Anthony Greene walked into the Grand Rapids Police Department to try and get his towed car back one day in 1997. A lawyer, Greene asked about the fees and eventually called a lieutenant an “asshole.”
“He said to me, `You can't talk to me like that in my building,'” court documents said. Then the lieutenant responded by pepper spraying and arresting Greene.
Nearly six years later, a judge found the lieutenant had “no license to abridge” Greene's "freedom to speak as he did.”
This is not the only case of alleged “First Amendment retaliation” by police. Police across Michigan and the country have faced and settled lawsuits for arresting or using force against people who question, criticize or cuss at police. Until 2015, you only had to cuss near police, like in the case of the “cussing canoeist” on the Rifle River.
It is legal to speak your mind, advocate for yourself or record the police in many — but not all — circumstances. Still, attorneys and a former law enforcement officer say there’s no guarantee police officers will respect your rights in the moment — or that it is safe to exercise them.
“What the law says you can do is not a guide as to what you should do,” said Mark Fancher, staff attorney for the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Michigan.
“You know, technically, the First Amendment protects you and allows you to curse at police, to yell at police, to give them the middle finger and to do all kinds of things, up to a point,” Fancher said. “If you say or do things that are perceived by the police officers as a threat to their safety, then you're no longer protected.”
Former Detroit Police Department Chief Isaiah McKinnon has seen a lot of escalation in his years as a cop – and he’s noticed that often when violence occurs against citizens, it’s happening to people of color, especially Black people.
McKinnon said that often officers aren’t regularly interacting with or being trained to talk to people of color and de-escalate situations.
“An officer who cannot deal with or handle a person who uses what I would call foul or abusive language,” he said. “If he or she can't deal with that, they shouldn't be in the department.”
McKinnon works with departments across the country now with the Law Enforcement Action Partnership. He thinks the violent overreaction by officers to people who they perceive as talking back has a lot to do with who is recruited to be officers and how they are trained.
Keep yourself safe
Both Fancher and McKinnon agree — complying is the most important thing to do when interacting with an officer.
“The reality is you want to go home,” McKinnon said. “You don't want to be the next victim.”
When someone feels their rights have been violated, they suggest handling that later with an attorney or by making a complaint to the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners or a department supervisor.
“Be careful, be smart. Yes, you have these rights, but you have to decide when to assert the right,” said Detroit-based Attorney Johnny L. Hawkins.
Hawkins is part of a team of attorneys representing four men in a case alleging First Amendment retaliation by Detroit police. That case is set for jury trial in December. Everyone has the right to record an interaction with police in public spaces. ACLU attorney Fancher recommends announcing before taking out a camera and narrating every step so that officers know exactly what you’re doing.
It’s important to avoid interfering with police while recording. Attorneys recommend keeping a distance from police.
You also have the right to ask questions about why you’ve been stopped, if you’re under arrest and the officer’s name. People can also ask for an officer’s badge number and for the officer to turn on their body camera.
Race plays a role
As a result of his work on the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project, Fancher said he’s seen a pattern emerge in how white men and people of color are treated when interacting with police.
“It is not uncommon for young white men to react very vigorously to police. Even when the police are not necessarily engaged in misconduct, they will shout at the police. They will curse at the police. They will threaten the police,” Fancher said.
That’s not how Fancher sees young people of color typically react to police. He said men of color are often courteous and cooperative because their parents or guardians trained them to de-escalate to survive police encounters.
”The police officers, in many cases, will escalate the situation,” he said.
Do you have any questions about police and your rights? Do you want to share your experiences with police officers in Southeast Michigan? Reach out to criminal justice reporter Briana Rice at ricebri@umich.edu.
