What cops need to know about sovereign citizen encounters
The threat to officer
safety posed by sovereign citizens is well known. Here's how to be safe
and professional during an encounter
Mar 28, 2013
This article was updated on January 29, 2017.
Law
enforcement officers across the country are experiencing a growing
number of contacts with sovereign citizens, individuals and groups who
possess a strong anti-government ideology.
Because they believe
the government, its representatives, laws and policies are illegitimate,
sovereign citizens regularly find themselves in conflict with the law.
Although it’s difficult to accurately access their numbers, it is safe
to say that since 2000, their numbers and the violent incidents
associated with them have increased. In this July 2,
2010 photo, two vehicles with no registered license plates are parked
outside an apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio. James T. McBride, a
member of the Sovereign Citizens movement, owns the vehicles and claims
he doesn't have to register them because the U.S. government has no
authority over citizens. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Here, I’ll provide you with some investigative tips and suggestions
should you encounter a sovereign citizen, but, I’d be remiss if I did
not take a moment to emphasize that whether you’re dealing with a novice
or a hardliner sovereign citizen, the prospect of violent action and
threats to officer safety should never be taken for granted.
1. Proceed with caution
The threat to officer safety posed by sovereign citizens is well known. One must look no further than the tragic deaths of Sergeant Brandon Paudert and Officer Bill Evans
of the West Memphis Police Department in order to understand the risk
of spontaneous violence from self-proclaimed sovereign citizens. I
strongly suggest to any officer encountering a suspected sovereign
citizen to proceed with extreme caution, employing all necessary
tactical officer safety precautions.
One of the first things to
recognize is that a sovereign citizen is likely to be argumentative with
police authorities. They may proclaim themselves as sovereign citizens
right from the beginning or they may simply challenge your right or
authority to stop/detain them.
They may question your authority or
where you derive your jurisdiction and inform you that they do not
believe in the United States Constitution or any other “illegitimate”
government documents from which police powers are derived.
2. Stay on your game
Don’t
get pulled into a battle of wits based upon sovereign citizen rhetoric.
Many of them speak as if they are reading from a script. Often, their
mantra is intended simply to throw you off your game. Too often our egos
kick in whenever our authority is challenged and we end up arrogantly
contributing to the escalation of an argument rather than guiding its
de-escalation.
I encourage you to be knowledgeable about the
Constitution, the laws of your state and your enforcement options. With
sovereign citizens, I suggest you try to de-escalate any situation when
you have the opportunity. Also, recognize that the sovereign citizen may
attempt to videotape your encounter.
3. Remain calm and professional
Don’t
engage in an argument. Explain your purpose or intentions as you would
in any other circumstance. The fact that you are being challenged does
not change your training or what lawful enforcement actions are
available to you.
On YouTube and other internet sites, there are
some great examples of officer/sovereign encounters where officers
remain professional and task oriented despite being confronted and
challenged.
I also encourage you to take a moment and watch
this brief safety video offered by West Memphis Police Chief Bob
Paudert, father of Sergeant Brandon Paudert, regarding the dangers of
sovereign citizens:
4. Beware of fraudulent documents
Sovereign
citizens can be an investigative challenge. Much of their personal
identification information, such as birth certificates, driver’s
licenses or vehicle tags are fraudulent documents. When asked to provide
a name, they may respond that they don’t have a name.
They may
identify themselves as “the representative of…(their legal name).” If
you do receive a name, it may be a sovereign name, compounded with “El”
or “Bey” and intended to denounce their association with the name
provided them by a government entity.
Be sure to document all known aliases.
5. Gather intelligence
Another
challenge faced by investigators is the fact that the sovereign citizen
movement is not an organized civil or criminal enterprise. It’s a
fractured series of loosely affiliated individuals who adhere to
anti-government ideologies.
This lack of organization does little
to help investigators to get a foothold. However, the more we are able
to learn about these unique individuals, the better armed we will be for
future encounters and successful prosecutions.
Despite the challenges posed by sovereign citizens, intelligence
gathering will be our most valuable investigative tool. Therefore,
officers should conduct thorough background checks based upon the
information he or she is able to gather.
Obviously, we will look
at their criminal records but go beyond that. Make use of every database
you can think of, including social media, to learn as much as you can.
Consider the areas they frequent, the vehicles they drive, the people
they associate with, their interests, hobbies, family, their parole or
probationary status, employment or social service benefits status, prior
drug/alcohol abuse, scars, marks, tattoos and possible weapons in the
home.
As much as they proclaim their disdain for the government,
they are known to take full advantage of all the government is willing
to give them. You’ll see below that as much as they admonish our justice
system, they are happy to try to use it against us.
6. Interview and debrief
Upon
arrest, make it a point to talk to these individuals. I don’t mean
interrogate them; I mean interview and debrief them. Attempt to learn as
much as you can about them.
I like to begin with an information
sheet. This is a form that gathers general but pertinent information
about them. Not only name, birth date., address, phone number and
physical description, but also where they work, who they reside with,
their marital status, children, emergency contact information and who
they might stay with in the event of an emergency.
This seems like
a standard part of arrestee processing, but what it actually does is
gathering intelligence while establishing a dialogue that helps them
acquire a level of comfort with being questioned.
Proceed by
asking curious questions about their sovereign status. Your posture
should be one of understanding rather than confrontation. In a
non-arrest situation, I advise officers to complete and submit FI
reports detailing as much information as possible.
Informants,
family, friends or other associates also have relevance with regard to
sovereigns. These associations may help you determine, locations,
hideouts, vehicles, weapons caches or other useful information toward
building a case.
7. Share information
Communicate
all the information you gathered with specialized units within your
department or agency. Some departments have an intelligence unit which
gathers and records as much information on sovereign citizens in as
possible. Communicate with neighboring jurisdictions, state and federal
authorities, prosecutors and even your local attorney general’s office.
One reason to share this information is the FBI has recently deemed sovereign citizens paper terrorists.
Sovereign
citizens have been known to inundate the courts with false or
fraudulent documents intended to file lawsuits against law enforcement
and other judicial or government officials. Sovereigns may also attempt
to place a lien against your personal property.
Only a handful of
states have laws in place to protect public officials from such claims
and allow law enforcement to criminally charge sovereigns for such false
filings. Therefore, sharing all the information you gather will help to
keep everyone informed should you be targeted.
8. Conduct surveillance and search warrants
Conducting
surveillance is another beneficial investigative effort. Not only might
you want to target them visually but, depending on the circumstances
and laws within your state, you may want to consider applying a GPS unit
on a target vehicle or installing pole cameras in known sovereign
territory.
Surveillance will not only serve the purpose of
gathering intelligence but also provides vital officer safety
information should a search warrant execution be required.
Conduct
search warrants whenever probable cause exists. Obviously, an officer
will document the probable cause contributing to the case but, if
possible, include intelligence/background information on known or
suspected sovereigns and their anti-government ideologies.
Include items to search for such as anti-government papers, pamphlets, books, false documents and weapons.
Their
computers and electronic data storage devices can contain information
on social media and other websites visited. Hard drives can be of
tremendous evidentiary value.
9. Use tact, patience and persistence
Don’t
get caught up in the rhetoric and remain task oriented. Work hard to
learn as much as you can about sovereigns through traditional and
non-traditional methods and share what you’ve learned.
Ask questions and seek the advice of those investigators who have had frequent contact with sovereigns.
10. Above all, stay safe
Be creative, be thorough, but most of all when it comes to sovereign citizens, be safe.
About the author
Detective Morris Greenberg serves as a proud member of
the Baltimore County Police in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of his career
has been spent conducting criminal investigation in specialized units
including Robbery, Violent Crimes and Homicide. He has also served on
the department’s Hostage Negotiation Team. Detective Greenberg
possesses a Master’s Degree from the Johns Hopkins University, Division
of Public Safety Leadership and teaches within the Criminal Justice
Programs at two local colleges. Contact Moe Greenberg.
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