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The problem comes from society. The public does not respect officers the same way as they did in the 50's or even as late as the 70's. Back then you could pistol wip some one or crack them in head with a night stick if they were getting out of line.
Yep those were the good old days alright. Hippies and minorities getting the crap beat out of them. And the cop say he fell with a wink. Yeah... miss those times.
It's always been mainly blacks, and in areas racism thrives.
The problem is somewhat one of respect, and, understanding civil rights. The intention of the first amendment has been blunted by the Supreme Court to mean that you do not have the right to encourage violence in mobs, yell fire in a theatre, etc. With lawsuits, that seems to have been extended to you don't have to treat police with respect, nor teachers, though the morons usually learn in court they better shut up, because judges don't seem to care about your first amendment right to be a loud mouth idiot, rather they balance the benefits of an orderly judicial process against the first amendment, and, decide the first amendment should take second place.
What's lost on the average moron is that as they go up the ladder, they do run into levels of law, or society, that prohibit First Amendment idiocy. I watched a kid swear at a principal. He will no longer be at the school. If he does it to me, he'll probably get two or three chances, then do it to the principal, then be kicked to another school.
He does that in court, he's in jail, for the judges' feeling of
how long was proper. Contempt doesn't have much other then the judge's general opinion as far as penalty goes.
What I'm getting at is Freedom of action or speech is now balanced against the orderly society, and, can, and will be limited accordingly.
The real situation is simple now. BEAT the TAPE. As a referee, I have to make sure that my actions are justified, and, that a coach or fan was clearly warned about their actions, prior to any punitive action. Just think that all your actions are on video, with no sound, and, you have the situation you have to deal with.
As there were sadistic cops there are also situations where violence by a police officer is justified. You just have to be in a situation where the verbal abuse, attempt to encourage violence is tape able, and, clear. That's part of the problem. An officer, unless audio is recording, can't respond to verbal threats, and, has to wait for the bad guy to do something that justifies his response. That's NOT a good situation to be in, no matter how well you are trained.
It also takes away the ability to preempt, or head off violence with a show of force, or minimal force intended to prevent larger violence.
I suspect that as gangs are recognized as the severe threat they are to our current form of government, and, even Fienstien and Boxer are making noises about it, which means it must be REALLY bad, police are going to be empowered with more latitude to deal with the situations that arise.
As long as police chiefs are elected officials, as are DA's, the system will be run by politics, and, just like public schools, you are going to be the tail on the dog if you are the teacher, or the officer. Welcome to my world...
S