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 Free Speech loud music and traffic citations and is brought To Us by Columbus Police body cameras Channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve before we dive into the interaction I want to give a big thanks to the sponsor of this episode surf shark surfshark is a premier VPN service that offers unparalleled digital security for a fraction of the price of other competitors we all know that surf shark is one of the most secure VPN tunnels on the market but a surfshark subscription also allows its users to bypass region restrictions on popular platforms like YouTube and Netflix and view content that's not normally available in your country thanks to Surf shark I can browse all the shows on my favorite streaming apps even if they were removed from the US catalog Right Now surfshark is offering the ATA Community an 83 discount with an additional three months completely free when you use code audit with 24-hour customer service and a 30 day money back guarantee you have absolutely nothing to lose so click the link in the description to claim your exclusive offer now thanks again to surfshark for sponsoring this episode in a video posted on December 28 2020 an unidentified officer from the Columbus Police Department in Columbus Ohio was refueling his patrol car at a Marathon gas station when he noticed loud music playing from a nearby vehicle [Music] playing this music loud for vanities filling out until next level keep that keep that down a little bit okay please just keep the music down a little bit number one because it's a noise ordinance violation number two it's profanities and there's little children out here the Columbus officer approaches the Spectrum employee's vehicle and orders him to lower the volume of the music that's playing on his radio when the driver questions the officer's command the officer informs him that he's violating a noise ordinance and potentially exposing nearby children to profanities we will discuss the alleged noise ordinance violation later in this episode but as mentioned in many episodes of ATA the use of profanities is generally protected under the First Amendment although section 2917.11 of the Ohio Revised Code states that quote no person shall recklessly cause inconvenience annoyance or alarm to another by making unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance gesture or display or communicating unwarranted and grossly abusive language to any person profanity that is not meant to intimidate others or provoke a violent response is typically considered Free Speech while the 1942 Supreme Court case of chaplinski vs New Hampshire laid the foundation for first amendment protection of profanities it also established the precedent for speech to be regulated under certain circumstances the chaplinski court developed the concept of so-called fighting words and defined it as quote words likely to cause an average addressee to fight however courts have since developed different interpretations of fighting words that consider the context of the words as much as the words themselves for example in the 2002 South Carolina court of appeals case of city of Landrum vs Sarat the court noted that quote the determination of whether profane words constitute fighting words depends upon the circumstances surrounding their utterance and that factor such as quote the presence of bystanders the accompaniment of other aggressive behavior and whether the words are repeatedly uttered should be considered the court went on to clarify that quote whether a communication constitutes fighting words also depends in large part on the addressee of the communications considering that the Spectrum employee was not directing his music at anyone in particular or in a hostile manner it is highly unlikely that the content of his music would constitute any kind of violation however it is important to bear in mind that the environment and context can play an important role in considering the legality of similar situations all right thank you [Music] he's repeatedly played music too all the time just keeps driving behind me doing it over and over and over 73 12. Alley between South Harris and South Warren Avenue just south of Wicklow with the 10-6 Ohio tag thank you license registration proof Insurance please loud sound 25 feet away is this the minimum that you can't blow a pass after being warned by the officer the Spectrum employee left the parking lot of the gas station and the body camera footage cuts to the officer initiating a traffic stop on the Spectrum employee moments later for allegedly intentionally driving nearby the officer multiple times with music blaring from his vehicle the officer informs the Spectrum employee that he's being stopped for quote loud sounds because his music was audible from 25 feet away in the 2010 Ohio court of appeals case of State versus Carrick the court noted that quote Ohio courts have concluded that an ordinance that regulates the volume of noise as distinguished from the content of speech is not unconstitutionally vague if it incorporates a reasonable person standard which means that townships and municipalities in Ohio are well within their authority to regulate any noise that takes place within their city so long and as the regulations are content neutral and sort of some sort of purpose that's beneficial to the public or the government many cities across the state of Ohio have adopted noise ordinances in an effort to control noise levels each with their own language and relative Authority for example section 909-5 of the Cincinnati code of ordinances Outlaws quote any noise emanating from a motor vehicle which is plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from the motor vehicle the city of Cleveland took a more direct approach through section 683.02 of the Cleveland code of ordinances which states that quote no person shall play any radio music player or audio system in a motor vehicle at such volume as to disturb the quiet Comfort or Repose of other persons or at a volume which is plainly audible to persons other than the occupants of said vehicle section 2329.11 of the Columbus code of ordinances appears to be the only ordinance that regulates any type of Noise Within the city and is likely the ordinance that the officer is referring to although this section large largely regulates the sounds of construction events and heavy machinery within the city and around residential areas subsection C1 states that quote no person shall make or allow to be made any unreasonably loud and or raucous noise in such a manner or at such a volume as to disturb the quiet Comfort or Repose of a person of ordinary sensibilities the ordinance defines loud or raucous noise as quote any noise or sound that emanates in such manners and or volume and is of such intensity character and duration to be offensive or disturbing to a person of ordinary sensibilities while there is no mention of any distances in subsection C1 another subsection of the ordinance states that quote no person shall operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification system auditory device or stationary Sound Source from real property that is zoned residential in a manner is to be heard at a distance of 50 feet beyond the property line This is likely the subsection of the statute the Columbus officer had incorrectly interpreted as applicable to this interaction however because subsection C1 of the statute simply prohibits unreasonably loud or raucous noise without any limitations based on zoning a court could conclude that the Spectrum driver was violating this section of the Columbus noise ordinance both while parked at the gas station parking lot and while driving license registrations Insurance please well it's a company car so uh so you should have insurance can you find can you find that can you find your license please in my pocket can I get that yes you can I better do but I'm listening to music sir you brought the problems down so I went I was going there to get gas and you're repeatedly followed me and circled me so it was that's awesome you have proof of insurance it's in here somewhere uh why don't you look for that for me okay yep yep all right here is your license need a signature for you here it's not a mission of guilt okay refused the officer attempts to issue the Spectrum employee a citation but he refuses to sign it and he goes on to deny the officer's assertion that he must attend court as mentioned on previous episodes of ATA so long as they have acquired probable cause members of law enforcement are generally within their authority to arrest anyone for any suspected violation regardless of severity of the violation citations serve as a means to hold individuals accountable for minor violations of the law and to provide them with an opportunity to dispute the charges in court without making an arrest unlike most States Ohio has drafted specific statutes and established legal precedent aimed at reducing the potential for citizens to be arrested for minor violations in the 2003 Ohio Supreme Court case of State versus brown the Court held that quote it is not necessary for an officer to arrest an offender for committing a minor misdemeanor offense unless he has reason to believe that the offender will not respond to the summons or pay the fine and under Section 29 30 5.26 of the Ohio Revised Code quote when a law enforcement officer is otherwise authorized to arrest a person for the commission of a minor misdemeanor the officer shall not arrest the person but shall issue a citation however the statute also lists specific exceptions where an officer May arrest citizens for misdemeanor crimes which includes refusing to sign a citation in the Brown case the court specifically mentioned that quote the government's interests in making a full custodial arrest for a minor misdemeanor offense are minimal and are outweighed by these serious intrusion upon a person's Liberty and privacy that necessarily arises out of an arrest however this procedure only applies quote apps and any rc2935.26 exceptions even the Columbus Police Department's policy includes a section advising officers that they may quote use discretion to arrest and slate or issue summons to an individual for non-violent misdemeanor offenses when warranted based on the totality of circumstances considering that refusing to sign a citation is a violation of Ohio Revised Code that has essentially been upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court it is very likely that the Columbus officer would have been within his authority to arrest the Spectrum employee for refusing to sign the citation but the officer elects to accept the driver's refusal to sign and continues issuing the citation do you have a court date no I don't um if you if you choose not to attend it it would be a one is your best number it is okay I'm the shooting officer definitely the court date should you should just get choose to contest the ticket oh no this is on the 22nd at nine o'clock A.M okay you gonna be there yes if they if they summons me probably not the first one but they'll probably set it for a try nothing better to do so you're on a ticket so he was his board sir you brought it to me by circling me repeatedly you repeatedly circled me and tried to get myself okay so uh so I'm gonna call my sergeant friends now and we'll talk about that sir be careful when you're driving keep your music down yep all right that guy is clearly looking for some sort of police interaction repeatedly circled me in the lot I told him to turn his music down once because his blaring profanities all over the parking lot right next to little children he questioned me about that and got mad that I told him to turn his music down and stop playing profanities in front of children he promptly went around the side of the building where he waited for me to get done pumping gas and come out of the store he then drove by me blaring the song the police across the parking lot so as to be heard by from well over 50 feet away numerous citizens were also complaining about him in the parking lot so he went out of his way to Circle me um and to try to engage me after issuing the driver a citation the Columbus officer returns to his patrol car and verbally recounts his version of the events to his body camera before leaving the scene without further incident unfortunately not very much information was available regarding this interaction or the outcome of the legal proceedings if you have any information regarding this interaction feel free to comment below and I will update the description as necessary overall the Columbus officer gets an A minus because although he seemed somewhat confused about the language of Columbus's noise ordinance he maintained a calm and relatively professional demeanor despite the driver's attitude and remained within the bounds of his authority throughout the interaction as mentioned in the episode the profane nature of the music was not a relevant factor in the legality of this interaction however the officer appeared to be under the impression that he retained the authority to stop the music based on its content alone this is a common misconception amongst members of law enforcement and there are very few situations where an officer would be within their authority to stop music because it's too profane the officer also incorrectly cited the so-called hearing distance language of the Columbus noise ordinance but did not appear to do so maliciously as the driver's alleged conduct would still fall within the scope of the ordinance regardless the officer was within his authority to arrest the driver for refusing to sign a citation and I commend his decision to allow the driver to leave the scene with a ticket although this officer wasn't necessarily correct during every point of this encounter he ultimately remained within the bounds of his authority and carried out this stop with professionalism and courtesy the Spectrum employee gets a c minus for refusing to sign a valid citation failing to invoke his right to remain silent and for maintaining a hostile and confrontational attitude throughout a majority of the encounter whether or not the unnamed employee would actually be convicted of violating the noise ordinance is impossible to determine however there is little doubt that the Columbus officer had acquired enough evidence to suspect the driver of a violation and issue a citation rather than remaining silent and preparing to dispute the ticket in court the driver refused to sign the citation and told the officer that he was going to quote call his Sergeant friends regarding the stop it seems clear that the Spectrum employee felt that he was being targeted or unfairly stopped at the very least however it is extremely important to remain as calm and Silent as reasonably possible during situations such as this to preserve the opportunity to dispute the officer's assertions and the charges in court threatening to call in favors from other members of law enforcement and refusing to sign a citation can only serve to harm the driver's legal defense and this interaction highlights the importance of remaining silent and composed in any police interaction 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]