WBAL on Couple Arrested for Asking for Directions:
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Va., got lost leaving an Orioles game on Saturday. Collins reported a city officer arrested them for trespassing on a public street while they were asking for directions .
I have no problem believing this story. I've read enough of these types of stories in the past. Of course, some of my conservative and neo-libertarian friends will do their usual authority worshipping, boot-licking best to lionize and make excuses for the cops and their rather piggish behaviour.
No friends, I'm not a cop-hater. I come from a family of celebrated law enforcement officers. Funny thing though, I don't confuse mature professionals with the types of badge wielding thugs represented in the story that prompted this rant.
If there were any justice, and I'm not saying there is, these officers would be unemployed and looking at real prison time for false arrest, enabling theft of personal property and generally stinking up the joint.
I won't be holding my breath. That would just be silly.
One time, years ago, my girlfriend play-shoved me on a street corner. It was a harmless, goofing around sort of thing.
Next thing I knew, there were cop lights everywhere.
They separated us immediately. A female cop grabbed her, a male cop grabbed me.
His question to me was, \”Why did you hit her?\”
As you can imagine, I was pretty shocked. When I denied hitting her and asked him what he was talking about, he flipped out, got in my face and started screaming at me. At one point, he made a thinly veiled physical threat.
The female cop came over and tried to calm him down, telling him it was an obvious mistake because my girlfriend obviously hadn\’t been abused and was just as confused as I was.
But, since I had \”talked back\” to him, he continued threatening to arrest me for \”disorderly conduct.\” He even read me the legal definition of disorderly conduct out of a little book he was carrying. Basically, disorderly conduct can mean whatever the officer wants it to mean.
I\’m sure not all cops are bad–although since my experiences have been overwhelmingly negative, I\’m reminded of a Dennis Miller quote: \”It\’s the few rotten million that spoil it for the other three guys.\”
5/19/2006 1:23:00