Washintonian_For_Liberty
Regular Member
imported post
So, I went to Mercerdale Park with my daughter this evening and had a fairly uneventful time. My daughter played on the playground with several kids as I chatted with their parents. Both sets of parents didn't mind at all that I was open carrying and even commented that it was a wonderful thing for people to carry openly as it was a great deterrent for the lowlifes that usually come around and sit on the children's playground toys and houses.
Well, after two uneventful hours at the park, I was wrapping up and getting ready to head back to my home when three police showed up. Two in one parking lot to the south of the park and one, who drove his SUV right out on to the grass right close to me.
The first two come up to me and the bald very tan tattooed officer asked me if I had a weapon. The younger of the two stayed silent.
I answered that I did on my right hip.
He requested that I turn towards him to show him.
I pivoted to my left slightly with my arms crossed on my chest so as to not warrant alarm.
At this point, the third officer, Sgt. Noelshowed up and asked to see my ID.
This is when I asked if I was being detained.
The first officer stated that I was.
As I handed my ID to Sgt. Noel, I asked why I was being detained.
This garnered a dirty look from all three police with Sgt. Noel responding "Because you are an unknown man with a gun who is a danger to everyone in the park."
I answered "What I am doing here is perfectly legal."
The Sgt replied "No it is not! In Mercer Island, you are not allowed to carry a weapon in the open!"
The first officer who spoke to me (who had an exotic name I cannot remember), said to my side that only conceal carry with a license was legal and I was breaking the law. He then said from behind me "Sit down on the ground."
So as to not cause my three year old daughter to panic if the police decided to jump me if I did not comply, I complied. The officer behind me then told me he was going to hand cuff me.
I asked him if I was under arrest.
Sgt Noel said "You are only being detained. We are hand cuffing you for officer safety. We can do this. We can do anything we want as long as we deem it necessary to officer safety."
I repeated "Am I under arrest? And if I am, what is the charge?"
The Sgt replied "You're not allowed to carry your gun like that, so we're going to look at the signs to see if it is prohibited here in the park, and if it is, you are going to have some serious trouble!"
I then indicated to the OCDO pamphlet I had right on the ground on top of my wallet that all pertinent RCWs pertaining to open carry and State preemption of local ordinances that fall outside the allowable laws would be right there...
The Sgt said "I have no intention of looking at that.. I don't care what the hell it says."
So then, the Sgt and the younger officer who had just returned from walking around the park reading the signs, walked over to the SUV stillparked on the grass not 15 feet from me and the big officer who cuffed me.
The big officer behind me then said "Are you trying to make a point? We could arrest you for brandishing a weapon and then where would your daughter be?"
I replied "Officer, while you may feel your concern is warranted, I have not brandished my weapon as that would require me holding it in my hand."
To which he replied "Oh yes you did... and everyone in the park saw it."
"Yeah, but I was not brandishing it and what I am doing is perfectly legal under Washington State law."
After sitting on the ground for what seemed another ten minutes, the Sgt and the young officer came back over and said "Well we got nothin!"
The officer standing behind me asked "So, can we arrest him?"
To which the Sgt replied "We have nothing now. You have to let him go."
The officer behind me then asked "Can I take his weapon and impound it?"
The Sgt replied "No, we can't take his weapon, but take out the magazine and the gun before you take off the cuffs... officer safety you know" he finished saying while looking sternly at me.
After the cuffs were off, the Sgt looked at me and said "Do you know you just wasted all of our time?"
To which I replied "Well, you didn't need to waste your time. You could have just read this pamphlet or called dispatch to look up the law and find that I am well within my rights."
Sgt Noel replied "I don't care what the law says! Every time we see you out here, we're going to come over and detain you in hand cuffs. Do you really want this kind of trouble?"
I replied "I hope you realize that I will be suing the Mercer Island Police Department for unlawful detainment and harassment."
The officer behind me said "Yeah, I understand, but if you just get a conceal carry permit, no one would know you were armed and we wouldn't care."
Sgt Noel continued the train of thought by saying... it costs 50 bucks to get a conceal carry license. That's what we all do and we carry a weapon for a living. Like I said, I don't care what the law is. If you do this again. We will come in force and detain you in hand cuffs every single time... so for your sake, get the conceal carry license, conceal your weaponand you won't be bothered again.
And with that, they left me with my empty gun, my empty magazine and a handful of bullets. I never gave them permission to take my gun or take the magazine out or dry fire it into the ground... they totally violated me... put the cuffs of extra tight and berated and threatened me with harassment every time they see me.
So as it turns out, the Mercer Island police are not enlightened after all.
Suggestions? I'm pretty pissed. I was totally calm and polite, but these guys were rude and in my face and continuously threatened me with constant detainment.
So, I went to Mercerdale Park with my daughter this evening and had a fairly uneventful time. My daughter played on the playground with several kids as I chatted with their parents. Both sets of parents didn't mind at all that I was open carrying and even commented that it was a wonderful thing for people to carry openly as it was a great deterrent for the lowlifes that usually come around and sit on the children's playground toys and houses.
Well, after two uneventful hours at the park, I was wrapping up and getting ready to head back to my home when three police showed up. Two in one parking lot to the south of the park and one, who drove his SUV right out on to the grass right close to me.
The first two come up to me and the bald very tan tattooed officer asked me if I had a weapon. The younger of the two stayed silent.
I answered that I did on my right hip.
He requested that I turn towards him to show him.
I pivoted to my left slightly with my arms crossed on my chest so as to not warrant alarm.
At this point, the third officer, Sgt. Noelshowed up and asked to see my ID.
This is when I asked if I was being detained.
The first officer stated that I was.
As I handed my ID to Sgt. Noel, I asked why I was being detained.
This garnered a dirty look from all three police with Sgt. Noel responding "Because you are an unknown man with a gun who is a danger to everyone in the park."
I answered "What I am doing here is perfectly legal."
The Sgt replied "No it is not! In Mercer Island, you are not allowed to carry a weapon in the open!"
The first officer who spoke to me (who had an exotic name I cannot remember), said to my side that only conceal carry with a license was legal and I was breaking the law. He then said from behind me "Sit down on the ground."
So as to not cause my three year old daughter to panic if the police decided to jump me if I did not comply, I complied. The officer behind me then told me he was going to hand cuff me.
I asked him if I was under arrest.
Sgt Noel said "You are only being detained. We are hand cuffing you for officer safety. We can do this. We can do anything we want as long as we deem it necessary to officer safety."
I repeated "Am I under arrest? And if I am, what is the charge?"
The Sgt replied "You're not allowed to carry your gun like that, so we're going to look at the signs to see if it is prohibited here in the park, and if it is, you are going to have some serious trouble!"
I then indicated to the OCDO pamphlet I had right on the ground on top of my wallet that all pertinent RCWs pertaining to open carry and State preemption of local ordinances that fall outside the allowable laws would be right there...
The Sgt said "I have no intention of looking at that.. I don't care what the hell it says."
So then, the Sgt and the younger officer who had just returned from walking around the park reading the signs, walked over to the SUV stillparked on the grass not 15 feet from me and the big officer who cuffed me.
The big officer behind me then said "Are you trying to make a point? We could arrest you for brandishing a weapon and then where would your daughter be?"
I replied "Officer, while you may feel your concern is warranted, I have not brandished my weapon as that would require me holding it in my hand."
To which he replied "Oh yes you did... and everyone in the park saw it."
"Yeah, but I was not brandishing it and what I am doing is perfectly legal under Washington State law."
After sitting on the ground for what seemed another ten minutes, the Sgt and the young officer came back over and said "Well we got nothin!"
The officer standing behind me asked "So, can we arrest him?"
To which the Sgt replied "We have nothing now. You have to let him go."
The officer behind me then asked "Can I take his weapon and impound it?"
The Sgt replied "No, we can't take his weapon, but take out the magazine and the gun before you take off the cuffs... officer safety you know" he finished saying while looking sternly at me.
After the cuffs were off, the Sgt looked at me and said "Do you know you just wasted all of our time?"
To which I replied "Well, you didn't need to waste your time. You could have just read this pamphlet or called dispatch to look up the law and find that I am well within my rights."
Sgt Noel replied "I don't care what the law says! Every time we see you out here, we're going to come over and detain you in hand cuffs. Do you really want this kind of trouble?"
I replied "I hope you realize that I will be suing the Mercer Island Police Department for unlawful detainment and harassment."
The officer behind me said "Yeah, I understand, but if you just get a conceal carry permit, no one would know you were armed and we wouldn't care."
Sgt Noel continued the train of thought by saying... it costs 50 bucks to get a conceal carry license. That's what we all do and we carry a weapon for a living. Like I said, I don't care what the law is. If you do this again. We will come in force and detain you in hand cuffs every single time... so for your sake, get the conceal carry license, conceal your weaponand you won't be bothered again.
And with that, they left me with my empty gun, my empty magazine and a handful of bullets. I never gave them permission to take my gun or take the magazine out or dry fire it into the ground... they totally violated me... put the cuffs of extra tight and berated and threatened me with harassment every time they see me.
So as it turns out, the Mercer Island police are not enlightened after all.
Suggestions? I'm pretty pissed. I was totally calm and polite, but these guys were rude and in my face and continuously threatened me with constant detainment.