily as a marketing tool. Even when they “talk tough,” they’re doing so for that purpose.
The thing about police doing what you’re writing about here is that most people really do not understand that this is what happens. When reported in the news, the story reads like cops are some amazing investigators because they “targeted” some bad guy, and found exactly what they were looking for: weapons, drugs, whatever.
In reality, they went into a poor neighborhood, and basically went into every apartment in the complex. Along the way, they found mostly people who just wanted them to leave, which they did after a bit of rousting, and finding nothing, with the public also hearing nothing about the rousting.
But a few of the places they visited had weapons, drugs, whatever, and those are the ones the public heard about.
And the cops are not just heroes for getting the weapons, drugs, whatever, off the streets, but they’re geniuses because they knew where to go to get those weapons, drugs, or whatever!
Well, Ken White is back in the saddle and Jeff Gamso is still around, so you’re not completely alone. Plus, the back and forth between you and Judge Kopf is still pretty special. I, for one, hope that this continues to be fun for you.
So they simultaneously considered Drummond both responsible for the contents of another tenant’s apartment, and considered him a “squatter”?
Their modus operandi nowadays is to simply round up everyone and everything in a multi-unit building where a disturbance call originates?
I believe it’s the ‘Casablanca Tactic’.
It also resembles an Easter egg hunt.
Psst..
Hey, you…yes you…prominent federal practitioner.
The Robed Nebraska Rider dusted himself off and even got back on his horse.
Looks like he is aiming to ride west.
Now we can’t be having robed federal riders riding west completely unsupervised or some domesticated prosecutors might kidnap him.
Get drunk tonight and enjoy the fire the “outlaws” might need some civilized representation to track him come dawn.
So I see. I’m not sure which direction he’ll be riding, but as long as he’s riding, I’m good with it.
I don’t think he has it in him just yet to turn east even if he is on a selfishly deemed worthy and somehow diabolical waywardly path to drink from Mississippi again on his way to be a tool on a knee only to “showcase” the “faults” and “progress” being made while being paid to appear as propaganda on the TeeVeee shows.
I assume he will be riding in a leisurely “westward” direction for now. I also assume he knows the capabilities of his mount and himself.
Who knows?
Most would assume he has to go “east” again and face the dragons again eventually.
Or does he? ! ? !
I really don’t know.
He still has the “job” and his hobby is just that. But I think he is a rider and regardless of his politics I respect him.
I would like to imagine he is being tempted with gold, whiskey, and women as we speak.
We will see how and if he continues to navigate unchartered waters.
P.S. May your meal tonight dance with nutrition, flavor, and satisfaction. May every ounce of everything analog in your body and mind show the buckle to the fire. Enjoy it.
May the fire continue to glow long after your hand can no
longer hold the pen. May your voice, medicine, and written words reach the breaking point one day immortal with lore.
As per rules, I won’t provide a link, but if you google “Neuticles” you will find the solution to the dog’s problem.
As a dedicated reader (non-lawyer) I read your blog weekly. When I first discovered the blog, I spent a lot of time reading the archives. Also have had some good laughs at the snarky humor from you and some of your commentators. I would hate to see you hang-up your hat and fringe. And I’m envious of your clarity of expression and reasoning.
Thanks. I like the hat a lot and would hate to have to give it back.
As another dedicated non-lawyer fan, I appreciate that you not only “fight the good fight”, your blog and writing are both informative and humorous! You and your blog are unique in what it offers and provides, and like others, I hope to hell you continue for a long time. The Internet would not be the same without you.
The internet will survive, with me or without me. I’m just a blip.