I am former law enforcement (Dept. of Justice) and I have been quiet over the past, say, 10 years. I am ashamed of most of today's law enforement. The professionalism has deteriorated to new lows each year. It seems that the police today are incapable of communicating with the citizenry they have sworn to protect. If these cops, and others, feel they are bad asses with badges and guns, they should go to where the bad asses with guns, but no badges, are. Training starts in Iraq, Afganistan or your local American ghetto today.
I'm looking at a video clip of the guy they beat up/arrested and he's claiming he hasn't had a drop of alcohol in 25 years and he doesn't know why they attacked. Warm up the cell for these out of control, macho misfits.
It's tempting for some to tar all law enforcement officers with the same brush due to the well-publicized actions of a few bad ones. Yet I'm sure we have all seen compassionate officers who go out of their way to help people. Those officers don't make it on the nightly news because their compassion doesn't make good "tragedy TV." They're out there risking their lives every day to keep us safe, and they don't deserve to be lumped in with these soon-to-be jailbirds.
I remember talking to an old-time Sheriff's Deputy (who has since died of cancer) about the guys who trained him when he was a rookie. He told of one Deputy who would take a suspect behind closed doors for an interview, and come out wiping the blood off of his pistol barrel after having obtained a confession. That kind of abuse spawned the modern Use Of Force guidelines which are honored by good officers everywhere. So let's please refrain from saying that most police officers are unprofessional, don't know how to communicate with the public, and have God complexes, because it's simply not true.