Phoenix cops raid home of critical blogger

Robert Hallock (Thrax)

April 4, 2009 3:58 PM ET in News, , , ,

What do you do if you’re a police department currently battling a harassment suit with a citizen that has been highly critical of you in a public blog?

Why you raid his house, take all his stuff and have the evidence sealed, of course!

In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been highly critical of the department.

Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and everything necessary to continue blogging.

The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment – which he says makes it obvious the raid was an act of retaliation.

What’s particularly amusing is that this story is spreading across the internet like wildfire. It’s been voted up on Digg, Reddit and Hacker News, which means the Phoenix PD is stumbling into a firestorm of bad PR the likes of which they’ve probably never seen. Oops.

26 Comments:

  1. Snarkasm
    4 Apr '09, 8:01 pm

    This will assuredly not end well.

  2. AlexDeGruven
    4 Apr '09, 10:15 pm

    Incidents like this and the glowing track record of Sheriff Bud are the prime reasons I will never set foot in Maricopa County. I don't care if they're giving out free gold bars. The only thing that would make it worth it would be the option to club Sheriff Bud over the head with it when you receive it.

  3. Lincoln
    4 Apr '09, 10:17 pm

    Done gone stepped in it now.

  4. MiracleManS
    5 Apr '09, 12:42 pm

    It continues to amaze me that people in a position of authority continually forget just how powerful the internet really can be.

  5. the_technocrat
    5 Apr '09, 2:52 pm

    Barbara Streisand Effect in full.

  6. j
    5 Apr '09, 3:57 pm

    some how I think were only hearing half the story.

  7. airbornflght
    5 Apr '09, 4:26 pm

    doubtful. abuse of police power is not uncommon.

  8. rayray
    5 Apr '09, 5:31 pm

    Here in Phoenix we also have sheriff Arpaio doing things that make you fear. His tank runs over cars parked in the street, among other things.

  9. LawnMM
    5 Apr '09, 8:55 pm

    There's more to it. You can't raid a house because people don't like your police department.

  10. Snarkasm
    5 Apr '09, 8:58 pm

    They can, and they did.

  11. j
    6 Apr '09, 1:44 am
    Quoting rayray

    Here in Phoenix we also have sheriff Arpaio doing things that make you fear. His tank runs over cars parked in the street, among other things.

    yeah the pink underwear guy! I heard about him. Didn't hear about the parked cars stuff. But come on if you had a tank won't you run over stuff too?

  12. Soundy
    6 Apr '09, 2:48 am

    As much as this doesn't shock me, the story itself IS pretty one-sided and sensationalistic. I mean, come on... "...everything necessary to continue blogging"??

    Psst... smartphone... internet cafe... netbook... they're hardly making it impossible for the guy to blog.

    I'd suspect, if this guy is getting a bunch of "inside info" from the department, they're probably more concerned with finding the leak than they are about shutting the guy up. Leaks like that could seriously compromise ongoing investigations, undercover operations, and officers' personal safety (not to mention that of their friends and relatives).

  13. Leonardo
    6 Apr '09, 6:15 am
    Here in Phoenix we also have sheriff Arpaio doing things that make you fear. His tank runs over cars parked in the street, among other things.

    Can you provide a news link (news, not blog)?

  14. rayray
    6 Apr '09, 8:24 am

    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2004-...afternoon/full

  15. Leonardo
    6 Apr '09, 4:18 pm

    I have a difficult time finding an article to be "news" that begins with "Sheriff Joe's goons launched an assault to make a misdemeanor arrest." Credibility takes another hit when the banner at the top, much larger than the headliner features, "Details on Karaoke" and "Get Discovered in a Bar." I will take away this from the article: something unpleasant happened to someone because of the sheriff. There was an armored vehicle involved. That's about all I would trust that piece for. I am not saying the facts reported by the web page are incorrect or that the itty bitty black and white pictures (seriously?) don't correspond to the event, but I don't usually associate the party scene with investigative accuracy. Perceptions may be wrong, but nonetheless, they are perceptions.

  16. j
    6 Apr '09, 4:51 pm

    I agree with Leanardo. I don't find this article credible at all. It sounds like something TMZ would come up with. Do you have an article from a credible news source. One that isn't hell bent on spreading propaganda.

  17. Soundy
    6 Apr '09, 5:53 pm
    Quoting j

    I agree with Leanardo. I don't find this article credible at all. It sounds like something TMZ would come up with.

    I was thinking it read more like something from theonion.com ...

  18. rayray
    6 Apr '09, 10:17 pm

    They have a print edition, but actually a lot of local newspapers have a grudge against Arpaio. He recently raided some newspaper's office after they wrote an unfavorable article against him.

  19. Leonardo
    6 Apr '09, 10:35 pm

    Ray, I believe there are bad actors to be found in groups of humans of any stripe - blue collar worker, white collar worker, government employee, politician, and yes, law enforcement officers too. But I'd like to see a real news article - not a blog, and not Cool Joe Blow's groovy web page - documenting apparent illegal activity. Anyone can start a web page or blog and say whatever they wish. Maybe it's horribly slanted and merely propaganda, maybe it's objective. At least most major news outlets, whatever their faults, have been observed and subjected to scrutiny for a while.

    As far as controversy and Arpaio go, that has been around since he first put criminals in tents, what, 20 years ago? Any strong law enforcement agency or prominent LE official who aggressively enforces the law will be controversial and loathed. I have no doubt that criminals consider Maricopa county a less desirable area to commit crimes than in the neighboring Arizona locales.

    Arpaio did order a raid of Mesa City Hall, with a proper, legal search warrant. And the raid was fruitful, with legal arrests made. My brief Internet search though, did not turn up any established news reporting of Arpaio raiding a newspaper.

    If Arpaio has abused his authority and overstepped the law, then I'm sure justice will ensue. There are just too many watchdog groups to let it pass.

  20. Soundy
    7 Apr '09, 12:55 am
    Quoting Leonardo

    But I'd like to see a real news article - not a blog, and not Cool Joe Blow's groovy web page - documenting apparent illegal activity

    And what then would you consider a "real" news source? Fox News? The New York Post? The Weekly World News?

    Anyone can start a web page or blog and say whatever they wish. Maybe it's horribly slanted and merely propaganda, maybe it's objective. At least most major news outlets, whatever their faults, have been observed and subjected to scrutiny for a while.

    Being "published" and having a lot of money behind it does not automatically make a source credible...

  21. Leonardo
    7 Apr '09, 3:30 am
    Being "published" and having a lot of money behind it does not automatically make a source credible...

    I couldn't agree more. But the no-names usually do not face the scrutiny of bigger outfits, that's why I wrote:

    At least most major news outlets, whatever their faults, have been observed and subjected to scrutiny for a while.
  22. rayray
    7 Apr '09, 11:36 pm

    Lou Dobbs on CNN has Reverend Al Sharpton and an ACORN rep on his show talking about the 4 congresspersons that got the Justice Department to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio for unconstitutional, rights violating programs.

  23. Soundy
    8 Apr '09, 1:05 am
    Quoting Leonardo

    I couldn't agree more. But the no-names usually do not face the scrutiny of bigger outfits, that's why I wrote:

    At least most major news outlets, whatever their faults, have been observed and subjected to scrutiny for a while.

    And has that scrutiny aided the accuracy - or reputation - of Fox or the Post? No, because that sort of "reporting" still has a market. For an extreme example of that, witness the National Enquirer and its ilk - sure some people read them just for the amusement factor, but there are plenty who actually believe everything they print. I don't think you'll find many publications that have had anywhere NEAR as much scrutiny, or ridicule, as your basic Supermarket Tabloid... yet they continue on their merry way as well.

  24. NiGHTS
    8 Apr '09, 6:28 am

    I like how you jumped to Fox News first.

  25. primesuspect
    8 Apr '09, 6:28 am

    I mean, does the order really matter?

  26. Soundy
    8 Apr '09, 6:54 am
    Quoting NiGHTS

    I like how you jumped to Fox News first.

    It's strictly alphabetical

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