Sharpsburg police officer Travis Parker was insulted by a boy who made faces and allegedly an obscene gesture from a school bus at him. Most drivers mumble about “kids today” but Parker pulled over the bus, allegedly threatened the driver, and arrested the kid for disturbing the peace. He then returned for other kids who joined the taunting as he put teenager in his cruiser. He has since resigned over stress related to the incident.
Dessie Lewis, 18, was charged with disturbing the peace — a charge later dropped. His brother Derrick Lewis, 15, was also removed from the bus.
At one point Parker is accused of pointing at his gun when the bus driver asked what was happening — though that is an account from one of the children.
This bizarre story joins other recent arrests for people putting too much salt in an officer’s burger as a McDonalds, here,
coughing on an officer, here,and shouting at a clogged toilet inside a home, here.
For the full story, click here
Police need reminding they are public servants and that their power only derives from the consent of those that ultimately employ them.
(Mistaking Latin for modern Spanish is unforgivable, though!)
🙂
Susan:
Sorry for the oblique Latin reference, but it just seemed to fit.
Patty C: Right again and certainly not merely rhetorical.
If I may, rhetorical but nonetheless valid
– “who watches the watchman?”
Mespo727272
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
–Juvenal
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I’m afraid I’m Spanish-language-challenged, Mespo, so I don’t even know if this is a rhetorical question or not. 🙂
It seems that we Amercians have become over-sensitized to others’ opinions. Luckily, this police officer did the right thing – he “retired” because of the stress from this incident.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
–Juvenal
I sometimes wonder if holding such abusive behavior up to ridicule in the public eye by calling them “Mickey Mouse arrests”
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Ugh, I didn’t finish the sentence properly. I’ll just go on by saying that calling them “Mickey Mouse arrests” might make more cops stop and think about what consequences such an arrest will mean for THEM. Like suspension, loss of pay, possibly being asked to resign from the force permanently. Maybe THAT would bring this kind of blatant abuse to a swift end.
Good grief, JT, this abusive (there’s NO other word for it!) behavior by cops is becoming an epidemic! I sometimes wonder if holding such abusive behavior up to ridicule in the public eye by calling them “Mickey Mouse arrests.” The term simply means that the arrest is being made for no other reason besides an arrogant and abusive police officer choosing to be “offended” by behavior that can hardly be called “criminal.”
I know that abuse by police officers is no laughing matter, and that citizens of that town should be calling for that cop’s speedy removal from the streets. But what worries me is how many other cops are rationalizing and even approving such abuses, saying they are somehow “necessary.” Necessary to WHOM? Only to their egos, which anyone can see. Maybe holding their behavior up to public ridicule, and those officers who participate in it, will make certain law enforcement officials see that we find such behavior unacceptable, and we’ll start standing up to these bullying tactics when they occur. It certainly can’t hurt to try.