JM Audits

Why I Became an Activist


Many ask why I left the police department. The primary reasons were low pay, a negative environment, and politics. I was making $10 per hour part-time. When I became full-time, it increased to $11 per hour. Pay raises were only about 3 percent per year. After eight years, I believe I was earning about $16 per hour. It was not a livable salary, with benefits or without them. After those years, I realized I was fighting battles both within the department and on the street. I had started my businesses and was planning an exit. Thankfully, it was the best decision I made. I did vest and collect my retirement, so all is not lost.  

Why I am JMA
Factors That Brought Me to Activism

1. The beginning of misuse of authority

1. While still employed at the PD,  I had a traffic stop conducted on me in the city I lived in. It was for a paper tag that had fallen off I handed the officer my Police ID, license, registration, and Insurance. The police ID was due to me having my firearm on me. That officer immediately conducted a felony stop. I was confused as to why, but that's where they order you out of the car at gunpoint. It was unnecessary and unreasonable. A second officer came on scene and said "What are you doing?" to the officer. "He's a police officer too." That ended quickly. But I clearly handed the officer my POLICE ID and told that officer I had my off-duty weapon with me.
2. Rights violated Threat to arrest
2. After leaving my job at the police department I had a dispute with a neighbor about a house we were remodeling.  One day police were called to help defuse a stalking situation. Once an officer arrived,   I told him I was recording (my wife had the camera) He immediately said he was going to arrest me for the audio recording. He went to the extreme of saying, "Turn around and place your hands behind your back."

Remember my wife was holding the phone recording. At that time, body cameras were not widely used. The camera was shut off as I had work the next morning and couldn't miss it.  The Smith V. Cumming case law was in existence,  but was not well known at that time, so there was some intimidation when recording commonly that occurred. 


3. A city who wouldnt do anything

The harassment (stalking) continued with my neighbor for a year during a remodel of our home.  The neighbor  was recording our home, driving by slowly and was seen peeking over fences at 5:30-6:00 in the morning. We asked for help with law enforcement after he threatened to shoot a mortar through our home on the Fourth of July. Police did nothing, claiming it was not stalking. However, stalking is the repeated following and harassing of another person. That's it.

4. Disarmed in my yard

Police were called because of the threat to shoot a mortar into my home.  They arrived, and because I was armed and had alerted them to that,  I was drawn down on in my front yard when I told them. 

When I told them I had a firearm on me they said they did not hear me. They even claimed on the body camera saying, "We didn't hear him because of traffic." There was no traffic around at 11pm in a residential neighborhood. 


The police then made contact with the neighbor and left me with the firearm alone. I grabbed it and put it up. It made no sense except just a stupid power trip. That's what I continue to realize is that they keep the power trip going and going.  

5. Refusal to sign charges

5. I begged and begged to sign charges, but they denied it, calling it a "CIVIL COMPLAINT." After I gave ultimatums, the police said it was a civil matter, as always, they said to go to State Attorney's Office. In Florida, stalking and harassment cannot be processed directly through the State Attorneys Office. They finally let me sign charges and they prepared an inaccurate charging affidavit and told me that I could just sign it and they'll do a supplement. I declined and said it needs to be correct. They brought a supervisor in to try to convince me to sign it. That supervisor was later fired for unrelated issues. 

6. The beginning of misuse of authority

During this time Code Enforcement for the city was caught on camera taking photos behind my fence, in the backyard violating my Fourth Amendment rights. I believe due to the neighbor's position with someone at the city. Ultimately they were unlawfully searching the backyard. The city did NOTHING when I filed a complaint. 


7. Attempt to shut business down
They later secretly called my phone trying to get me to conduct business at my home in violation of the home occupation license. I ship and sell products online and service outside of my house. Some employees were fired for this. In law enforcement, this is known as a controlled call where they try to set you up over the phone pretending to be a client. 

8. Abandoned by "friends" who were LEOs
When all this was going down, there were several people who I called my friends, they abandoned any effort or help to get some resolution. I just asked them "What can I do? This is getting out of control."  They always said "I can't get involved"  One called me crazy,  but the police wouldn't do anything that left my family distressed and afraid. However, one officer did and he got into trouble because he knew me, but he was the only one who would listen. He's a good officer, a very good one and a sergeant now. Thank you, JB.

9. Beginning to film and document

After a few times filming, gathering evidence to add more complaints, police were taking notice and becoming aggressive towards me. I was trespassed from a post office for filming a police officer threatening an older man that he was going to go to jail.


I learned quickly that they did not care, did not work for me, and pushed back when I created friction in their system. 

10. Surrounded in a parking lot

While watching police from a distance about a widely discussed issue of homelessness and panhandling I observed and never interacted with police officers. This set them off and their sergeant told them to surround the parking lot in an effort to try to find a violation on my motorcycle. They ultimately retaliated against me for the filming by surrounding a parking lot. They never did get any violation on me though. 
Filing complaints did nothing
I filed many complaints, but they did nothing. I wondered how many people they did this to and I had to find out and share my story with you, the viewer. I'm James Madison Audits.

Later after things settled, one of the officers who had surrounded me in a parking lot stopped me for dark tint. He played as if he didn't remember who I was but he went out of the way to stop me and it was recorded all on the Tesla cameras.