False accusations of voyeurism, from a cop caught shinning my drone with laser !

[isopro]

I read this thread this morning and didn't comment but after thinking about it I wanted to comment (question?) this whole story.

First off, I have never been in trouble or arrested so maybe I'm way off base, but I cant imagine you can be arrested and then let out and not be given a single piece of paper, a single official document, nothing laying out the charge(s) against you and any info of what happens next as far as court or anything else. Even if that were true, I find it hard to believe you cant go online to Canada's equivalent to our circuit of the courts and see the charge and print something out. I also find it ridiculous that you cant get something in writing about your own personal arrest record without going through some freedom of information hoops. Sounds fishy to me.

Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy.

This is only a couple of the many questionable parts of the OP's story...never mind the parts about his equipment being seized but he was able to give his friend the SD card, the fact that he says he and his 2 friends went to the persons house to confront him (so as not to ruin his life!!), where were the 2 friends when you got 'scared' and attempted to run...did you just leave them and run? Where was the equipment when they caught you from running and how did you access equipement and the sd card?

I think there is much to this story the OP is leaving out and/or twisting. None of it makes any sense.

My crystal ball is a bit cloudy, but I would bet it went down more along the lines of...OP was out flying at night, someone shined a laser at drone. OP and 2 friends were feeling tough and went looking for the person with the laser pointer. The person they went after either turned out to be a policeman or that person called the police. IMO there was never a voyeurism charge...

I could be wrong, but the OP's story doesn't sound believable....

To answer your questions

1: The sd card was given to friends while the officer left us in the car to chat with the other officers,
2: The two friends were still in the car, and the equipment was also still in the car with them, they seized the aircraft and my tablet, but not the sd card...
Like i said there's more evidences to this but i cant be sharing them and will only use if really needed...
They knew that by dropping those charges they would not have to provide me the documentation about them, declarations, notes, etc...And i do have other evidences but will not be using or sharing them unless it is really needed...

Edit : Im also not getting any documentation, until first court date...Its called the release of the proof(not sure if i got the english version right), but its something similar to that in french...(my language is french)

 

[SoundByte]

I read this thread this morning and didn't comment but after thinking about it I wanted to comment (question?) this whole story.

First off, I have never been in trouble or arrested so maybe I'm way off base, but I cant imagine you can be arrested and then let out and not be given a single piece of paper, a single official document, nothing laying out the charge(s) against you and any info of what happens next as far as court or anything else. Even if that were true, I find it hard to believe you cant go online to Canada's equivalent to our circuit of the courts and see the charge and print something out. I also find it ridiculous that you cant get something in writing about your own personal arrest record without going through some freedom of information hoops. Sounds fishy to me.

Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy.

This is only a couple of the many questionable parts of the OP's story...never mind the parts about his equipment being seized but he was able to give his friend the SD card, the fact that he says he and his 2 friends went to the persons house to confront him (so as not to ruin his life!!), where were the 2 friends when you got 'scared' and attempted to run...did you just leave them and run? Where was the equipment when they caught you from running and how did you access equipement and the sd card?

I think there is much to this story the OP is leaving out and/or twisting. None of it makes any sense.

My crystal ball is a bit cloudy, but I would bet it went down more along the lines of...OP was out flying at night, someone shined a laser at drone. OP and 2 friends were feeling tough and went looking for the person with the laser pointer. The person they went after either turned out to be a policeman or that person called the police. IMO there was never a voyeurism charge...

I could be wrong, but the OP's story doesn't sound believable....

Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy.

I read this thread this morning and didn't comment but after thinking about it I wanted to comment (question?) this whole story.

First off, I have never been in trouble or arrested so maybe I'm way off base, but I cant imagine you can be arrested and then let out and not be given a single piece of paper, a single official document, nothing laying out the charge(s) against you and any info of what happens next as far as court or anything else. Even if that were true, I find it hard to believe you cant go online to Canada's equivalent to our circuit of the courts and see the charge and print something out. I also find it ridiculous that you cant get something in writing about your own personal arrest record without going through some freedom of information hoops. Sounds fishy to me.

Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy.

This is only a couple of the many questionable parts of the OP's story...never mind the parts about his equipment being seized but he was able to give his friend the SD card, the fact that he says he and his 2 friends went to the persons house to confront him (so as not to ruin his life!!), where were the 2 friends when you got 'scared' and attempted to run...did you just leave them and run? Where was the equipment when they caught you from running and how did you access equipement and the sd card?

I think there is much to this story the OP is leaving out and/or twisting. None of it makes any sense.

My crystal ball is a bit cloudy, but I would bet it went down more along the lines of...OP was out flying at night, someone shined a laser at drone. OP and 2 friends were feeling tough and went looking for the person with the laser pointer. The person they went after either turned out to be a policeman or that person called the police. IMO there was never a voyeurism charge...

I could be wrong, but the OP's story doesn't sound believable....

"Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy."

The 2 charges were dropped, for lack of evidence. The RA charge was not because he did, in fact, resist arrest. Even though the mischief & voyeurism charges were not warranted. All the cop needed to make an arrest was a reasonable belief that an offence was committed.

Arrest without warrant by peace officer
495. (1) A peace officer may arrest without warrant
(a) a person who has committed an indictable offence or who, on reasonable grounds, he believes has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence;
(b) a person whom he finds committing a criminal offence; or
(c) a person in respect of whom he has reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant of arrest or committal, in any form set out in Part XXVIII in relation thereto, is in force within the territorial jurisdiction in which the person is found.

Even though the 2 offences were never actually committed, he only needed grounds to believe they were. It was a series of unfortunate events.

 

[isopro]

Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy.

"Second, he mentions the 3 charges and 2 were dropped after a night in jail but the third was still being charged. Doesn't make sense to me that they would still attempt to charge after dismissing the first 2. Again, fishy."

The 2 charges were dropped, for lack of evidence. The RA charge was not because he did, in fact, resist arrest. Even though the mischief & voyeurism charges were not warranted. All the cop needed to make an arrest was a reasonable belief that an offence was committed.

Arrest without warrant by peace officer
495. (1) A peace officer may arrest without warrant
(a) a person who has committed an indictable offence or who, on reasonable grounds, he believes has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence;
(b) a person whom he finds committing a criminal offence; or
(c) a person in respect of whom he has reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant of arrest or committal, in any form set out in Part XXVIII in relation thereto, is in force within the territorial jurisdiction in which the person is found.

Even though the 2 offences were never actually committed, he only needed grounds to believe they were. It was a series of unfortunate events.

So you are basically confirming what i was saying, if a police officer see anyone flying a drone 250m away, it automatically give him reasonable ground to believe the guy is doing voyeurism... And arrest him for voyeurism/seize all equipment until end of court...
But the problem is, he was not even looking for the pilot, he received no complains about voyeurism or even the flight itself, and he is the one who attracted the drone closer using a laser from his home-room, also he clearly said in front of the witnesses tuat he was using that law, not that he even believed it was true...It was obvious to all of us that he made that up to cover up the laser incident..Also notice how he shut down the laser when he notice the aircraft is closing into his location..Also do you believe that telling the person that if he would be alone with him he would ''shoot you'' is not reasonable excuse to try to run away...

 

[SoundByte]

So you are basically confirming what i was saying, if a police officer see anyone flying a drone 250m away, it automatically give him reasonable ground to believe the guy is doing voyeurism... And arrest him for voyeurism/seize all equipment until end of court...
But the problem is, he was not even looking for the pilot, he received no complains about voyeurism or even the flight itself, and he is the one who attracted the drone closer using a laser from his home-room, also he clearly said in front of the witnesses tuat he was using that law, not that he even believed it was true...It was obvious to all of us that he made that up to cover up the laser incident..Also notice how he shut down the laser when he notice the aircraft is closing into his location..Also do you believe that telling the person that if he would be alone with him he would ''shoot you'' is not reasonable excuse to try to run away...

I'm not saying he wasn't being a dink. If he had taken the time to here your story, things may have been different. I'm just speaking as to why the RA charges were not dropped. I think the whole situation kinda stinks for you. That being said, it's another good example of why, we need to be extra careful about pushing our boundaries.

 

[jumper]

There might be some misunderstanding here with various terms between our two official languages here in Canada. Voyeurism stands out as the first one and the ranks of the police (chief master sergeant etc) are not common.

Regardless, two provinces have provincial police (Quebec and Ontario) but these forces also have deals with towns and small cities to act at the local police. The other provinces use the RCMP for this but the rules for arrest are all the same. The Criminal Code is very specific.

Once the accused is arrested, they can be released right away by the police, with a Promise to Appear or another process for the court. If the accused is taken into custody, they MUST appear before a judge or justice of the peace with in 24 hours to have a hearing. This RARELY takes the whole 24 hours. Once the accused attends the hearing they can be remanded for three clear days before they must appear before a judge or they can be released with conditions or a surety. This would result in the accused being given some documentation... there is no way around it. I guess, technically, the accused could be held for 23 hours and 59 minutes then released on a PTA or with conditions in front of a senior constable but I doubt this was the case here.

If the police swore an information (in front of a judge or JP) with three charges, they can not arbitrarily 'drop' any of the charges, as the Information is now a court document and the process is a hearing or release right away. The accused is given a copy of the sworn signed information.

At the end of the day, this story makes little sense after the time of arrest. Prior to the confrontation with the police is simply unremarkable and we only have the OPs recollection of the events to go on. The polarizing topic of where to fly and when to fly will always get reactions from those of us in this forum as well as knee-jerk comments when poor or bullying policing is reported to us.

Lots of the commenters have jumped on the 'bad cop' bandwagon and that might be understandable when people live in other jurisictinos and go by the knowledge that they have of procedures in those places.

I don't believe that this incident occurred as the OP recounted to us in his first post. There are just too many inconsistencies. I am open to believing that some of the content of his post was misconstrued in the translation from French to English (at the keyboard in his head) but that is as far as I will go.

Finally, I am not trying to 'stir the pot' further or calling names here, I am only explaining how the system works. If there was a blatant conspiricy here by anyone, then, that is a different matter.

 

[toddena]

So you are basically confirming what i was saying, if a police officer see anyone flying a drone 250m away, it automatically give him reasonable ground to believe the guy is doing voyeurism... And arrest him for voyeurism/seize all equipment until end of court...
But the problem is, he was not even looking for the pilot, he received no complains about voyeurism or even the flight itself, and he is the one who attracted the drone closer using a laser from his home-room, also he clearly said in front of the witnesses tuat he was using that law, not that he even believed it was true...It was obvious to all of us that he made that up to cover up the laser incident..Also notice how he shut down the laser when he notice the aircraft is closing into his location..Also do you believe that telling the person that if he would be alone with him he would ''shoot you'' is not reasonable excuse to try to run away...

No it's not.

 

[isopro]

There might be some misunderstanding here with various terms between our two official languages here in Canada. Voyeurism stands out as the first one and the ranks of the police (chief master sergeant etc) are not common.

Regardless, two provinces have provincial police (Quebec and Ontario) but these forces also have deals with towns and small cities to act at the local police. The other provinces use the RCMP for this but the rules for arrest are all the same. The Criminal Code is very specific.

Once the accused is arrested, they can be released right away by the police, with a Promise to Appear or another process for the court. If the accused is taken into custody, they MUST appear before a judge or justice of the peace with in 24 hours to have a hearing. This RARELY takes the whole 24 hours. Once the accused attends the hearing they can be remanded for three clear days before they must appear before a judge or they can be released with conditions or a surety. This would result in the accused being given some documentation... there is no way around it. I guess, technically, the accused could be held for 23 hours and 59 minutes then released on a PTA or with conditions in front of a senior constable but I doubt this was the case here.

If the police swore an information (in front of a judge or JP) with three charges, they can not arbitrarily 'drop' any of the charges, as the Information is now a court document and the process is a hearing or release right away. The accused is given a copy of the sworn signed information.

At the end of the day, this story makes little sense after the time of arrest. Prior to the confrontation with the police is simply unremarkable and we only have the OPs recollection of the events to go on. The polarizing topic of where to fly and when to fly will always get reactions from those of us in this forum as well as knee-jerk comments when poor or bullying policing is reported to us.

Lots of the commenters have jumped on the 'bad cop' bandwagon and that might be understandable when people live in other jurisictinos and go by the knowledge that they have of procedures in those places.

I don't believe that this incident occurred as the OP recounted to us in his first post. There are just too many inconsistencies. I am open to believing that some of the content of his post was misconstrued in the translation from French to English (at the keyboard in his head) but that is as far as I will go.

Finally, I am not trying to 'stir the pot' further or calling names here, I am only explaining how the system works. If there was a blatant conspiricy here by anyone, then, that is a different matter.

Well this explains why some of the charges were dropped and i was released after 20 hours, also when i called duty councel about 3 hours after the arrest, he clearly tauld me that the charges were voyeurism, mischief, resisting arrests and that i would appear in court at (court date he said) and be released on conditions soon, but the morning after, they changed their mind and said i would have to go for bail earing the next day, then when they learned about the video evidence of the laser incident and that the drone had flight logs, they dropped some charges and released my with promess to appear. I tryed to call duty councel to get a copy of the records saying that the first charges included voyeurism and mischief(i still dont understand where they got mischief from), but they said i had to make a demand to get that information and send a cheque, with copies of my ids, and that they would process this within a couple weeks. Im pretty sure i will be eventually able to get this information concerning the dropped charges because i believe they have to pass by a justice of peace to get the court date that the duty councel said in the first place...Edit : Also on the first thing the duty counsel said, he said i was to sign a promesse to appear with conditions not to speak to (agent name)...I wonder what would be the best way to get access to the records of this information (the first promess to appear created before they change the charges)...

 

[toddena]

Well this explains why some of the charges were dropped and i was released after 20 hours, also when i called duty councel about 3 hours after the arrest, he clearly tauld me that the charges were voyeurism, mischief, resisting arrests and that i would appear in court at (court date he said) and be released on conditions soon, but the morning after, they changed their mind and said i would have to go for bail earing the next day, then when they learned about the video evidence of the laser incident and that the drone had flight logs, they dropped some charges and released my with promess to appear. I tryed to call duty councel to get a copy of the records saying that the first charges included voyeurism and mischief(i still dont understand where they got mischief from), but they said i had to make a demand to get that information and send a cheque, with copies of my ids, and that they would process this within a couple weeks. Im pretty sure i will be eventually able to get this information concerning the dropped charges because i believe they have to pass by a justice of peace to get the court date that the duty councel said in the first place...Edit : Also on the first thing the duty counsel said, he said i was to sign a promesse to appear with conditions not to speak to (agent name)...I wonder what would be the best way to get access to the records of this information (the first promess to appear created before they change the charges)...

All i'm saying in the States when you are asked to comply there is no wiggle room.Trying to run from him only weakens your stance.

 

[MikeK]

If everything you've said here is true the most positive element in your story is the fact that you went looking for the source of the laser, rather than having been found by this cop. The weakest element is your running away. That is the fly in your ointment.

If there is more to the story, such as this cop has been looking for you for awhile because your night flights have occurred to him (and possibly others) as an annoyance, I'd be careful about trying to tailor the circumstances. Because if you've done anything which may be construed as either illegal or a technical safety violation I'm advising you that the court is totally in favor of the cop (because of the lawsuit potential) and will bend over backward to justify and support his action.

So give that some thought.

 

[isopro]

s, they dropped some charges and released my with promess to appear. I tryed to call duty councel to get a copy of the records saying that the first charges included voyeurism and mischief(i still dont understand where they got mischief from), but they said i had to make a demand to get that information and send a cheque, with copies of my ids, and that they would process this within a cou

If everything you've said here is true the most positive element in your story is the fact that you went looking for the source of the laser, rather than having been found by this cop. The weakest element is your running away. That is the fly in your ointment.

If there is more to the story, such as this cop has been looking for you for awhile because your night flights have occurred to him (and possibly others) as an annoyance, I'd be careful about trying to tailor the circumstances. Because if you've done anything which may be construed as either illegal or a technical safety violation I'm advising you that the court is totally in favor of the cop (because of the lawsuit potential) and will bend over backward to justify and support his action.

So give that some thought.

My flying day and night are highly liked by the local population, i've had a history of 0 complains, and often post day/night footages who are shared a lot on social medias Anyway they know exactly the 2-3 spots where i take off, and often come to cheer me up and chat with me when i'm flying, this was a isolated incident. I even had a officer come and get the file of a photo of the police station taken by me, directly at my house, for them to frame and use as computer background.

 

[toddena]

My flying day and night are highly liked by the local population, i've had a history of 0 complains, and often post day/night footages who are shared a lot on social medias Anyway they know exactly the 2-3 spots where i take off, and often come to cheer me up and chat with me when i'm flying, this was a isolated incident. I even had a officer come and get the file of a photo of the police station taken by me, directly at my house, for them to frame and use as computer background.

Listen man you went to cause trouble and you got it.Then you ran from the police.make better decisions.

 

[isopro]

Listen man you went to cause trouble and you got it.Then you ran from the police.make better decisions.

If a police officer is doing something illegal, and out of his function, he is not considered a police officer at that time, and for the actions connected to that...He is acting outside is legal duty, therefore it is normal to be scared and act accordingly...

 

[toddena]

If a police officer is doing something illegal, and out of his function, he is not considered a police officer at that time, and for the actions connected to that...He is acting outside is legal duty, therefore it is normal to be scared and act accordingly...

A cop is a cop on or off duty and it is not normal to run from a police officer grow up

 

[isopro]

A cop is a cop on or off duty and it is not normal to run from a police officer grow up

Let me rephrase that, If they DO ANYTHING outside their permissions/ policies/ legislation/ law/ mandate or rules they are considered to be acting NOT as an “officer”, with full protections and full immunity but in their personal capacity with FULL LIABILITY...Is that clear ?

 

[toddena]

Let me rephrase that, If they DO ANYTHING outside their permissions/ policies/ legislation/ law/ mandate or rules they are considered to be acting NOT as an “officer”, with full protections and full immunity but in their personal capacity with FULL LIABILITY...Is that clear ?

All i hear is a pissed off whiny baby hung up on technicalities that went to correct someone and got his tail handed to him.Move on buttercup....It's not my fault i ran please

 

[dirkclod]

Let Me Be Clear .
This back and forth is going to stop now or I am going to stop it .
Is that clear

 

[toddena]

Let Me Be Clear .
This back and forth is going to stop now or I am going to stop it .
Is that clear

Yes Sir.

 

[dirkclod]

Yes Sir.

Thank you . All I am asking is for everyone to be civil .
I mean everybody .

 

[dirkclod]

For the moment I think this thread needs to take a break .