That’s just not fair. He’s got a gut, so he doesn’t exactly look hot in his uniform and maybe needs to lay off the calories but the uniform and the car aren’t “punishment” for being a poor cop. I’ve seen cops on bicycles, horses, rollerblades and Segways and they were haaaawt. This guy’s got a gut, and doesn’t exactly belong on Pacific Blue, but your uniform & vehicle doesn’t really say anything about your worth as a cop.
I don’t know. I think one of the reasons he’s having so much trouble projecting auhtority is that black and yellow mankini they got him dressed up in.
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
Is there some law that makes calling a police officer sir or officer mandatory? If the kid called him a pig, fascist, or bee-man, would that have been grounds for taking him into custody? Not in a don’t-piss-off-the-man-with-power-issues-and-a-penchent-for-abusing-authority kind of way, but in a legal sense, the sense that Riviera was acting under the color of authority?
While taunting the schoolyard bully is idiotic and may well result in a beatdown, does the bully get off in court because he was called names?
If I write an angry letter to the government, or call in to a talk show and display disrespect for the police, should I fear the consequences?
I get that policemen get sick days, personal days, and vacation days, but do they also get had-a-bad-day days where they can take their inner aggression out on the public?
If I don’t raise my kids with the same mannerisms that you deem appropriate, should they be taken away from me and given to Riviera?
Riviera acted like a common hooligan. Is that all you expect from law enforcement? Is there no distinction between a schoolyard bully, a run-of-the-mill thug, and an officer of the law in uniform? To lose the distinction between the two by justifying his actions based on the former is a tragic loss for society.
Rhythm
He said you insult me. my badge and my department. Then said ,shut your mouth.
Who said life was fair? This guy may have 17 years in, but if he has no settings between off-duty and the nuclear option then he needs to find another line of work. He is just not a good cop, the area he works should be considered a PR job, he is acting as a very public face to the City of Baltimore. He’s not policing dangerous drug corners, and a good thing to, his ass would be on the wrong side of the grass in some parts of B’more.
I am sorry, levdrakon, but your attituce is why good soldiers make bad police. You seem used to reacting to the uniform and what it represents. Civilians don’t see it that way. They are much more likely to demand that respect be earned, and sadly this guy has no idea how to get respect, he only want to demand obediance.
This is how a police officer should react when someone fails to “respect mah authoritay”.
I understand your point, and get the whole PR angle. When yuppie mom is pushing her stroller along the boardwalk and a skateboarder careens into her baby she, and pretty much everyone else except the skateboarders, are going to demand “something be done about this menace!”
The cop is stuck. On the one hand he’s got kids who like to knowingly break the law and endanger people and provoke cops into yelling at them and filming it because it’s funny and on the other hand you’ve got pedestrian tourists wondering why the cops “don’t do anything?!?”
Officer Bubble-bee is supposed to go all Dianna Troi and sense their feelings or something when in reality these kids love getting cops to yell at them and what he needs to do is go all Worf on them.
Skateboarders aren’t all bad. They can even grow up and help police catch real criminals. I suspect that previous poor treatment from officers might prevent a skateboarder from providing such assistance.
Actually, in most places there is no such law, and presumably you know better. What you may not be aware of is that there are parts of laws and rules within laws and rules that allow an officer to take you into custody for disorderly conduct, which is a discretionary thing. Further, if you continue to interfere by blowing the cop directed shit while he or she is giving you a lawful command or order, you can be charged with obstruction. They will arrest and process you, knowing the charges won’t stick, but you, because you refused to just be a decent human being, and/or swallow your pride will have an arrest record, and will, in some jurisdictiions, spend anywhere from 24 to 72 hours in a lock up or chained to a wall or bench with the dregs of society. He was acting within his authority, by the way, until he actually touched the kid, but I suspect that were this 15 years ago, this wouldn’t even be a story.
Nope. But you’d still end up with your ass beat. How does that make sense?
See, the second amendment is a tricky thing, isn’t it? No, you shouldn’t fear the consequences, unless you break the law while sharing your opinion. Then, perhaps.
Again, and though I know you know a response isn’t necessary, I’ll provide one anyway; no, that’s not a job benefit, consider it more of a, perk. :rolleyes:
No, but if you raise them with the same mannerisms that the skater had, there’s a good chance Riviera will meet up with them soon enough.
Ooo, I do love a good baiting. Listen, there is a difference between a cop and a bully, the cop will run toward you when the bully is kicking your ass, and he or she will stop it from happening. Sometimes, in order to get the message across to people, you need to bully them. People on the whole, are idiots and sometimes, you have to give them reminders about lifes little instructions. In this case, the cop went overboard, but on the 1-10 scale of ‘police brutality’ this case is maybe, MAYBE a 2. There are some seriously fucked up cops out there, this guy is just grumpy and maybe needs to ride a desk and talk to a shrink before they send him back out in his little bee suit.
Tragic loss for society though? You were a drama major, weren’t you?
I agree that when the yuppie mom gets wiped out in a 540 tail grab that heads are going to roll. I’ll grant you that these kids are a danger, and should not be skating where they are. Something should be done, but it has to be something effective.
So, we can have Officer Bubble-bee out there, where the kids know they are going to get something to post on Youtube and can provoke him into this shit and generate some nationwide RO. Or we can do this differently. I live in Maryland and this is not what I want from my police force. Can we imagine an encounter that goes differently yet still gets Joe Skater off the street. I am sure I can.
I am not faulting what the cops at the Inner Harbor are trying to do. Hell, I can picture being there with my grandkids, and can understand not dealing with punks like this kid. But, if I were there with my grandkids, and if there were skaters around, I’d really like to see it handled in a professional manner, so the grands don’t grow up thinking that police are dicks.
I think we are really closer to agreeing about this than it sounds like.
Great, now you are saying he should be shot?
Are you serious? It’s wrong for someone to call a police officer “dude”, but it’s okay for a police officer to call a citizen “beatoff”, “dumb” and “pissant”?
I unfortunately don’t have time at the moment to post a substantive reply. However, I just wanted to note that I do/did know better. However, my first draft of the sentence was something like “Unless I’m mistaken…” or some such drivel. Unfortunately, in proofing that seemed to come across as snide and sarcastic. I even tried tempering it with “unless I’m mistaken (and I frequently am)…” but it still didn’t work. Going all out I thought to get all smarty-pants and refer to the fuck the draft case, but I got stuck in a quagmire of pompasity. So I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
Suffice as to say, I wasn’t trying to be coy, but I wanted to cover my butt just in case there was such a law somewhere. Sorry if it came across otherwise. I read your other posts in the thread and while I strongly disagree with much of it, recognize the thought and nuance behind them.
It’s a simple if-then statement:
IF you call me ‘dude’ and try to engage me in defensive conversation when I am giving you a lawful order that all you have to do is listen to and walk away from, THEN you may be called the aforementioned dumb, pissant beatoff, and subsequently ticketed and/or arrested, yes.
All the kid had to do was nothing. The fact that he’s TRYING to provoke a reaction like the one he got, well, that just takes the blame for this and places it 51% cop, 49% beatoff.
Just the simple act of calling an officer ‘dude’ when not being engaged by said officer in an official capacity though, not at all wrong.
No. I’m saying that if you send a letter to a newspaper complaining about your police department, that’s your right as an American. If you send that letter to the paper and mention that you’d like to kill a member of the police department, then you should be locked on up until that urge to kill innocent police officers passes.
It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who drafts, drafts and re-drafts…
No apologies necessary. We’re engaged in a debate, sometimes things go where we don’t necessarily intend them, thank you, have a nice day and drive safely. 
I don’t think he’s cut out to be a police officer - I think he’d be much better off in another job, such as a security guard.
Ah, I think you have confused the First and Second Amendments.
What if you call them “dudes”?