On 9/4/2002, I was a witness to several New York State Policemen breaking the law. In fact, they broke several laws that day. One thing that is important for every American to know; when the police break the law, there is no law ! My whole life has changed since that day and I didn't even break any laws. The New York State police on the other hand, broke several laws that day. It is because of the action of the police that day, that I put 100's of hours into researching and writing about the war on drugs at this point in my life. I planned to write about it someday, just not now.

Here are the events as they happened. On 8/21/2002, I saw a state police helicopter flying around looking for hemp plants. They were spending most of their time 20-50 feet in the air. The only time I saw them flying over 50 feet in the air, was when they were going over trees that were taller that 50 feet. At this point, I was upset. I don't grow hemp plants, but low flying helicopters give me nightmares. I have researched it, and all helicopters are supposed to stay at least 500 feet in the air at all times except for emergencies. Looking for hemp plants is not an emergency.  This is federal aviation law for the safety of those on the ground and the pilots. While the police were breaking the law in a way that should get their pilots licenses pulled, all I could do was watch. I have a digital camera, but it wasn't with me that day. While looking for hemp plants, they turned the helicopter around right over my house less than 30 feet over my roof ( I watched them ! ) and every window in our house was shaking. If that helicopter had broke down then, my family would be dead ! There is a reason for the F.A.A. laws, and the police are supposed to obey them just like everyone else.
Over the next week over 20 people complained to me about the low flying helicopter on 8/20/02 and on 8/21/02. But once again there was nothing I could do but to agree with them.

On 9/4/2002, the state police helicopter came back to the area where I live. They started flying in the exact same places as they had 2 weeks earlier to the day. This time they were still flying illegally low, but not as low and they were spending less time in each area. My camera was home that day so I went to get it. When I found it, it was full of pictures so I had to take a few minutes to download the pictures and empty the camera so that I could use it. By the time I got my camera empty, the helicopter was flying over my house. So I ran out back and started taking pictures. After all, when you see someone endangering other peoples lives, it is our duty as Americans to try and stop them. That pilot should lose his job. You see, a good picture of the police flying that low, could cost them their jobs and pilots licenses and that is why I started taking pictures. Maybe there was something I could do after all !
I only took 3 pictures before I saw the helicopter stop, hover for a few seconds, do a quick circle, and land. They were hovering in the exact same spot I saw them at 2 weeks earlier. So I was guessing that they had found some plants. I said,
"they better be broke down", because at this point I already had pictures of them flying lower than the tree tops over 3
different people's land. So I ran home, got my daughter, and got in my car. I drove as close as I could to the helicopter,
got out, and told my daughter to take the car home. I then set out on foot with my camera making a bee line for the helicopter. I walked up to the helicopter and as I did, officer VanZandt got out of the 'copter and yelled for me to come toward him. Something anybody could see I was already doing as fast as I could walk without running. We met at a fence line and he asked me what my name was. I told him," My name was Neil Colton. I am an ordained minister and a reporter and I am doing a story on the war on drugs. Right now I am here to report on the bad guys in this war and that would be you." He said, "We're the bad guys"? Then I said, "Darn right you are... The war on drugs is unconstitutional and the police that go looking for hemp, are enemies of the Constitution and the American people. He then wanted to know who's land I was standing on. I look down, then I looked around and I told him who's land I thought I was on. You see where I was standing, I was within 150 feet of at least 4 land owners. We were within 3 feet of each other and we were on different peoples land.  He then pointed out posted signs to me and told me he couldn't read the name on it. I told him, "Posted means posted. Apparently the owner doesn't want you here."  He said, "Well the reason we are here is because we found some marijuana plants growing back there. Where is the land owners house?"   I said, "On the other side of those trees, you would have seen it if you weren't flying so illegally low."   He said, "It is the pilots that are flying that low, it has nothing to do with me.
 I then said, "You are a New York state trooper with a gun. If you are in the back and they are breaking federal aviation law, it is your job to make them take that helicopter up to legal flying height, even if you need to pull that gun to get them to obey the law. If you don't, you aren't doing your job. When the police break the law, there is no law."   He asked how to get to the land owners house from there. I told him, "The posted signs make it clear, I would assume by way of a driveway and with a search warrant."
 Then I said, "Tell you what... follow me... I know the land owner is home right now, I saw him when I went by his house."
You see, he had pointed out the 'No Trespassing' signs to me. So if they were the landowners plants, they would be guilty of trespassing if they went there without a warrant. I had already told them that I didn't own the land and that they should obey the law and get a warrant if they wanted to go on private land that has posted signs.
Then officer VanZandt went back and talked to the pilot while I called the land owner on my cell phone and told him I was on my way to his house for some alleged marijuana plants growing on his land. Officer VanZandt was actually being very nice for how rude I was being. We talked a little as we walked to the land owners house. When we got there the land owner was standing in his yard. After introducing the two men, I started walking toward home. Before I got far I had a gut feeling to walk fast. Then a feeling of 'this isn't fast enough', so I ran cross lots across a field, through a ravine and came to my house the back way.

   When I got home, there were 4 state police cars parked in my driveway, one marked and 3 unmarked. There were 3-4 troopers standing in my driveway talking to my wife. I was taking pictures. When my wife saw me she pointed at trooper Campeau and said, "He is being rude to me !" I then said, "Ya, and he is also trespassing. Get off of my property right now !" Officer Campeau then said, "We are not trespassing, we are investigating marijuana growing, and we have every right in the world to be here !" It was at this point that I lost it ! So I screamed at him, "I don't grow marijuana, you are trespassing, get the F-- off of my property right F--ing now ! !"   This was still not clear enough for officer Campeau and the gang. Only one trooper got in his car and left with this warning. So he kept talking and I told him as far as I am concerned, any policeman trying to enforce hemp laws should be locked up. After all, without the hemp plant America would not exist and the laws against it are unconstitutional. I then told him again to get off of my property and that if the state police ever came on to my land again without a warrant, I would have them ticketed for trespassing. He still wouldn't leave until I started screaming old hemp laws at him. He then turned and in the snidest voice I have ever heard in my life and with as much disrespect as he could muster he said,  "Thanks for the history lesson Mr. Colton."

After the police left I went inside for a few minutes. After thinking about it, I got my camera,  got back in my car and headed for where the police were. You see, I wanted to talk to the one Sheriffs officer I had seen on the road when I was walking into my yard. He pulled in and out of my yard just before I got home. My wife told me that the only time the State police were not rude was when he was there. I also wanted to get more pictures to show the waste of taxpayers money. They had about $1,000,000 worth of police equipment and probably at least 10 policemen to find and harvest 10-20 plants. It didn't take long for officer Campeau and another state trooper to start pushing my buttons again. Officer Campeau even threatened to arrest me for freedom of speech. I left and went back home. When I got home I called the local sheriffs office and left a message for the sheriff on the scene to call me when he got back in for the day.  After a few minutes of pacing I told my wife, "I have to go to the woods and work off some of this anger. So I got my chain saw and my truck and I headed for the woods. This put me driving right past the police once again. You see the driveway they used to go and get those plants,  I just happen to own part of. So by using that driveway, the state police trespassed across my land 2 more times that day after I told them I would have them ticketed if they did. I am still thinking about  pressing charges against the troopers for their actions that day. I have until 9/4/03 to decide how many charges. Yes, they could have got there without crossing my land.

When I went to the woods the state police wanted to follow me, but the person they were talking to told them he wouldn't recommend it. He told them I was probably just going to cut wood and not to worry about what I was doing, it has nothing to do with what you are here for. I am sure within 2 -3 minutes when they heard my saw fire up, they knew he was right. I cut and loaded a face cord of wood on my truck in under 20 minutes. I was enraged with how the troopers  (especially officer Compo)
 had treated me. I don't think I ever cut and loaded a cord of wood that fast in my life. When I was in my 20's I cut several hundred cord every year, but none that fast. After I got the truck loaded my cell phone rang.
It was from my house, telling me to come home.

When I got home I found out that officer Campeau and another N.Y. state trooper had slandered my name at the neighbors house. They said that kids say I have the drugs in the area and that I was the biggest drug dealer in the area. None of this is true, they were just grasping at straws. As the neighbor put it to me later, they were fishing hard. They really thought that those were your plants and they were saying all kinds of crap trying to get me to agree with them. He told the police the truth and that is, that they are full of crap. I didn't know those plants were there and he was sure that they were wrong about me dealing drugs. They even asked the neighbor what they could charge me with for showing up at his house twice.
  I guess I wasn't the only one enraged that day. Officer Campeau  and another trooper who's name I don't have yet, couldn't keep their cool either.
Looking back on it four months later as I write this, I still can't believe how ignorant those policemen were that day.
Believe me, if I had hemp plants growing anywhere on the planet, the last thing I would do is to walk up to a police helicopter.  Since I don't grow,  I figured I had nothing to lose by confronting them for the laws that they were breaking.

Now I had to decide what to do next. The state police had trespassed across my land 3 times, two of the troopers slandered my name to neighbors and I had pictures of the state police helicopter breaking F.A.A. laws. So after thinking about it for a few days I wrote a story for the local newspaper. In that story I explained what the troopers had said about me and I told the local area the truth. That I am not a drug dealer or a hemp grower and it has been years since I haven't even seen the types of drugs that can hurt people etc.. I pointed out in that story that this was a story for the D.A..

  I wrote a 3 page letter in the form of a plea bargain and sent it to the local D.A. I explained in that letter that I could press charges against the police for their actions that day. I mentioned different  lawsuits I could file, the charges I could press and I said, I would let it all go if he would burn one man's signed statement along with his plants. If he didn't accept the plea bargain, I would press charges against the police, write about it on the web and in the newspaper. I pointed out in the letter, that the police have way too little respect as it is, it is up to you if this goes away or if the police get negative publicity out of this. After all, everything the police got that day, they obtained illegally. Even if the grower was wrong to grow his plants, two wrongs don't add up to a right. If our D.A. cared at all about the reputations of the local state policemen, you wouldn't be reading this now. When talking to the lawyer of the man that was ticketed, in court he referred to my letter as a threat.  Being a man of my word, I have written about this on the web and in the paper. I also have no choice but to consider going forward with charges against the police now as well, something I would rather not have to do. If our D.A. was thinking about what was best for our community, he would have taken the deal I offered him. I was not threatening anybody. I was just looking for some justice after what I had seen the police do on 8/21/02 and 9/4/02.

 I sent my story to the local newspaper and I sent the plea bargain letter to our D.A., Cc: to the local sheriffs, Cc: to the head of the state police for our area. The state police sent Sergeant Allen to do a follow up. It was I think 10/15/02, before I heard from the state police. Officer Allen showed up at my house and asked me if he could ask me some questions about the letter and the newspaper story. I told him sure, come on in. We sat down and talked for about 2 hours that day. When officer Allen left, he said he had to go back and file a report on what we had talked about that day. He also said that he was going to report that we had a very nice conversation. When he left, the saddest thing to me about our conversation was, how little he knew about the drug laws he and his co-workers are trying to enforce. Because of that fact, I wrote another story for the local newspaper about American Hemp History.
2 or 3 days after trooper Allen was here on: 10/17/02, I sent him a letter. In that letter I requested the names of all of the troopers in my driveway on 9/4/02 and a copy of the report.  I still haven't heard from them. What does this mean? The police are far more interested in protecting each other than in doing what is morally right, constitutionally right, and what is best for the community that they are hired to serve and protect.
( Footnote about officer Allen: I first met him when he came to my house to interview me. During the interview, he was telling both me and my wife,  how much he hated his dad ! He hated him because he was an alcoholic. His dad died a few years ago, "Good," is what trooper Allen had to say about his father dying. He made it quite clear up front that he is prejudiced against anybody that uses drugs or alcohol.
Alcoholism is a disease that his father probably had no control over. I am not a doctor, but it's this reporters opinion, that officer Allen needs mental treatment for this. I feel that the treatment that he needs, goes far beyond what our county can provide. It's sad, but it's the people that he is hired to serve and protect, that are getting hurt everyday because as a state trooper, he seems oblivious to the fact that it was a health issue that his dad suffered with for years. )
In officer Allen's defense, I think he is a good man at heart and he tries to be a law abiding respectable citizen in our community.  From what I have heard about him, I think he is one of the better N.Y.S. troopers in our local area.

  I don't know who was  in charge that day, but Officer Campeau was the only one driving a marked trooper car. He was also the one that refused to leave when I told him that he was trespassing. 
 He is the one I am still most upset with even though several state policemen broke the law that day, because his actions were most unprofessional. Over the next two weeks, I went out and asked several people in the area if they knew him. I found out that he has quite the reputation in our area. Sadly, I am still waiting to hear something good about him.
  Weeks after that day when I was on my honeymoon, officer Wm. Campeau was once again,  using my name in connection to the plants found on 9/4/02.  I had nothing to do with those or any other plants. So tell me, if it was you... would you press charges against him ?  That is one I still have to decide before 9/4/03, and I would like your help.  I am still looking for someone that thinks he is a good policeman,  worthy of being the N.Y. state Trooper that he is. If you are that person and you aren't a policeman, then please email me with your story. Policemen can email me as well, but I am looking for civilian input here. When and "If" I hear something good about the man, I will let you know by updating this page.
From what I have seen and heard, it is my opinion that he is the kind of man that gives cops everywhere a bad name.
I asked a lawyer, "What could be done to stop him from mistreating others ?"  I was told there is nothing that you can do. There is no one that the police like to protect more than each other. When a policeman breaks the law and gets caught, sadly he is more likely to get a promotion then to get fired.
 Time will tell what happens here... I am trying to just put that day behind me.

Knowing that I can press charges against officer Campeau for his illegal actions on 9/4/02, ( like I already told you I have until 9/4/03 to decide if I will or not ) the Commanding Major of the local state police just gave officer Campeau, 'The officer of the year award' for his part in helping to keep this unconstitutional war on drugs going in our area.  He was recommended for the award by his buddy officer Allen, the trooper that came here to interview me last October. What does this prove ? For one thing, the lawyer was right ! Get a cop in trouble and his fellow officers will help him cover his tracks and then promotions are given out like candy. 
( The war on drugs gives policemen more job security then all other things put together. Even though most troopers know that this war is bad for America, they make arrests everyday anyway for their job security. Yes, this is a very sad point in American  History. )
Did you know ?
Did you know that the N.Y.S. police was started as nothing more than a terrorist organization, trained in terrorist techniques ? This is a fact, look it up.  According to officer Allen, this was done in 1917 to combat rioting in the street in rural areas, mostly Northern N.Y..   A  lawyer told me they are also supposed to be crowd control for striking workers as well. There was talk on the TV news in the early 70's about disbanding them all together since they aren't needed anymore. This was stopped by the politicians, not by the will of the people living in our state.  Most people I have talked to, think there is no need for state police at all.  If there is a need,  it is for less than 10% of what we have now, and then only in the cities. Counties with more cows than people like ours, ( Lewis County N.Y. )  could handle all legal problems through the County Sheriffs office. State police in Northern N.Y., is nothing more than a huge waste of your tax dollars.
I have lived in Northern N.Y. for over 40 years and I have never heard of rioting in the streets of Northern N.Y. in stories, let alone in reality.  Have you ? ?

The only terrorists most Northern New Yorker's have ever had to worry about, are the New York State Police.
Since the #1 terrorist organization in the state of N.Y., ( The N.Y.S. police )  has just named officer Wm. Campeau their trooper of the year for a tri-county area... Citizen beware !
Survey says: 80% of all men living in the USA, say their biggest fear is being arrested. If the police were there to help the public like they tried to be back in the 1950's and like they are supposed to now, this wouldn't be the case. 
 ( I got those survey figures off of the TV news a year or more ago. )

The saddest thing, it won't do anybody any good if I press charges at this point.  I offered not to in a plea bargain to the D.A. and I said I would if he didn't accept the plea bargain. The problem here is, the other case has already gone to court. Now I have been a man of my word, I have written about it on the web and in the local newspaper. I still have until 9/4/03, to press charges against  the policemen that I saw breaking the law that day. But what if I do ? All that would do, is upset the policemen I have ticketed and maybe bring in a few dollars in fines to the state of N.Y.. I don't know about you, but I would rather be friends than enemies with the  local police. Pressing charges, even though they were in the wrong, is a good way to make enemies. As for the state income from the fines, if the people in America cared at all about what is good for our country, none of this would be happening in this, the 21st century.
Different news surveys say that 70+% of Americans think hemp should be taken out of the war, or the war on drugs should be stopped all together. Probably less than .001% of them write to their Congressmen and Senators about this issue like I do. When the Government is currently spending about $36,540 every minute of everyday on this war, fines from the police breaking the law that day wouldn't add up to drop in the bucket. So why bother ? The only reason I am still thinking about pressing charges instead of just letting it go and moving on with life, is because our D.A. referred to my letter as a threat. If the police feel that it was a threat, then legally, it is in my best interest to press charges. But that is not what would be best for our local area. So what should I do ?

When the case finally made it to court,  the first thing the D.A. brought up to the accused man's lawyer was my plea bargain letter. He was calling it a threat. He was quickly told that has nothing to do with this case. Then he was asked, what can we do here ? The D.A. would settle for nothing less than the man pleading guilty to the charge. So what was the charge ? Growing marijuana without a license. No such license is available to the American people ! The end result was a $300 fine, case closed.
The cost to you the taxpayers, several 1,000's of dollars. About $1,000,000 of police equipment, depreciating every second, about 10 -12 troopers and pilots paychecks, unemployment, health, social security insurance, retirement benefits, fuel for the chopper, the D.A.'s pay, etc..  No doubt it was costing N.Y. tax payers a minimum of $3,000-$5,000 an hour. They were within 2 miles of my house for 3+ hours that day, plus the follow up work. I watched the same helicopter flying in the exact same places and spending longer doing it 2 weeks earlier to the day. 
Proving once again what a huge waste of your tax dollars this unconstitutional war on drugs really is !

I had to make a decision in August 2003, whether to go forward with charges against the GUILTY policemen, here is what I decided.

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