By Davy V.
Imagine for a moment driving in your car, down the street, and coming to a stop sign.
Then, as you proceed, you are pulled over by police officers.
When you ask them why they stopped you, they reply that you failed to come to a complete stop.
But you did.
You know you did.
And you know they are lying.
That's exactly what happened to Rochester, NY resident Jeramie Barideaux in July of 2011, on the corner of Conkey Avenue and Avenue D, after he came to a complete stop.
Rochester, NY Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley, falsely accused Mr. Barideaux of failing to come to a complete stop in order to have a reason to pull him over.
But thanks to the power of video, Osipovitch and Hartley never stopped to think that City of Rochester traffic cameras were recording the whole incident.
And that the video recorded their lie.
After the illegal stop and search of Mr. Barideaux's vehicle, the Rochester Police Department claims that the officers found drugs and and a weapon.
After spending four months in jail, Monroe County Court Judge Daniel Doyle dismissed all charges against Barideaux.
In his decision to dismiss the charges, Judge Doyle said "it was an unreasonable stop... based on the review of the video, there's no ambiguity at all that a car being operated by Jeramie Barideaux did come to a complete stop before the police stopped the vehicle."
On Thursday July 19, 2012 a lawsuit was filed in the Monroe County Clerk's office.
The lawsuit names the City of Rochester,NY, the Rochester, NY Police Department and officer Rob Osipovitch and officer Ryan Hartley as defendants.
The lawsuit says Rochester Police officers Osipovitch and Hartley "lied in their sworn police reports" and "upon belief, the Defendant police officers committed perjury concerning the stop of Plaintiff's vehicle in front of a Monroe County Grand Jury."
This is yet another black eye on the face of the Rochester, NY Police Department and their long history of misconduct and corruption.
A police department which just recently, in a clear act of desperation to buy the trust and respect of the community, launched a billboard campaign with the slogans "We have Your Back" and "On The Same Team."
The billboards, which were specifically targeted at minorities, featured actual Latino and African-American Rochester Police officers.
Ironically, the Rochester, NY Police Department has a long history of betraying, abusing, harassing, racially profiling and in some cases even killing innocent African-Americans and Latinos.
Recently, the Rochester, NY Police Department came under heavy criticism when 7 RPD officers executed 20 year old Israel "Izzy" Andino, a mentally-ill young man.
And just a couple of weeks ago, Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard along with Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards announced project "Cool Down" in which Sheppard stated that his officers will pull over citizens for not having a bell or a light on their bicycles!
Which is why I am not surprised that Rochester Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley lied in order to pull over Mr. Barideaux.
This happens in Rochester, NY on a daily basis.
The only difference is that this time, a video camera high up on that intersection, recorded everything.
And now, thanks to the power of video, video recorded on a City of Rochester camera, the City of Rochester will have to pay Mr. Barideaux for each day he spent in jail, as a result of two lying Rochester Police officers.
As for Rochester Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley? They're still patrolling Rochester streets.
I wonder how many times they have lied, framed and set up innocent people.
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