Seattle Hacker Catches Cops Who Hid Arrest Tapes

An anonymous reader writes "In 2008, the Seattle Police illegally arrested security consultant Eric Rachner for refusing to show ID. After Rachner filed a formal complaint, he was prosecuted for obstructing, and the police claimed that videos of the arrest were unavailable — until Rachner's research uncovered proof that the police had the videos all along." It's an interesting story of how he figured out how the system in use by Seattle police automatically tracks deletion, copying, or other uses of the recorded stream.

Re:A few bad apples

[snspdaarf]

Probably that the default position of the police is to trust, and that of the gangster is to distrust.

Re:Obstruction of justice

[Red Flayer]

with that logic there would be no cops left in a month. :)

Exactly. Which would leave the local security and power void I need to begin Operation Tragic[1] Destiny, in which I seize control of the world's greatest economy by leveraging the power of my hand-picked local security forces across municipalities in the US.

Mwu-ha-ha-ha.

[1] It's tragic because moments after I achieve total domination of the US economy, I realize it's been surpassed individually by the economies of China, India, and Europe, and is struggling futilely to not be surpassed by the economies of the Pac Rim, Russia, South America, and the nascent powerhouse economy of Madagascar. (It's a long-term plan).

Re:Obstruction of justice

[eldepeche]

-1, White

Re:Obstruction of justice

[YrWrstNtmr]

IMNAL = I Might Need A Lawyer?

Re:A few bad apples

[Anonymous Cowpat]

How many more isolated incidents from statistically insignificant "bad apples" does it take before people realize that this behavior is closer to rule and not exception?

Sir Humphrey: "These are just a few isolated examples..."
Jim Hacker: [waving a large folder of papers] "I've got another 700 isolated examples here"

Re:Carefully parsed language

[mcgrew]

From A Child's Garden of Grass

"Your paperss pleass!!"

"Uh, I only got a pipe, man."

"Zen you'll haff to com vit me!"

Re:Obstruction of justice

[jd]

Only if the topic veers into Scientology.

Re:Obstruction of justice

[Skippy_kangaroo]

I spent a number of years in Boston as an Australian.

The only time it was necessary to carry a passport was when I wanted to have a drink at a bar. They card everyone. Unfortunately, carrying your passport and getting drunk are not circumstances that generally lead to a happy conclusion.

Re:There's a better charge..

[budgenator]

No, obviously your confusing

bona fide [merriam-webster.com]
Etymology: Latin, literally, in good faith Date: 1632

1 : made in good faith without fraud or deceit
2 : made with earnest intent : sincere
3 : neither specious nor counterfeit : genuine

with

bonified [urbandictionary.com]
The act of being boned and then feeling satisfied.

Dude, yesterday I totally boned miley cyrus, it was awesome.

Really?

Yeahhh, it was great.

Did she like it?

Well I knew she did when she said, " Omg, baby you left me bonified.

Re:Wow.. AC for a comment of this quality?

[WNight]

You are so fucking dumb I expect your head to implode.

They don't need your name to arrest you. Had they actually had a reasonable suspicion that he had broken a law they could have arrested him immediately.

The only thing they didn't need was his name.

I heard some good advice recently, tell me what you think: Try a little nuance in your thinking

I think it's a good idea, but you don't seem to...

not everything is black and white, the hero fighting the villain. Sometimes it's just two villains fighting.

After all there's ZERO evidence that this guy is even a jerk, let alone that he did anything wrong, and you're trying as hard as Glen Beck to paint him as the problem.

There's a rape victim. Go not-so-subtly blame her clothing, or judgment. Quickly, for great justice!