[Infowarrior] - Phoenix police raid blogger whose writing is highly critical of them

[Richard Forno]

Phoenix police raid home of blogger whose writing is highly critical  
of them
April 2nd, 2009

Update: Beneath the article is the leaked memo from Phoenix City  
Attorney Gary Verburg advising Phoenix police that a litigation hold  
has been placed on the Pataky case, meaning all documents  relating to  
the case must be preserved under legal obligation. The memo also  
recommends officers to “exercise caution and discretion” when  
discussing the case electronically.


In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every  
blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United  
States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been  
highly critical of the department.

Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated  
three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and  
everything necessary to continue blogging.

The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous  
personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has  
against the department alleging harassment - which he says makes it  
obvious the raid was an act of retaliation.

Maricopa County Judge Gary Donahoe signed the search warrant that  
allowed at least ten cops to raid his home in North Phoenix on March  
12 while handcuffing his female roommate for three hours as they tore  
the place apart.

Pataky, who was out of town on a business trip during the raid, also  
believes police were retaliating against him for the content of his  
blog, much of it which comes from inside sources within the department.

“They broke into my safe and took the backups of my backups,” he said  
in a phone interview with Photography is Not a Crime on Wednesday.

“I can’t even file my taxes because all my business plans are gone.  
They took everything.”

The search warrant lists “petty theft” and “computer tampering with  
the intent to harass” as probable causes. He has yet to see an actual  
affidavit that lists in detail the probable cause and is skeptical  
that one even exists.

“They say everything has been sealed,” he said.

The conflict between Pataky and the Phoenix Police Department began  
two years ago during “a nasty divorce” after moving out of the house  
he had shared with his wife. His said she was not taking the divorce  
too well and began filing false allegations against him accusing him  
of stalking and harassing her.

Many of the reports she filed accused him of doing things when he was  
out of town, he said.

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http://carlosmiller.com/2009/04/02/phoenix-police-raid-home-of-blogger-whose-writing-is-highly-critical-of-them/