Look, to everyone here. I know we’re all (all?) in favor of police profiling, as it helps the good guys focus on the real, likely people who are committing the crimes. I’m in favor of it, so that we stop harassing 70 year old ladies at the airport gate and start screening 17 to 39 year old middle easterners.
This really is no different. The cop, who most definitely acted out of hand, was, in my opinion, profiling this kid as a likely miscreant by being alone in a parking lot at 2am. This isn’t a checkpoint, and it wasn’t a routine traffic stop. No stop at 2am is.
Were his civil rights violated? To a degree, yes. What were the damages? In a civil rights case, you have to show damages. Did the policeman break his tail light? Doesn’t seem so. Was the kid unreasonably detained? If 15-30 minute traffic stops are unreasonable in your opinion, I’d beg to differ.
Profiling wasn’t the problem. Being detained is not the problem.
Threatening to send the kid to jail on trumped up charges IS the problem.
Here’s how it should have happened after the cop pulled him over:
Officer: “Good morning, sir. May I please see your license and insurance?”
Kid: “Did I do something wrong?”
Officer: “We’ve had some reports of crime in this parking lot in the early mornings; your license and insurance please?”
At which point, the kid could/should have presented the requested materials. If the kid had refused to present ID at that point, the officer could have then reminded him that (at least in Texas) you must have ID to operate a motor vehicle, and you must present that ID when asked to by an officer.
What *did* happen was that when the kid asked if he did something wrong, the cop ordered him out of the car and started verbally abusing him instead of offering any sort of explanation.
Texas law enforcement (at least) is taught that they need to be unfailingly polite and calm in all traffic stops. It’s hard, but it’s part of the job. Even the LAPD, never a bastion of correct behavior, teaches that.