A white officer in suburban Detroit lied to a Black pedestrian by identifying an officer from another force as his supervisor during a 2021 police stop.

Brian Chaney says he asked for a supervisor during his arrest in Keego Harbor, Michigan, and Police Officer Richard Lindquist told him that another officer present was in charge. The problem: That second officer was not a supervisor or even a member of the Keego Harbor Police Department.

Lindquist was never disciplined and his chief says that while a suspect has the right to request a supervisor, what the officer did was OK.

“An officer can lie in the field when he’s not under oath,” Keego Harbor Police Chief John Fitzgerald said in a deposition in Chaney’s $10 million wrongful detention lawsuit.

  • valaramech@kbin.social
    32·
    10 months ago

    I generally agree with the stance that undercover cops should be allowed to lie, since failing to do so would defeat the purpose of being undercover. However, an officer actively arresting someone using their authority as a police officer should be required to be as truthful as possible with the person detained.

    I’ll stop saying “defund the police” when “protect and serve” is actually what they do.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      10·
      10 months ago

      I agree completely. That’s why I said a judge should have to sign off on it. An officer actively arresting someone could not legally lie in that scenario. Only cops in specific scenarios where judges approved of it could lie. That would be far from perfect, there are plenty of rubber stamp judges, but it would also be a lot better than what we have now.