Posted on 07/01/2013 8:12:44 PM PDT by Drango
I find the overkill that has become typically SOP by LE, even dealing with non-violent crime as particularly threatening to a society that pays them to protect and serve, not run ram-shod.
The public is being treated as a threat when it isn’t. Overreaction such as breaking down doors in the middle of the night (sometimes at wrong addresses) by SWAT over non-violent offenses creates an unnecessary threat to the public and cops.
Those who cross over the line need to be held accountable.
I must sadly say you are correct. As written, this is embarrassing and inexcusable. You should NEVER draw your weapon like this for any non-threat situation, especially a potential misdemeanor crime of underage consumption with a young person.
Even if it had been beer, is beer illegal? How would they have known if she was underage?
There is no rational justification for this cop-thuggism.
Young women = easy targets in their minds.
Maybe they also had a carton of smokes?
Whoa! Good thing it wasn't like, underage smoking, or something.
(While I always regarded Virginia's alcohol laws as a tad, well, different, this seems over the top to me.) You used to be able to drink beer and wine there at 18.
Something tells me they wouldn’t be acting that way on the other side of town, dealing with a different demographic.
Bunch of D-Bags with guns and badges, and some college kids. Try that crap on the South side of Chicago or some other lovely neighborhood.
Thanks for the update. VA Alcoholic Beverage Control agents are out of control. I added the Keyword “virginiaabc” to the various articles posted here on this incident so far.
You can thank the MADD harpies for legislation that strong armed the states into taking the drinking age to 21.
“Even if it had been beer, is beer illegal? How would they have known if she was underage?”
Would one of those enterprising “agents” have noticed the cashier did not check for an ID? Or do people in VA get ID’d when buying water?
Maybe the “agents” were having their own little party out in the parking lot and had to cover it up by scaring the crap out of law abiding citizens who might have seen them.
With all the current surveillance and monitoring information available, I wonder how much pressure is being brought against the family to drop the matter or they will be treated as enemies of the state? The behavior of the agents could have easily ended in the murder of the girls or some of the agents being run over. Were these girls targeted because they were not members of any protected class?
Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control
And here is their lame statement attempting to explain their agents' behavior.
Agents were working in the area, concentrating on underage possession enforcement. An agent observed what appeared to be an underage person in possession of what appeared to be a case of beer, and approached her to investigate. The agent identified herself as a police officer and was displaying her badge. Other agents did not join the incident until the subject refused to cooperate. Rather than comply with the officers' requests, the subject drove off, striking two officers. She was not arrested for possessing bottled water, but for running from police and striking two of them with a vehicle.
The agents were acting upon reasonable suspicion and this whole unfortunate incident could have been avoided had the occupants complied with law enforcement requests. We take all citizen complaints seriously and the matter is currently under review by the ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement.
Underage possession enforcement from the vantage point of a dark parking lot at 10 pm? These people should definitely not be trusted with guns If they see someone selling beer to someone underage they should call the police and let them handle it.
Not incompetence.
Sadism.
These officers clearly *enjoyed* attacking a group of young women.
Those who *enjoy* terrorizing the innocent will soon not be able to get their jollies from terror alone.
So long as people chalk up such incidents to incompetence, police departments will continue to *promise* to train their officers better, and incidents like this will continue and escalate.
good point
Elect a pro-2nd amendment, Constitutional sheriff in your county, and this crap will end real quick.
I’ve seen these sheriffs run off all manner of armed thugs, including fascist federal bureaucrats.
Need to make an arrest? Call the Sheriff.”
Exactly right. The problem is that too many ill-trained people in too many agencies have been given arrest powers. The ABC should have investigative powers (selling to under-aged kids, etc.) but at the point where an arrest needs to be be made, it should have to summon a uniformed LEO.
You used to be able to drink beer and wine there at 18.”
And in most other states until the federal government threatened them with loss of “federal” tax money unless they raised the legal alcohol possession/consumption age to 21.
>>You should NEVER draw your weapon like this for any non-threat situation, especially a potential misdemeanor crime
It isn’t about the actual crime. Most cops have become South Park’s Cartman. They strut around warning us that “You will respect mah authoritah!” Failure to do so results in gunfire, usually justified by claims that the cop was “struck by the vehicle” or “the suspect resisted arrest”.
The female ABC agent was apparently not in uniform when she approached the young woman who was carrying the case of sparkling water. Undercover work is always dangerous, and these dime-store ABC “agents” are going to get shot one night if/when they recklessly approach someone with a CWL.
They pulled a gun on her because they thought she had beer.
Interesting.
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