Added: In the comments, Donna asks for my take. First of all, my take is colored by a lot of the material I read last semester in a class on the role of the police. Much of that material was devoted to uncovering why police brutality happens; the answer, not surprisingly, is that police get a superiority complex and respond negatively when their authority is questioned in any way. Account after account of police brutality incidents begin with the civilian talking back to an officer or simply asking "why?" Thus, I'm very much inclined to agree with Radley Balko's take (plus he happened to have been there and talked to witnesses), though I'd describe her crime as talking back to an officer of the law, not dancing:
Her crime was apparently to ask “why?” when the park police told the group they had to disperse. Note too that this was at around midnight. No one was bumping into tourists, or obstructing anyone’s way. I guess the only conclusion, here, is that it’s apparently illegal to dance on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial–even with headphones. You know, post 9-11 world and all. Harmless fun will be interpreted in the most threatening context imaginable. Whimsy and frivolity will not be tolerated.
8 comments:
So what's your take on this? Just some bored overzealous police officers doing what they think is their job?
What, only 79 hits on your profile?? You would think the hot chicks alone would be way more than that!
. . . Oh, the iPod cop thing, I have nothing
Pops
OK, I DO have a comment. If this story stimulates interest in police misconduct I would highly recommend John Grisham's non-fiction book 'The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town' Thorough going corruption of the justice system by the police, prosecutors, judges makes the attitude of the OJ jurors almost understandable (assuming experiences similar to this).
Ah, apparently you don't know many hot chicks Pops; they do not flock to econ/policy/humor blogs the way one might expect. In fact, quite the opposite!
As to your recommendation, sounds good. I'd recommend Radley's blog (The Agitator), as he is always quite in tune with the misdeeds of our uniformed officers around the nation.
It aint a party unless someone gets tasered!
"misdeeds of uniformed officers" - a universal theme, don't you think? What I loved about the movie "Crash" so much was the young officer who was partnered with the older, jaded cop. And by the end of the film, the young officer - well, you know the story. And tasers? maybe get a few for Jen's wedding?
Yeah, the WSJ had a story a while back about personal designer tasers that would go nicely with almost any outfit. I'll look into that...
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