To Serve and Protect?

I watched this video a few minutes ago, and I was appalled.



Then I was even more disgusted when I discovered that it happened in Hot Springs, Arkansas; not thirty minutes from my home. The full article can be found here.

First of all, let me start by saying that I do not dislike police as a rule. I think that there are some dedicated officers out there who joined the force with the intention of providing a valuable community service. I also realize that there are some power hungry dick-holes who enjoy the sense of absolute power which comes from wearing a badge.

As a side note: it's a general rule for dancers to refuse bachelor parties or other engagements held by police officers. Doesn't that say something when these girls feel less safe with the people sworn to protect them?

I realize that these kids were skateboarding where they weren't supposed to. According to the article, this was not the first time problems were had with skateboarders in this area. If you've ever been to Bathhouse row in Hot Springs, it is a small tourist town with narrow sidewalks and small shops and boutiques.

As I said before, kids will test boundaries. I'm not, however, blaming the parents in this instance. What this officer did was completely unwarranted and totally beyond the level of proper procedure.

First of all, we didn't get to see him slam the first child on the ground, but the photo in the beginning looks slightly violent to me. Then, when the group of children are standing around (saying to me that he obviously wasn't going to place them under arrest) one of them makes the comment that he has a photo of the officer assaulting the restrained minor. The officer then chases this young man down the street.

This young man was not under arrest. He was not being detained. It is clear to me that the officer wanted to confiscate the photograph the young man had. This, in itself, is an admission that not everything he did to the detained boy was kosher.

Next we see the officer hauling the handcuffed teenager down the street. He puts him in a table chair and yells at the other kids to sit down. They say no.

I would too.

Just because you're a cop does not give you absolute authority over my person. If you have not detained me, explained why you are arresting me, and read me my rights, then fuck off. Police can not just order you to sit and behave. They're not your fucking daddy. According to the ACLU, if you are not under arrest, you are free to leave. Granted, they advise strongly not to run from the police; however, seeing the way this officer manhandled the other children, I would have probably freaked out and ran as well. Everyone can talk about "keeping their cool" and acting in a certain manner, but when your neurotransmitters start pumping and your fight or flight response kicks in; well, that's another story all together.

When the girl responds "no," the enraged officer attacks her. At one point, you can see him standing in the middle with both arms crooked around two teenagers necks. Then he slams their heads into each others.

This is not appropriate police behavior!

Then he snatches the camera from the other child and tells him to stop videotaping. Again, I have to pose a question: since when is it illegal to video tape in public? I've been to Bathhouse row in Hot Springs many a times, and I've never seen any posted signs warning me not to posses or use video tapes, recorders, or other electronic devices. This child was perfectly within his rights to video tape this encounter. After which he tells the boy to get on the ground and handcuffs him. When the boy asks "why am I being arrested," the officer responds with "resisting arrest."

How the fuck can you be arrested for resisting arrest???

Not only that, but I don't remember the boy in the red shirt (the filmaker) resisting arrest. In fact, he was very polite and respectful, setting the camera down and getting on the floor. Does that seem like resisting arrest to you? After a brief pause, the officer then mentions disorderly conduct and violating a city ordinance. I suppose he realized how asinine he sounded. In Arkansas, violating a city ordinance is a Class C misdemeanor which results in a ticket/citation.

So, let us recap. You detain one child, try to chase down another for taking a photo, body check the other two, then arrest them for resisting arrest. All because they were skateboarding.

I'm sure those kids had attitude. They were teenagers. All the perfect parenting in the world can't get rid of teenage angst, it's just a stage of life. From the ages of thirteen to seventeen, you're just dying for a chance to rebel against authority, whether it be your parents, teachers, or the local bike cops. It's referred to as ego identity and role diffusion, coined by the very brilliant Erik Erikson. It happens during the period when a child is attempting to discover who they are and what they stand for, not an easy task for anyone, let alone a teenager during the awkward stage with acne and raging hormones.

On another side note, how fucked up was your life if your name was Erik Erikson? That's like being named Tommy Thompson or Jeffery Jefferson. Man, his parents were just mean to him. No wonder he ended up studying juvenile angst and disorders...

However, this officer was completely out of line. There is no excuse for his behavior. As of right now he is on "administrative leave," with full pay, I might add, while they investigate. I hope the parents of these children file a claim. I hope he gets fired. I hope they sue his ass, and the city's ass.

Fuck this bullshit.

It may seem I'm rather passionate about this issue, but I have good reason to be. About five years ago, I worked at a nightclub in the hood of Little Rock. It was pretty damn ghetto. We had riots almost nightly, gunshots, someone was killed in the parking lot next to my fucking car. It was insane. It was so bad, that we payed police officers to hang out there to keep a watch.

Wouldn't you know that our bouncers got arrested more than the customers? There would be some gang fight inside, we'd break it up and throw them out, and we would end up getting arrested for some trumped up bullshit like "disorderly conduct."

How the hell are you going to arrest a bouncer for breaking up a fight? Come on!

Regardless, I still have a lot of respect for the majority of police officers. Except when shit like this happens:




Are you fucking joking! You heard that child mention she was waiting for her mother. As a minor, it is the same as asking for a lawyer. No where did you hear the police officer say he was placing her under arrest, he just kept repeating "you're coming with me," like some trumped up version of a bad detective movie set in the twenties.

Yes, I'm talking to you, Black Dahlia.

She even went so far as to ask the officer to search her, to prove she didn't have his twenty fucking dollars. The kicker for me was at the end, when they mention that the officer was cleared of all wrong-doing.

Seriously?!?! Did they watch the tape that I just watched? Am I missing something here?

How do you, using your badge as your only source of authority, mace a child and be cleared of all wrong-doing? Especially when there's a tape available where you can review the footage and see that she did not take your twenty dollars? How is that not wrong-doing?

I only wish that the child's family could have retained better legal counsel. They could have gotten a hell of a lot more than sixty thousand dollars.

Maybe now she can get her brother out of prison.