March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 41

this time, the police officers verified
the men were over the age of 18, did
not have any criminal convictions or
outstanding personal protection orders against them and were properly licensed to carry their weapons.
After establishing that the firearms
were lawfully possessed, the officers
returned plaintiffs' weapons and released them. The entire encounter
lasted about 20 minutes.
The two men subsequently brought
a federal civil rights suit against the
police officers alleging violation of
their Fourth Amendment rights. In
response, the defendant police officers contended they are entitled to
qualified immunity and thus may
not be held liable for damages under Title 42, Section 1983 of federal
civil rights law. Qualified immunity
shields government officials from
civil liability when actions performed
in their official capacity " [do] not violate clearly established statutory or
constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. "
Qualified immunity attaches unless
" it would be clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in
the situation he confronted. "
Probable Cause
As cited by the federal court, the
Fourth Amendment to the United
States Constitution establishes the
" right of the people to be secure in
their persons against unreasonable
searches and seizures. " As described
by the court, " The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures generally
requires a law enforcement officer to
have probable cause to believe that a
crime has been or is being committed before conducting a search. " Further, the court noted the " existence
of probable cause must be assessed
	

from the perspective of a reasonable
officer on the scene, rather than with
the 20/20 vision of hindsight. "
In the opinion of the federal district court, " Officers in the position
of defendants reasonably could have
believed that plaintiffs were in violation of the city's disturbing the public
peace ordinance. " As defined in the
ordinance: " Disturbing the public
peace consists of causing a public

a fear-provoking scenario, and their
actions were prudent given the unusual nature of the circumstances. "
Investigatory Stop
As cited by the federal district court
in the case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S.
1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889
(1968), the Supreme Court had held
that a police officer can stop and
question an individual for purpos-

A police officer can stop and question an individual
for purposes of investigating possible criminal
behavior even though there is no probable cause to
make an arrest.
disturbance, " i.e., " any act or series
of actions causing an interruption of
the public peace and quiet, including
the direct endangerment of the safety
of persons or property. " Under the
circumstances, the court found the
men were indeed intent on creating a
public disturbance.
By plaintiffs' own terms, they were
" walking while open carrying their firearms in local communities to desensitize
the public to open carry, and to educate
police officers with [sic] whom they may
encounter on the legality of open carry. "
It is reasonably clear that plaintiffs knew
that, in the face of their intended behavior, the public was likely to be highly sensitive (else why seek to " de-sensitize " people?). The single reasonable conclusion is
that plaintiffs were knowingly acting in a
provocative manner, hoping to foment an
interaction and cause a disturbance. As
events show, they succeeded nicely.
Accordingly, the federal district
court concluded, " The defendant officers' conduct was, at the very least,
reasonable - they were investigating

es of investigating possible criminal
behavior even though there is no
probable cause to make an arrest.
Further, because the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution bars " unreasonable searches and
seizures, " the court acknowledged
an officer " must be able to point to
specific and articulable facts, which,
taken together with rational inferences from those facts, "  give rise to a
" reasonable suspicion " that criminal
activity is taking place. In addition,
" the officer must be able to articulate
something more than an 'inchoate
and unparticularized suspicion or
hunch.' " Moreover, the court views
" the evidence in support of reasonable suspicion using a commonsense
approach, as understood by those in
the field of law enforcement. "
Applying these principles to the
facts of the case, the federal district
court found the police officers had
reasonable suspicion that the plaintiffs were engaging in, or intended,
criminal activity.

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | M A R C H 2 0 1 6 |

Parks & Recreation

39



March 2016 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2016 - Parks & Recreation

March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 1
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 2
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 3
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 4
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 5
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 6
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 7
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 8
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 9
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 10
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 11
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 12
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 13
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 14
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 15
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 16
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 17
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 18
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 19
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 20
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 21
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 22
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 23
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 24
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 25
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 26
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 27
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 28
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 29
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 30
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 31
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 32
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 33
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 34
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 35
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 36
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 37
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 38
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 39
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 40
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 41
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 42
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 43
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 44
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 45
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 46
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 47
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 48
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 49
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 50
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 51
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 52
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 53
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 54
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 55
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 56
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 57
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 58
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 59
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 60
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 61
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 62
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 63
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 64
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 65
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 66
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 67
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 68
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 69
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 70
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 71
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 72
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 73
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 74
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 75
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 76
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 77
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 78
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 79
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 80
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 81
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 82
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 83
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 84
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 85
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 86
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 87
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 88
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 89
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 90
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 91
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 92
March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 93
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2009
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com