[Hemingway's Ghost]

The usual question: Where are these kids' parents while the kids are in the park at 11:00 p.m.?

If the kids were all orphans, would it excuse the cop's behavior? Otherwise, why is your comment germane to this situation?

[Tax-chick]

It seemed to me to be germane ... although you're certainly entitled to disagree :-) ... because incidents like this don't occur in a cultural vacuum. As someone higher up the thread pointed out, there's a system-wide decline in civility and standards of behavior. Out-of-control police are a part of it; parents letting their preteens run around late at night are also part.

What I'm saying, and I've already admitted to being an overcautious mother :-), can be summarized, "If these kids were at home where they belong, this wouldn't have happened."

We all see things in different ways ...