Michael A Haber PA Criminal DUI Defense Litigation Miami Blog

Welcome to Hialeah: The 305's own DMZ, where "F*ck the Police" is not a welcomed expression...

I am a product of the 60's, 70's and 80's and maintain firm musical roots therein.  I make no excuse for the fact that I do not like either rap or house / club {alleged} "music, I do not claim to have much tolerance for that noise and I have spent almost 10 years encouraging my son to learn Beatles and Buffet and Marley tunes, BUT, here, in the U.S., although they should be more considerate and sensitive to others, folks are entitled to listen to whatever bunk they choose. including "gangsta rap" and {alleged} songs with lyrics that say "F*ck the Police" (more specifically a song by something / someone called "N.W.A." knows as an "anti-cop anthem", which lyrics are:  "Fuck tha police/Comin' straight from the underground," N.W.A. rapped. "A young n**** got it bad cause I'm brown / And not the other color so police think / they have the authority to kill a minority.").

On Thanksgiving morning of this year, 26 y/o Cesar Baldelomar, was cruising through Hialeah listening to the radio.  When he stopped at an intersection a H.P.D. officer who just so happened to be conducting a traffic stop at that very time and place heard the offensive lyrics coming from the car, approached Cesar and said "Really?  You're really playing that song?  Pull over."

A dialogue ensued whereby the cop in question, veteran H.P.D. Officer Harold Garzon (who has 16 internal affairs complaints under his 17 year professional belt) proceeded to misstate the law at least twice (it is not illegal per se to play loud music and you do not have to have a physical insurance card on you when you drive, a photo on your cell phone will suffice) and then seemingly forgetting about that pesky little 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Unfortunately for Officer Garzon he is about to go 17 for 17 (17 I.A. complaints in 17 years) as Cesar, a Harvard graduate who is studying at FIU, knows the law, feels violated and plans on getting even, not mad.

I have more of an issue with cops who don't know the very laws that they are supposed to be enforcing and with cops who cannot control their attitude and behavior than I do with citizens who push the envelope and poke the bear (Cesar may well be right, but, with all due respect to the 1st, f*ck people who proclaim / promote "f*ck the police".  In my book they are right up there with folks who burn the flag.  Just because its constitutional does not make it right, and this holds especially true right now, when police-citizen tensions are right back at a pre-civil rights movement high.  To my mind, the only socially acceptable excuse for "F*ck the Police" is: