When Springfield Police Department Detective Matthew Farmer Refused to Give His Name,
Private Investigator Derrick Marshall Was Forced to Identify Him Using His License Plate
The man exited a civilian vehicle with no marking to indicate it was used for law enforcement purposes. He was dressed in plain clothes, not dissimilar to the clothes private investigator Derrick Marshall was wearing at the time.
The man impeded traffic, forcing a civilian vehicle to block a lane of traffic on a public street. The man then aggressively accosted the individuals filming the station, lambasting them with questions about why they were taking pictures. When Akins asserted that they had a First Amendment right to engage in this activity, the man then wrote down their vehicle’s license plate and ignored requests to produce a badge and identify himself.
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Raw Footage of the Confrontation With Detective Matthew Farmer
At no point did the man in question display a badge or any other form of identification that would serve to prove he was a member of law enforcement. Matt Akins initially asked the man to display a badge, a request which the man completely ignored. Akins then asked the man to provide a card. Without checking any of his pockets, the man shot back that he didn’t have a card. Many officers across the county have been provided department issued “business” cards to hand out to the citizens. This is especially true of officers or detectives who regularly come in contact with citizens. The man had now ignored requests to produce a badge and was claiming to not have any cards.
Following this incident, Derrick noted a sharp increase in the amount of SPD squad cars that drove past his house. Living in a neighborhood with very little crime, Marshall rarely saw any police presence at all prior to this incident. Following this confrontation that changed. Officers in marked patrol cars began slowly riding by his residence on a regular basis. To Marshall these factors seemed to be a clear indicator that his investigation into the police department, including bringing Akins along to film the department headquarters was unwanted and would met with staunch, not to mention unconstitutional, opposition.
Identifying Detective Matthew Farmer
Marshall, being a licensed and bonded private investigator, utilized his access to Department of Motor Vehicle records, as well as proprietary databases to identify the man as Detective Matthew Farmer of the Springfield Missouri Police Department. Marshall believes this is tool that may come in handy to police accountability activists who get harassed by police driving their civilian vehicles.
Collecting Information via these means requires “permissible purpose.” The permissible purpose for running these reports is as follows:
“For use in connection with any civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitral proceeding in any Federal, State, or local court or agency or before any self-regulatory body, including the service of process, investigation in anticipation of litigation, and the execution or enforcement of judgments and orders, or pursuant to an order of a Federal, State, or local court.”
Another Run In With Detective Farmer
Marshall would run into Detective Matt Farmer again when delivering his complaint about the Social Security Number to leaks to the Springfield Police Department in June. Farmer denied to know anything about the leaks before retreating back into the restricted area of the police department. He would later be seen standing with another officer as he smiled and waved at the Citizens For Justice camera Marshall had brought to document the delivery.
Raw Footage of Derrick Marshall and Attorney Stephen Wyse
Delivering Complaints to Springfield MO Police Where They Ran Into Detective Farmer Again
Derrick Marshall
Private Investigator
MO Lic. #2012034128
Derrick@MarshallInvestigations.com
417-863-7117
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