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I'll go along with the medal, and believe me, I'm no big fan of the police, but when the police come onto a scene and one person has hit another, they have to make an arrest. The police I'll go along with the medal, and believe me, I'm no big fan of the police, but when the police come onto a scene and one person has hit another, they have to make an arrest. The police aren't a position to make a judgement whether or not the assault was justified or not - all they can do is make the arrest and let the prosecutor sort things out. In my opinion, this case was actually handled properly by the police and the prosecution - a rarity these days... In my opinion, this case was actually handled properly by the police and the prosecution - a rarity these days...

So the crux of your argument is that if a victim defends herself or himself by hitting another person, or if another person comes to their aid in a similar fashion, the police aren't a position to make a judgement whether or not the assault was justified or not - all they can do is make the arrest and let the prosecutor sort things out ?

I categorically reject your argument. The police must exercise good judgment before making an arrest.

So the crux of your argument is that if a victim defends herself or himself by hitting another person, or if another person comes to their aid in a similar fashion, the police aren't a position to make a judgement whether or not the assault was justified or not - all they can do is make the arrest and let the prosecutor sort things out ?

Yes, but I should have been more clear. In this case, we had a situation where one person hit another person. That's against the law. I don't believe the police in that situation are qualified to make the judgement that because one person said something to another, that violence was justified. Even if it was justified. Your argument that if a "victim defends herself or himself by hitting another person," while I understand what you are saying, still doesn't fall into the legal definition of self defense. I still believe that the police, under those circumstances, had to make the arrest. Technically, the father broke the law. It is up to the discretion of the prosecutor, not the discretion of the police to decide that charges shouldn't be brought.