Man Busts Cop for Patrolling in Unmarked Car (You’ll Never Believe What Happens Next…)

Here’s a fun little
tale from “liberty activist” Gav Seim. Seim lives in Washington
state, where it’s
illegal for cops to drive unmarked vehicles unless these
vehicles are specially designated for “undercover or confidential
investigative purposes.” This means that officers can’t just cruise
around in unmarked cars pulling people over for petty
offenses. 

This law makes sense, writes Seim, because “unmarked vehicles
are a ripe opportunity for confusion in a citizens reaction and for
criminals to impersonate lawful authority” for nefarious purposes.
And the Washington courts take the law seriously: One resident had
a felony charge of eluding police thrown out because
the vehicle pursuing him was unmarked, and others have had

traffic infractions invalidated for the same
reason. 

On October 11, however, Seim noticed a cop driving an unmarked
car in Grant County, Washington—so Seim flagged the officer over
and asked if he had been pulling people over in the vehicle. Deputy
Dustin Canfield said indeed, he had. Seim then informed him that he
was in violation of state law and asked to see the officer’s
ID.

“Mr. Seim, I’m not gonna play the game with you,” says Deputy
Canfield. “This isn’t a game; it’s called law,” Seim retorts. And
eventually the cop gives in and produces his license! Canfield
 also seems genuinely interested (and unaware) as Siem
explains the unmarked car law. Watch an unedited version of the encounter
here or Siem’s edited version below:

With the
kind of cop footage we’re
used to seeing lately, it’s almost astonishing that went as
well as it did. Had another officer been involved, or especially if
Seim was a bit less fair-skinned, it’s easy to imagine that
encounter turning out differently.

But “Deputy Canfield handled this well,” wrote Seim after the
incident. “I want officers to treat people with respect and I in
turn do the same. Disrespectful public servants should never be
tolerated, respectful ones should be commended.” So cheers, Deputy
Canfield! You were illegally pulling people over in an unmarked car
for who knows how long, but you didn’t physically harm or arrest
someone for pointing it out—well played. (No wonder Canfield
was the Grant County Sheriff’s Office’s April Employee of the
Month.) I think this counts as a heartwarming police
story.