Have you ever filed a complaint against a police officer for abuse? Internal Affairs will laugh in your face. It comes down to your word vs. his. Sorry but you, the citizen, will lose. A friend of mine, a disabled Gulf War Veteran and retired policeman himself, didn't get anywhere when he complained that three State Troopers roughed him up. He went line-by-line with their violations--did they care? No.
I see this situation rather differently. If this cop acted this horribly to this one person, it's highly likely he was doing the same to other citizens like you and me and getting his jollies doing it. He was proud that he could railroad others--now he is reaping what he has sown.
The fact is, there are monsters and bullies within the system, and it appears the system won't police their own. This citizen--irregardless of his motives--took the matter into his own hands and did it legally. My guess is that he probably got legal advice. I don't blame him one bit for doing what he did. Some police do target and harass citizens, and it is getting so that citizens need video proof to protect themselves. Otherwise they are not believed. If my policeman friend had a video camera going, the outcome may have been very different for him.
Who cares if the kid gets off on it, the end result is: this monster cop won't be trumping up false charges on anybody else anytime soon.
“Who cares if the kid gets off on it, the end result is: this monster cop won’t be trumping up false charges on anybody else anytime soon.”
First off, nobody trumped up charges on anyone. The officer threatened to and the kid called his BLUFF.
As long as the ends justify the means, huh? How very progressive of you.