Can the Police Warn Somebody About You if You Haven't Committed a Crime

My question is not for pro-police attorneys which two responders below seem to be and involves defamation in the state of: slander.

I sent a police Chief an e-mail that his administrative employee sent to me when off-duty because it contained a statement I did not appreciate because I felt the comment was immoral and not upholding their code of ethics policy of the police station. The Chief said that nothing would take place. I was later informed by a person that a parent of the employee told them how the Chief advised them to warn a separate person (who was named in my e-mail) about me, but I never made a statement of a threat toward that individual nor did I commit a crime. The whole situation seems defamatory and against my freedom of speech.

I have three questions about the above situation.

1. How do I find out exactly what the Chief of Police said?
2. If the Chief did tell the parent of the employee to warn an individual, that I mentioned in the e-mail, about me. Is it legal to tell one person to warn another person about a third person if someone never committed a crime nor threat?
3. Should I keep the e-mail for the rest of my life so they do not modify it to frame me?

More than likely it was a warning to either watch what they say when communicating with you because you are a complainer or to not communicate with you at.

But the Chief told a lie, he said nothing would happen but then he told someone to warn someone about me with no probable cause, so that is legal?
Thanks for offering that reason; however, his statement ruined my reputation with my parents, so I would like a retraction of his statement because what justifiable cause does he have to warn anyone about me for making a complaint? It seems his statement defies the police stations code of ethics policy.

Tell me. If you really expected the Chief to do literally nothing, what was the point of your sending the email in the first place?

I expected the Chief to reprimand or counsel his employee, so why would I expect that he would tell a lie about me? Doing nothing does not equal telling a lie, and why would you ask such a judgmental question? If you are pro-police when they are guilty then do not respond to me because this question is for attorneys who would uphold law and order not chaos.

Without knowing what the chief said, we can't say if he did something wrong. If you want to find iut what was said, ask. They probably won't tell you.

If you don't know what was said, how did it ruin your reputation with your parents? They probably already know you're a complainer.

Reprimanding the employee is not having nothing happen. Either you expected him to take action, or you expected nothing to happen.

What you're really saying is that you expected the Chief to take your word for what was happening, take only the action that you wanted him to take, and not make any investigation or get the other side of the story.

Sorry, but that's not how it works.

His comment ruined my reputation with my parents because they think I did something immoral.

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Quoting free9man

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They probably already know you're a complainer.

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What do you have against people who make complaints when an off-duty police administrative employee makes up an excuse for someone who is behaving immorally? Or is your handle, free9man, meant to be oxymoronic?

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Quoting cbg

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Reprimanding the employee is not having nothing happen. Either you expected him to take action, or you expected nothing to happen.

What you're really saying is that you expected the Chief to take your word for what was happening, take only the action that you wanted him to take, and not make any investigation or get the other side of the story.

Sorry, but that's not how it works.

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Why can he give a warning about me for no reason? Yes, I expected him to take action against his employee like I just said and not tell a lie about me.

It is written "I sent a police Chief an e-mail that his administrative employee sent to me," so "take your work" as you wrote does not make sense because you meant take your word, but he did not have to take my word for the reason as I stated in the prior portion of this sentence. No investigation is necessary when I sent the words directly to him in a forwarded e-mail. Duh.

Why do your parents think you did something immoral if all you did was make a personnel complaint? Do they know what was said and if so, why not ask them? It's not that you made a complaint that makes me think you are a complainer. Given your attitude in your original post, I'm betting you didn't do it in a professional and/or adult manner.

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Quoting free9man

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Why do your parents think you did something immoral if all you did was make a personnel complaint? Do they know what was said and if so, why not ask them? It's not that you made a complaint that makes me think you are a complainer. Given your attitude in your original post, I'm betting you didn't do it in a professional and/or adult manner.

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Because all they were told is that a chief of police told someone to be warned about me.

An attitude is not in the original post that tells you I did not send an e-mail in a professional adult manner because the definition applies to behavior or position of the body, so why are you being judgmental and showing favoritism against me without a cause?

There is no law that says an e-mail has to be sent in a defined professional way or in an adult manner before one can expect to receive action. There is no law that says if a complaint is deemed unprofessional then that person can expect to be slandered, so how can you make such a judgmental statement?

The fact remains that he is not only entitled, but may well have the duty, to get the other side of the story and take whatever action he finds appropriate. What if YOU were the one who was lying when you sent the email?

Bottom line; no laws were broken, no protected rights violated, you have no legal recourse.

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Quoting cbg

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The fact remains that he is not only entitled, but may well have the duty, to get the other side of the story and take whatever action he finds appropriate. What if YOU were the one who was lying when you sent the email?

Bottom line; no laws were broken, no protected rights violated, you have no legal recourse.

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Where in my post are you reading that he received the other side of the story? He told a lie about me and you are wrong because attorneys on AVVO told me the police cannot give a warning about someone without a crime having been committed.

Are you just a criminal defense attorney?

Once again, you do not comprehend my original post because I sent the email of the employee to the person and gave my opinion, so I do have legal recourse because there is nothing in my email that would deem under law, that I get warned about. Or do you just make stuff up because you are pro-police for any reason including them committing an illegal act? I ask because you have never once provided any legal citation from your state or any state and neither has the other person because I have only been reading your varied opinions up to your last post.

I'm going to say what others are not: pull up your big boy pants.

The police chief also enjoys the right of free speech and unless you can prove he actually maligned your character is free to warn others that you are someone that files complaints. What did this other cop say to you that you took such offense to and why on earth would you not expect the chief to take what you say at face value? Your expectations are unrealistic.

Thicken your skin, unless it was something that was REALLY over the line and get over it. Warning others that you are someone who will file a complaint is not unreasonable as it protects those that work under him and his department. You have no real expectation regarding your interactions with public servants in their official capacity.

Fine. You go hire one of those attorneys and file all the lawsuits you like. Come back and tell us how it went.

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Quoting cbg

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Fine. You go hire one of those attorneys and file all the lawsuits you like. Come back and tell us how it went.

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Silly, a letter of retraction is what I will receive. AVVO provides responses from verified attorneys but you are just an op-ed writer.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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Silly, a letter of retraction is what I will receive. AVVO provides responses from verified attorneys but you are just an op-ed writer.

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And your a punk shill.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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My question is not for pro-police attorneys which two responders below seem to be and involves defamation in the state of: slander.

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In what country is the state of "Slander"?

State laws vary, so it is important to indicate the state where you reside.

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I sent a police Chief an e-mail that his administrative employee sent to me when off-duty because it contained a statement I did not appreciate because I felt the comment was immoral and not upholding their code of ethics policy of the police station.

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Okay. Fair enough. However, depending on the law of your unidentified state, and the policies of the unspecified agency, there may be nothing the agency could do for such conduct. If it were a policy violation, the Chief might be able to do a number of things that could result in anything from no discipline to termination ...though, more than likely, it wouldbe a verbal reprimand for the employee to mind his manners even off duty.

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The Chief said that nothing would take place.

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Okay, then.

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I was later informed by a person that a parent of the employee told them how the Chief advised them to warn a separate person (who was named in my e-mail) about me, but I never made a statement of a threat toward that individual nor did I commit a crime. The whole situation seems defamatory and against my freedom of speech.

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You can "feel" any way you want. Bottom line is that you do not know what was said or done. And,if the employee was told to be wary of you, so what? It could well mean that he will no longer send you offensive emails. Isn't that what you want?

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1. How do I find out exactly what the Chief of Police said?

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You cannot. You can ASK the Chief, but, state law likely prohibits the public release of info on any internal personnel matters including discipline.

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2. If the Chief did tell the parent of the employee to warn an individual, that I mentioned in the e-mail, about me. Is it legal to tell one person to warn another person about a third person if someone never committed a crime nor threat?

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Sure. I can tell anyone, "Hey, stay away from that person!" Or, "Be careful when talking to him,he'll report what you say!"

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3. Should I keep the e-mail for the rest of my life so they do not modify it to frame me?

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If you want to, sure.

The bottom line is you did what you could do. You reported the matter to the Chief. It's a personnel issue and nothing more. And, as I mentioned, depending upon state law and agency policy, it is possible that the Chief could not do anything even if he wanted to.

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Quoting cdwjava

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Sure. I can tell anyone, "Hey, stay away from that person!" Or, "Be careful when talking to him,he'll report what you say!"

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No, a police officer cannot tell someone to warn someone else if they are not a criminal because it is against state laws in the area it happened within, I found the answer already from a practicing attorney.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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No, a police officer cannot tell someone to warn someone else if they are not a criminal because it is against state laws in the area it happened within, I found the answer already from a practicing attorney.

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Just for future reference, would you please be kind enough to cite that law or the section number so we can all be aware of it in the future? Thank you for your patience.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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No, a police officer cannot tell someone to warn someone else if they are not a criminal because it is against state laws in the area it happened within, I found the answer already from a practicing attorney.

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That might come as a surprise to the officers and other attorneys in your state. What state would that be?

Absent a law that prohibits a city/county employee from "warning" a person about another person, such action is generally not going to be a violation of law, though it MIGHT be a violation of policy. The devil is in the details - something you have not provided to us.

So, if this attorney has advised you the Chief or someone else broke the law, he has agreed to represent you on contingency when you sue the city, right? :rolleyes:

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Quoting cdwjava

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That might come as a surprise to the officers and other attorneys in your state. What state would that be?

Absent a law that prohibits a city/county employee from "warning" a person about another person, such action is generally not going to be a violation of law, though it MIGHT be a violation of policy. The devil is in the details - something you have not provided to us.

So, if this attorney has advised you the Chief or someone else broke the law, he has agreed to represent you on contingency when you sue the city, right? :rolleyes:

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Where is a law that says a police Chief can tell someone to warn another person about someone else for no legal reason? It is a lie for someone to give a warning about another without that person having committed a crime, surprise. You are just a retired police officer, so for you to give a response just oozes favoritism in similar ways that are comparable to Hitler.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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Where is a law that says a police Chief can tell someone to warn another person about someone else for no legal reason? It is a lie for someone to give a warning about another without that person having committed a crime, surprise. You are just a retired police officer, so for you to give a response just oozes favoritism in similar ways that are comparable to Hitler.

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Absent a law that prohibits an action, it tends to be permitted. So, find me the law that PROHIBITS the action.

And you still did not answer me as to whether the attorney was going to represent you on cotingency during the lawsuit. I'm guessing, "No."

Oh,and when you invoke Godwin's Law (look it up) you have invoked the final refuge of a weak mind. (And I am much more than a "retired police officer".)

Have a drink - and don't drive, and relax. De-stress. You're getting too strung out over nothing. Heck, this isn't even your thread!

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Quoting cdwjava

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Absent a law that prohibits an action, it tends to be permitted. So, find me the law that PROHIBITS the action.

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It is called defamation law of slander which is a spoken lie, so show me a law that says police officers can lie about innocent people. In defamation law, the person telling the lie gets a chance to sign a letter of retraction and that is what will happen in my case but you were just a law enforcement officer and teacher, so you would not have experience representing people in court and why are you on this website typing your irrelevant opinions?

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Quoting Jack Doe

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It is called defamation law of slander which is a spoken lie, so show me a law that says police officers can lie about innocent people. In defamation law, the person telling the lie gets a chance to sign a letter of retraction and that is what will happen in my case but you were just a law enforcement officer and teacher, so you would not have experience representing people in court and why are you on this website typing your irrelevant opinions?

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<sigh> You don't know much about it, it appears.

In what state did this happen? What was stated? What are your actual damages?

Once more,the devil is in the details. All because someone says something about you that you do not like does not necessarily make it slander. And, even if it is, in some states there are no statutory damages for slander and you'd have to prove actual harm, not a bruised ego.

If you believe you have a case, you can hire an attorney to pursue it. Understand that it might cost you about $20,000 just to step up and play, but, it's your money.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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I was later informed by a person that a parent of the employee told them how the Chief advised them to warn a separate person (who was named in my e-mail) about me, but I never made a statement of a threat toward that individual nor did I commit a crime....

1. How do I find out exactly what the Chief of Police said?

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You are in communication with the person to whom the chief's statement was supposedly made, so ask that person. You can also ask the chief. But unless somebody else was in the room, you need to find out from one of them.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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If the Chief did tell the parent of the employee to warn an individual, that I mentioned in the e-mail, about me. Is it legal to tell one person to warn another person about a third person if someone never committed a crime nor threat?

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Yes.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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Should I keep the e-mail for the rest of my life so they do not modify it to frame me?

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You can do what you would like with the email. Save it, print it, frame it and hang it on your wall, freeze it in carbonite....

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Quoting Jack Doe

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But the Chief told a lie, he said nothing would happen but then he told someone to warn someone about me with no probable cause, so that is legal?

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Yes. The police can legally lie to you. They get a lot of confessions that way.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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however, his statement ruined my reputation with my parents

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The chief didn't say anything to your parents. If your parents no longer trust you because they heard it through the grapevine that the police chief made some sort of nebulous, undefined warning about you, it's safe to say that you laid the groundwork for that distrust over a period of years.

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Quoting Jack Doe

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In defamation law, the person telling the lie gets a chance to sign a letter of retraction and that is what will happen in my case but you were just a law enforcement officer and teacher, so you would not have experience representing people in court and why are you on this website typing your irrelevant opinions?

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Defamation law varies a bit from state to state and so far I have not seen where you posted the state. But some parts of defamation law are the same in each state. One of those is that in order to constitute defamation, the statement made must be a false statement of fact about you to another person which damages your reputation. So far in this thread all I have seen you say is the police chief “warned” his employee about you. But you have not stated what exactly the police chief said and it appears that you do not know what he said. Yet despite not knowing what was said, you have jumped to the conclusions that (1) the police chief lied and (2) that the statement he made to his employee was defamatory. Yet it is quite possible that neither of those two conclusions are correct. What was the warning that he gave the employee? For example, if the warning to the employee was to tread carefully when dealing with you because you might make more complaints to the chief then that warning is not any kind of lie (i.e. false statement of fact) nor is it defamatory. So before you go off spouting claims like the police chief lied and defamed you, you really ought to first get all the facts, especially what it is that the chief said. Without that information, you are merely speculating as to what the warning was about, and obviously that doesn’t really get you anywhere.