foreign [Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers traffic direction probable cause arrests and reckless driving and is brought To Us by the Waterbury Police Department's Channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on December 13th 2022 Officer James Hinkle of the Waterbury Police Department was directing traffic in Waterbury Connecticut after a mechanical failure by the traffic lights at an intersection the interaction that followed was captured by the dash cam on officer Hinkle's Cruiser the footage from which will be shown first and officer Hinkle's body camera immediately [Music] pull over pull in the parking lot we're in this parking lot right now pull over pull over now with you no pull over I'm not repeating myself get out of the roadway and pull over turn the car off license and registrations now did you not see this bright yellow vest standing in the middle of the street no this means stop this means stop I didn't see that you guys already passed and then you still drove by me licensed registration now no license registration now you almost ran over and officer stand in the middle of the street and I was very confusing it's a bright yellow jacket standing in the middle of the street what don't you understand no they weren't you were the only vehicle coming from that way you almost ran me over the middle of the street officer Hinkle screams at the driver for failing to stop at his signal even though the driver explained that she was confused and thought she was free to travel through the intersection the dash cam footage of the incident shows that while officer Hinkle did raise his arm towards the driver's vehicle it does not appear that he complied with traffic direction Best Practices when attempting to signal to her to stop according to the basic traffic control procedures for law enforcement officers issued by the Maryland police training commission a common method a patrolman can use to stop traffic involves the officer looking directly at the driver extending their arm and pointing their finger at the driver then the procedures suggest that the officer maintain this position and watch the driver until the signal is observed once the driver sees the signal the officer should raise their hands so that their Palm is toward the driver and hold this position until the driver stops similarly a guide on using hand and arm signals to direct traffic published by the Virginia Defense Force instructs officers who are directing traffic from the right to turn left to start by looking to the left and thrust sting their left hand towards the traffic with the hand flat and above the officer's headgear and the Palm facing traffic the instructions also direct the officer to quote allow the driver time to react and bring his vehicle to a stop finally the Seattle Police Department manual states that quote it is important that officers position themselves so that their hand signals can be seen from a long distance and that quote officers should use an open hand Palm out sign to indicate stop in this instance the dash cam footage shows that officer Hinkle did not maintain eye contact with the driver to ensure she noticed his signal and stopped in fact he only quickly glanced in her Direction and then turned his head to face oncoming traffic likewise instead of fully extending his palm in the driver's Direction officer Hinkle did not flatten the palm and only extended it in a claw-like position facing the ground he also only raised his hand to about waist level instead of over his head where it would be clearly visible out of your car and stand next to the fender leave your first in the car where do you work I work for a clothing company in California what are you doing here today I'm going to Target you're going to Target what is such an important factor that me standing in the middle of the street stopping you and you try to run me over sir I swear and then you looked at me you waved at me and then you kept going anyway I swear I was not trying to run I thought you were yours we're going I'm telling you to stop in the middle of the street and you wave at me and keep going I've I saw your hand before and I was too late to stop no it wasn't you were doing 10 miles an hour and you still drove by me you didn't even attempt to stop your car sir you're lucky you're not in handcuffs right this second I'm very sorry sir I really explain to my kids why why they don't have a dad a week before Christmas because you're trying to run somebody over officer Hinkle repeatedly claims that the driver was trying to hit him even though the dash cam footage from his Cruiser shows him lunging toward her vehicle as she drove by and tells her she's lucky she's not in handcuffs we will discuss the offenses that officer Hinkle asserts that the driver actually committed later in this episode but for now it should be noted that striking an officer who was directing traffic is a distinct violation under Connecticut Law according to section 14-223-a of the Connecticut General statutes quote any operator of a motor vehicle who strikes any officer with such motor vehicle while such officers and engaged in traffic control or regulation provided such officer is in uniform or prominently displaying the badge of his office shall be fined not less than 150 or more than two hundred dollars and for a subsequent offense shall be fined not more than 250 or imprisoned not more than 30 days or both as we have discussed before here on ATA it is well established that officers can arrest individuals from minor offenses committed in their presence without violating the Constitution as long as they have probable cause that the individual violated the law the Supreme Court held in the 2001 case of Atwater versus city of Lago Vista that the Fourth Amendment does not forbid an officer for making a warrantless arrest for minor misdemeanor offenses even if the offense is not punishable by imprisonment and is only punishable by a fine rather the court concluded that quote if an officer has probable cause to believe that an individual has committed even a very minor criminal offense in his presence he may without violating the Fourth Amendment arrest the offender therefore a court would likely hold that officer Hinkle was within his constitutional authority to arrest the driver if it is believed he had probable cause that she had committed an offense I think she's caution there's a cop out there I got kids at home and you almost ran me over a week before Christmas it's not pleasant it's red and blue that's the top car stand in the middle of the street flashing lights no it's not an accident you're just being irresponsible Street and the ways that man still tries to drive by me run her police and make sure she's valid a week before Christmas I almost get ran over yeah I got two kids at home waiting for me to come home tonight sorry doesn't break it you looked right at me and still decided to drive by me no you weren't I was in the middle of the intersection emotionally would you mind filling this out for me my hands are a little shaky right now officer reckless driving officer Hinkle asks one of the other officers to fill out a citation for failure to obey an officer's commands and reckless driving under section 14-223 of the Connecticut General statutes which defines the offense of failing to stop when signaled or disobeying the direction of an officer quote whenever the operator of any motor vehicle fails promptly to bring his motor vehicle to a Full Stop upon the signal of any officer in uniform or prominently displaying the badge of his office or disobeys the direction of such officer with relation to the operation of his motor vehicle he shall be deemed to have committed an infraction additionally section 14-22 of the Connecticut General statutes which describes the offense of reckless driving states that quote no person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public Highway of the state recklessly having regard to the wit traffic and use of such Highway roads school property or parking area the intersection of streets and the weather conditions while there is no definition of recklessly found in title 14 of the Connecticut General statutes which contains the state's Motor Vehicle Laws including the offense of reckless driving section 53a-3 of the general statutes includes a definition for offenses under the Connecticut Penal Code which is codified in title 53-a of the general statutes section 53-a-3 states that quote a person acts recklessly with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists the risk must be of such nature and degree that disregarding it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation as the Hartford County Court of Common Pleas in Connecticut explained in the 1974 case of Maloney versus Commissioner of Motor Vehicles quote recklessness requires a conscious choice of a course of action either with knowledge of the serious danger to others involved in it or with knowledge of facts which would disclose such danger to any reasonable man recklessness is more than negligence and more than even gross negligence similarly in the 1999 case of State versus Sandra o the Appellate Court of Connecticut clarified that quote it is reckless indifference to the safety of others which supplies the Criminal Intent necessary to Warrant conviction while speed alone may be insufficient to Warrant a conviction for reckless driving it may be taken into consideration in conjunction with other circumstances to show a reckless disregard of consequences here while the driver may have failed to stop when signaled although it is certainly questionable whether officer Hinkle's hand signals were sufficient to communicate in order to stop it is unlikely that she could be found guilty of reckless driving for simply misunderstanding the situation because she would not have the Reckless mental state that is necessary to sustain a conviction saw everything see this is why I was trying to direct traffic because it's I was out here for 25 30 minutes 30 minutes doing traffic I almost got ran over once pretty much everybody else no problem no problem anytime you see flashing red and blue lights in the middle of the street it means there's cops present no stop talking stop talking and it means you need to pay attention because there's going to be police officers out and about okay this bright yellow vest it's very very bright it's neon yellow because it stands out okay I'm standing in the middle of the street telling you to stop that means stop I'm not waving High Merry Christmas this means stop listen when you see me do this and try to get your attention and stop you again it doesn't mean way back to me and keep driving by me stop stop I'm sorry then what were you doing in your vehicle paying attention the cars are cars there were no cars in front of you there were zero cars in front of you you were the only vehicle traveling on that road for 500 feet there were no vehicles in front of you no there wasn't okay okay she almost runs me over we need a comedy shop the driver was issued a citation and allowed to leave the scene and the charges were later dropped this incident sparked an internal affairs investigation into officer Hinkle's conduct and he was immediately placed on paid administrative leave on January 9 2023 officer Hinkle was terminated from the Waterbury Police Department after the investigation determined that his conduct actions and behaviors were in violation of department policies in an official statement on the termination Chief Fernando spagnolo noted that quote his conduct during this encounter with the citizen of the community is unacceptable and not representative of the men and women serving the Waterbury Police Department WPD officers are trained to demonstrate the highest level of professionalism when performing their duties in an interview Chief spagnolo also stated that quote as far as we are concerned that is not Behavior we condone our officers are not trained to act that way we will not tolerate that type of actions or behavior toward the public from our police officers Chief spagnolo also reached out to the driver in this altercation and explained in an interview that quote she's been very amicable to us she's come to the police station and been in my office and told me she recognizes that almost everyone at the Waterbury Police has treated her with respect overall officer Henkel gets an F for using unclear hand signals when directing traffic and then flying into a rage when a citizen misunderstood the meaning of those signals and screaming at a citizen and directing profanity toward her officer Hinkle's response not only demonstrated a tremendous amount of anger and a total lack of professionalism but it also revealed the type of so-called victim mentality that can be dangerous when left unchecked in a police department instead of seeing this incident as the honest mistake it truly appeared to be officer Hinkle took the driver's actions personally accusing her of attempting to kill him right before Christmas when in reality her vehicle actually came nowhere close to hitting him these over-dramatic statements as well as his unprofessional behaviors suggests that officer Hinkle does not have the steadfast temperament that's necessary to Be an Effective police officer and I commend Chief spagnolo in the Waterbury Police Department for quickly taking action and terminating him the driver gets an a for maintaining her composure throughout the encounter despite officer Hinkle's immensely unprofessional behavior and attempting to take responsibility for her actions even though it is questionable whether the miscommunication was actually her fault while it is possible that she was not paying enough attention to the road to notice officer Hinkle there is no way I can assess this based on the available footage the driver claimed that she was confused about what she was supposed to do and this seems reasonable given the fact that oncoming traffic was driving through the intersection and considering the lack of clarity in officer Hinkle's hand signals and the lack of attention he gave to ensuring she understood his commands and stopped her vehicle once the driver realized her mistake she immediately pulled over and apologized profusely for the air and remained respectful and relatively calm when faced with screaming and profanity from officer Hinkle and I applaud her for refusing to escalate the situation by mirroring officer Hinkle's inappropriate behavior let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out my second channel for even more police interaction content [Music]