Wahpeton police officer suspended for arresting teen with lack of probable cause

Wahpeton police officer suspended for arresting teen with lack of probable cause

WAHPETON, N.D. – A police officer here has been suspended for five days without pay and must take 40 hours of remedial law enforcement training as punishment for arresting a juvenile with a lack of probable cause – an incident the teenager recorded and posted as a YouTube video that went viral.

Police Chief Scott Thorsteinson announced the disciplinary action against Officer Dustin Hill in a news release dated Monday.

Hill arrested 17-year-old Robert Wanek of Breckenridge, Minn., on May 6 outside the Richland-Wahpeton Law Enforcement Center for interfering with a police investigation.

“Although later determined to have been made with insufficient probable cause, Officer Hill’s arrest in this case was made in good faith and without malice,” Thorsteinson wrote.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/320060/group/homepage/

The police need to be held to a very high standard.

You can be arrested and put in jail for doing it. Ridiculous.

It also encourages abuse because it promotes the idea that the police are special, and not to be held accountable for their actions.

This week, I've been treated to the opinions of DUers who think that the remedy for illegal police entry into your home is the exclusion of evidence and a tort claim that could take years to resolve in the iffy atmosphere of our legal system. But who decides what's an illegal entry? And what is that based on? Are you prepared to videotape every knock at your door (or have a camera that goes on automatically should a SWAT team decide your house or apartment is their target)? Would young Mr. Wanek have prevailed on his false arrest claim without the videotape evidence? Notice how the chief continues to excuse his officer's conduct as being done "in good faith and without malice." Of course, Chief Thorsteinson wasn't the one being arrested, so his generous assessment of his officer's conduct may be colored.