And the flip side of that coin is that a citizenry that does not respect legitimate authority cannot self-govern.
As I said, the cop overreacted; he should be punished in some administrative way, depending on his past record, which I do not know.
All I can do is try to imagine my father's reaction had I, at 15, after being arrested for driving a stolen car, berated the cops as being "fat pigs," did anything but respectfully followed their lawful commands, and then whined about a little attitude adjustment. He'd probably still be laughing at me.
There's a reason this girl was living with another family, the family that owned the car she stole, driving illegally, without permission, corrupting the other young girl, whose family was kind enough to take her in.
“Schene had previously been in the news in 2006 after he fatally shot Pedro Jo, a mentally ill man, during a struggle after a traffic stop on Interstate 5. It was the second officer-involved shooting of his career...An inquest jury ruled the shooting was justified....”
“...Shortly after the shooting while on administrative leave, Schene was stopped for driving under the influence...He had been drinking and taking prescription medication, according to court records. He received a deferred sentence and was placed on probation, records show.”/p>
Sadly, he has become the norm for police officers. The guy has shot two people and likes to drive under the influence, but not only has he never spent a day in jail but he kept his job. What kind of maniac would even want to still be an officer after killing two people? Serial killer comes to mind.
“And the flip side of that coin is that a citizenry that does not respect legitimate authority cannot self-govern.”
When police act like this guy and yet are never punished, can you blame the “citizenry” for not respecting the police? Police get exactly the amount of respect they deserve, which is to say none, thanks to officers like Schene. If officers who broke the law got sent to prison like anyone else when they broke the law, then they would get respect. As it stands now, a paid vacation, and a scolding, “punished in some administrative way” doesn't cut it.