MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Things go downhill fast in the video of Tuscaloosa Police officers answering a noise complaint at a University of Alabama student’s off-campus apartment.
From the start, students can be heard challenging police.
Memphis attorney Blake Ballin said laws differ from state to state, but the students were within their rights to ask to see a warrant.
“There was a noise complaint, which means no crime had been committed in the officer’s presence. So when a student was saying go get a warrant, go get a warrant, they were actually legally correct that the officer couldn’t come in without a warrant. It looked like the officer knew that. He was reluctant to break the threshold,” Ballin said.
Southaven Police Chief Tom Long said most calls don’t get out of hand like this one, and they don’t have to.
He said even if there is no warrant, an officer can make an arrest based on probable cause.
“In his attempts to stop the disturbance going on in the community, and he is saying ‘OK, fine. I have asked you several times, now I am gonna place you under arrest,’ and he says, ‘Step out. I am going to arrest you for unlawful conduct.’ That’s failure to comply with a lawful command during a disturbance. You then refuse to comply with what is now an arrest, then the officer is gonna use the levels of force necessary to effect his arrest,” says Long.
One thing the lawyer and police chief agree on is fighting your civil rights battle later in court is your best bet as opposed to getting into a confrontation with police.
“The probably smarter course of action would have been to listen to the officer and fight this battle in court,” Ballin said. “Had they taken that route, they wouldn’t have been scratched, bruised and beaten the way they were.”