AboutCommander Chris Wagoner Expertise I have been a police officer for 28+ years and still going! I am the Police Academy Commander at a Law Enforcement/ Corrections Academy in North Central Florida. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and Physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police officer curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask!
Experience I am a 26 year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others. Ihave served on Road Patrol, Traffic Homicide, Dive Rescue and other units.
Publications I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management.
Education/Credentials I have 2 degrees, an AAS in Criminal Justice Technology from Santa Fe Community College, and a AA from Santa Fe Community College in Criminal Justice Programs.
Question Commander Wagoner, thank you for your time . i have a problem with a neighbor accross the street from me , i live in warminster Pa. my wife was friends with her up until about 3 years ago. they had a falling out over all the lies she was telling my wife . my wife informed me that the neighbor was cheating on her husband , and lots of other horrible things . my wife said to me she wanted no more to do with her. since then the neighbor has calld the police probably about 8-10 times for things that never happened . the police would come over to hear our side of the story of what happened. after hearing her made up story. nothing ever was issued to us ever. the last police visit we were told to mind our own business stay on our side of the street or we would both be issued citations and have a judge deal with it . a couple days ago my wife got a citation for trespassing and terrorizing the neighbor and her son. my wife was nowhere near her property and said nothing to her son . her son was doing a bunch of yelling at my wife , but she ignored him . 4 hours later a police officer came to our house , explained they got a call that my wife committed these crimes . my wife told the officer what happened , for some reason they didn't seem to believe her . they said they would follow up with a phone call the next day, it never happened. 2 weeks later my wife recieved the citation in the mail . we couldn't believe what we were reading , flat out lies. what do we do , everytime the neighbor called the police she made up lies , over and over how do we protect ourselves against her lies . or cant we ? please give me some advise on how to go about it. thank you again for your time. please forgive me for my spelling and typing , i'm a auto & truck mechanic by trade , i can build a 9 second car but i cant type for #&*T thanks again Gary
Answer Hi Gary,
Well I have to say that if everything you say is true (and I am not in any way saying its not, please understand that)that you have a real problem on your hands. Sounds like a nightmare to me, I am sorry the police seemed to feel the need to act the way they did. I do not see any proof that they could have based the citation on.
It sounds to me like its a you said/ they said case. I do not see any way this could be prosecuted except for in court where they would get up and say this is what she did (your wife) and your wife would get up and say "I did not." If it was me I would simply say "prove it". I do not see how they can prove it if it is not true. They have to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that your wife did this.
I am kind of surprised the police issued you a court appearance citation on this without some kind of proof. Most of the time in these cases it boils down to the officer seeing one of the parties involved doing something and citing them for disturbing the peace or if one of the parties is on the others property and refuses to leave, then trespassing would be appropriate. But it does not sound from what you told me that any officer witnessed anything happen and based the citation on the other parties word, which is very strange.
First I know this is upsetting, but you need to keep a cool head about it and realize that the system does work most of the time and in the end, it all comes out in the wash.
Might I suggest a video camera? If you have one you may want to carry it with you (and your wife also) when you are possibly going to encounter the other party. Then if possible to record their actions it may cure all your problems. Videotaping someone is not against the law, in public. If you have an idea that they may be coming on your property or even close to it, you can also set up video to tape your property, maybe from inside your house. Also don't forget that some cell phones have video taping capabilities now, and that could be to your advantage.
Here are my recommendations, which you can take or leave, just my personal opinions.
Get a video camera, or use your cell phone and video tape any encounters between your family and the neighbors in question. DO NOT try to instigate anything. This is only for your personal defense, not to try and push them into a confrontation. Cell phones work for this also. Check your local state laws regarding video tapping someone in public. You can use this web site to find any law in any state: www.findlaw.com as I can not know every states laws about this issue, please check before taking any kind of action like this.
Get a defense attorney to defend your wife against these charges. DO NOT try and defend yourself. Yes it may cost you some money up front, but you could always turn around and try and recover your attorney fees from the person that brought the false charges against you.
DO NOT go out of your way to start any kind of confrontation, but do not alter your lifestyle to suit these people. You should not have to suffer because someone else wants to be that way. Have your cameras handy to immediately video tape anything they may say or do to you. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Remember that the system is designed to give everyone a chance to have their side heard and offer any evidence they have in their defense. You also have the right in court to ask your accusers any questions relating to the case. If you get a defense attorney worth anything, this case probably will never go to court and you may end up not having any more problems with these people. While I am not a fan of civil litigation (suing someone), from what you tell me they have been doing to you, and bringing these false charges against your wife(as I said before, if this is all true, and I am not saying its not, I just have no first hand knowledge of your case, so please understand why I say that), suing them for harassment and bringing false charges may be a way to go for you to get it to stop.
Those are my suggestions, get a lawyer (you can use www.findlaw.com for that also) and have a video camera handy in the mean time, just incase you encounter these people again and they begin to cause any problem. As I said a picture is worth a thousand words, especially in court!
