This YouTube video has gone viral showing Jeremy Drew, 12, confronting a police officer in Vegas about his illegally parked motorcycle. The officer parked illegally to buy a soda and Jeremy Drew asks him why he felt that he could park illegally and asked for his badge number. The officer refuses, even though all officers are supposed to allow citizens to see their name and badge number.
Drew asks the officer “Is there a reason for you to park on the sidewalk? Is it like an emergency or anything?”
The officer simply does not respond to which Drew adds “Can I see your badge number?” The officer asks him why he is asking for the badge number and Drew replies “Uh, because I have the right to.”
The officer replies: “You do? Are you a junior lawyer?”
Drew answers “No, I just want to see your badge number. Uh, can I please see your badge number?” The officer then rides away.
I am not aggrieved about the illegal parking for the officer. Officers are in fact allowed to park illegally in carrying out their duties (though soda stops are not exactly part of the thin blue line image). However, the officer did violate the rules in refusing his badge number and Drew was correct that he had a right to see it. More importantly, at a time when citizens are increasingly passive in the face of a burgeoning police presence in our society, this 12-year-old boy showed remarkable courage. He stood his ground even when the officer compounded his violation in refusing to show his badge by asking for identification from the boy. The youngster responds “I’m a minor. I’m Jeremy Drew.”
Yes, you are. And I think it is pretty cool to be Jeremy Drew.
Oh, and he (the cop) was NOT parked at the business. He was parked in front of a residence.
So a cop breaking laws are somehow exempt from facing penalties the rest of us have to endure?
Reminds me of the time 2 cops decided I looked suspicious walking home after school was done.
Their reasoning: How can a guy dressed in a leather jacket with a backpack and a ponytail to boot, have any legal cause to be in a high rent/villa neighbourhood?
I’m not saying cops are idiots, I’m pointing out that not all officers of the law actually follow the LAW.
Hubert if they cannot handle their job properly and legally then they need to find a new profession. As far as pay goes, people who make far less than police officers put up with much more BS than they do as well. Ever watch how employees of retail or fast food places are abused?
How would you like to try living on 250 bucks a week putting up with things like this
It’s fashionable to record the police while aggravating them these days. Wing nuts think he should be applauded but reasonable people call him out for being a spoiled brat that is only parroting what his parents do. It’s completely up to the business owners discretion if he can park there or not. Not breaking any laws. They don’t pay these police enough to put up with this BS. Someone’s either yelling police brutality when one of them sneezes, or we have whiny kids like this one, trying to aggravate an officer.
Then all the cop had to do was tell the kid I t is not illegal because I have permission from the business owner. The cop had a teachable oment and instead cjose to teach that I am cop, here me roar and try and intimidate you and refuse to do what I should, which is explain/ID himself, that is why he wears a badge after all
Darren,
I was in a parking lot a while back when a deputy sheriff pulled into the only available handicap slot. He jumped out of the car and started toward the supermarket. I beeped my horn and got his attention. He came closer and i asked where his handicap tag was. He said he was serving a summons in the store and would be leaving shortly. I asked him again where his handicap tag was, and if he was so infirm he could not walk a little further, he was in the wrong line of work. His face turned all shades of red, and I thought steam was going to come out of his ears, but he stomped over to the patrol car and moved it.
I smiled sweetly at him and waved. He didn’t wave back.
Good for you for doing that. It took nerve to pursue it with him.
Now if you could just do something about the people who think handicapped spots are reserved for them to park their carts when they’re finished with them………. (:
Darren,
Sweet. I knew I liked you for a good reason. 😀
Some of you might get a kick out of this.
About 7 or so years ago, I had to take some training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center. One afternoon when walking back to the building via the back lot after lunch another deputy and I saw a Washington State Patrol car parked in a handicapped parking space, and there were several regular spots around. Arrogance I thought. So, we decided to play a kind of joke on him for doing this.
We went into one of the training rooms where there were some Kangaroo Court traffic ticket forms and grabbed one. (They look just the same as a regular traffic ticket but they are fakes used for the training of rookies)
We took out the green copy (defendant’s) and stuck it on the windshield of the WSP patrol car.
Bet the trooper had a bit of a rush when he first saw it.
I am amazed by the outright hatred of this kid I read here by some posters. Astonishing. This is what is wrong with America. You disagree and instead of stating that respectfully, call names, suggest the cops should take the kids info and investigate the parents, and so on?
As to cops being first responders and not questioning what they do no matter what evidently, including walking illegally, parking illegally (2 examples from the comments) I recall when I loved in NYC and the cops/firemen would turn on lights and sirens to get to delis/restaurants faster on their lunch breaks. (Writing that I realize some of the posters would say they deserve to do that, after all they only have so much time for lunch so they need to get there in a more speedy fashion then the rest of the people who work and only have a specied amount of time for their lunch breaks.
“What is wrong with America is people not questioning authority, of saying that authority is right no matter how wrong.”
It bears repeating.
Holy Mother of Non-Issues…let this cop do his thing and be on his way for Christ’s sake. That’s at least a $15,000 motorcycle right there. Most motorcyclists want to park as close to an establishment as possible to avoid theft/damage to their rides. I have a smaller enduro motorcycle that has no steering lock and could be easily rolled away or lifted by two guys onto a pick-up truck; so I try to park as close to a store as I can-right outside the front door if possible-with the store owner’s permission, of course. If this kid wants to change the world, perhaps he should attempt to film some gang bangers on a street corner slingin’ dope, and then go find the police.
Bron,
Look around. The adults really suck at that job.
You could be onto something there.
…….. A bunch of kids asking “Why is the King naked?”
““us-vs-them” mentality. But if you felt that your every move was being scrutinized by people just waiting to jump on every minor mistake you make, wouldn’t you, as well?”
You mean like being ticketed for not coming to a *complete* halt at a Stop sign – being 1 over the speed limit – jay-walking across an empty street – parking your motorbike on the sidewalk – sort of thing?
– thinking of this from the standpoint of human psychology
—— and then seeing cops doing those things.
.
I think I’d rather that the cop did the job professionally regardless of the mood that he/she was in. Give me a pro – not a prima donna.
Once you start to condone law-breaking by law-enforcers, the whole system starts to break down.
The officer was wrong. He needs some counseling on how to handle public relations issues. For one thing, he did park illegally. As far as answering Jeremy’s question, all he had to do was state his badge number. By refusing to do so, he turned a nothing situation into a viral video. As I tell the new guys, do NOT do something that makes you the star of a YouTube viral video unless you are rescuing somebody or their pet from a burning building.
Is it true that a minor has a RIGHT to see the badge number? This is a serious question. I’m interested in this because on the one hand, children are regularly marginalized in society, but on the other hand, they don’t always have the same legal status as adults. They don’t always have the same responsibilities, nor the same rights.
As for the police officer, yes, it is true that we must hold them to high standards of professionalism and accountability, but we also have to keep in mind the psychological fact that such pressures are stressful, and the job is already highly stressful. In the ideal case, police officers shouldn’t bend parking laws to get coffee. But if the police have to come to my home or business, I think I’d rather the officer was in a good mood because he has had his coffee instead of being in a bad mood because he couldn’t get his coffee for lack of a parking space. People (sometimes rightly) complain that police officers think of themselves with an “us-vs-them” mentality. But if you felt that your every move was being scrutinized by people just waiting to jump on every minor mistake you make, wouldn’t you, as well? (I’m thinking of this from the standpoint of human psychology, not from the standpoint of justifying the behavior.)
when I was a kid the cops were your friends. we wouldnt have gone up to a cop and asked for his badge number for any reason as a 12 year old.
If some kid came up to me and asked to see my license because I was double parked, I would tell him to go home, I hear his momma calling.
12 year olds dont know sh*t from shinola and that cop has done a heck of a lot more than that kid.
Part of the problem with our society is that children think they are on equal footing with adults. Maybe some are, I have met some who are very smart but they still dont have the tempering of time which provides experience to that intelligence. And based on the fact that their brains arent fully formed, it is generally a good idea, as parents, to think twice about giving them a camera and sending them to ask a cop for his badge number.
Leave that to the adults, it is their job to control government. Oh fuk it, maybe we need to release the 12 year olds into DC with cameras.
That struck me as well, ST.
Some cops seem to think that not only should their “power” be genuflected to, but that they are above the law.
They work for us – the citizens – and their only power is what we grant them and no more. They aren’t owed respect automatically because of the badge. The badge is owed respect, but the men and women wearing them have to earn it like everyone else. Some deserve it. A good many don’t. They are not above the rule of law either. That whole entitlement attitude? Is exactly why so many of them catch a lot of crap from “cop haters”. There is only one class of public servant that is due respect simply for showing up to work: firefighters. The rest of ya’ll? Get in line like everyone else.
“Perhaps the MC was on the sidewalk; but it left another FULL parking space available for a CAR which has NO room on a sidewalk.”
OK I’ll bite
It’s Ok to park motorcycles on the sidewalk as this leaves room for cars to park. This means for everybody – not just for cops. Right?
“There are extenuating circumstances – for instance, perhaps the officer has been participating in activity which only gave him a moment to grab a drink quickly before doing traffic control or something that may reduced a traffic jam.”
Look at the video. Does that cop look like he’s in a hurry? Even before ne notices the boy, he’s definitely leisurely about his pace.
“Jeremy Drew – son you need to learn respect”.
Cop – man you need to learn to behave in a manner that engenders respect rather than encourages disrespect.
.
I did say above,
“I must admit that the boy had a tone that was irritating to me.”
Nevertheless, the cop should be able to rise above that. He is meant to be doing a job. If he to enforce the lawa, he should absolutely not be breaking them. His butt-hurt should not enter into it – particularly when he was in the wrong in the first place.
.
I’m amazed that so many commenters find no fault with the cop’s actions througout.
So many cop-suckers ! 🙂
I believe the parents of that disrespectful child needs to explain ‘to him’ that they have made a mistake in the extent of empowerment that they have given him. There are other circumstances that ‘children’ have NO IDEA of. Perhaps the MC was on the sidewalk; but it left another FULL parking space available for a CAR which has NO room on a sidewalk. There are extenuating circumstances – for instance, perhaps the officer has been participating in activity which only gave him a moment to grab a drink quickly before doing traffic control or something that may reduced a traffic jam. The parents must have been standing nearby and knew that IF they had asked the same question, they would have been out of line, then probably pushing their son to do it. In any event, the child did not speak in a child’s inquisitive manner; he spoke with a sarcastic attitude which had been prompted to him by someone else. A child whom is NOT even LEGALLY driving – would NOT have any knowledge about WHAT may or may not be parked and where. Perhaps it’s time to also do a background check on the parents to see what type of charges and tickets they have received. That CHILD has picked up on someone ELSE committing something illegal prior to judging a police officer. Jeremy Drew – son you need to learn respect and choose your battles.