I largely agree. I was just trying to point out that, probably more often than most people think, adolescents require at least one good smack down, if even only figuratively, to get them to wake up and change course. Corporal punishment is definitely not the preferred approach, nor do I want a police officer being the one to apply it (especially in as sloppy a way that he did). But this kid showed some of the classic signs of needing a course correction in his life.

Trust me I'm not a LEO apologist. But I try to be considerate of all sides of the picture. The cop is already getting plenty if grief from others. I figured I'd reinforce the culpability of the kid. I figure with some of my own long past experiences, I'm qualified in doing so

Understood, and I'm in partial agreement.

I still find the use of force in response to a bad attitude chilling.

And I guess I'll wrap up by saying that, we probably aren't that far apart in our perspectives. My past posts probably don't spell out my real beliefs all that well. Which are:

* Use of force (as in slamming the kid to the ground) in response to just a bad attitude, is indeed chilling, especially when it's served by a LEO (again, I'm not defending this action or the threats of force).

* A LEO getting verbally stern on a kid in a professional manner is welcome in my book.

And

* Having a parent or guardian, very selectively and in extremely limited circumstances apply corporal punishment for a kid that's, considering all circumstances, is going down the wrong path in life, is just fine.

The only bad attitude I see is from Dude.

Fair enough. I'm not putting a halo on the kid -- although I'm very impressed with the foresight and self-control of the camerakid (about whom I know absolutely nothing other than what shows in the way that he or she held the camera and kept filimg).


If my kid needs straightening out -- and both of them do, from time to time; yours will because your kid is, well, a kid -- it's to be done by me, my wife, or others we've designated, and not by some thug with a badge and a gun.

My thought was what poor situational awareness the cop was showing. He had no clue that someone was holding what could have been a lethal weapon. It just turned out that it wasn't.

My opinion, the kid was dumb, the cop was WRONG. The kid will probably grow out of it.

Not quite. The kid was ignorant, the cop was dumb. Ignorance can be cured by education...

We really don't know if the kid had already been taught that mouthing off to and ignoring a cop is bad form, even when the cop is out of line. A smarter kid of that age, who hasn't been explicitly told this, might just be able to deduce that it is bad form, whereas a dumb kid might not be able to. Further, a dumb kid that has been told, might still act in bad form. We'll probably never know which he really is.

My 14 year old son can use a straightening out more days than he doesn't need one.
That being said, If this asshat spoke to my son this way, he would be having a very onesided conversation with ME.
I don't take well to people threatening my son. I heard the recording on the radio, and don't remember the exact wording. But it was something to the effect of "someones gonna kill you someday if you keep calling people Dude".
It takes alot of work to teach a child respect for authority, this jackass just proved how little respect that he actually deserves.
OOOhhhhh! I'm impressed with how tough you are mister cop dude, you can strong arm some 14 yr old kids!!! Whats next? Gonna move down the street and break-up an unlawfull assembly of old men playing chess in the park?
I'm not saying that these kids are perfect or behaved perfectly by any means. But you can't ask for a better example of short-man syndrome.
What a dick.