Replies

"The Police have a duty to protect us all."

No, they don't. The S.C. has ruled that the police have no particularized duty to protect any citizen.

"Put yourself in their shoes and ask how would you have handled it?"

I would have followed the law that I swore to uphold, and if the guy did not want to talk to me, and I did not have any reasonable and articulable suspicion that he had or was about to commit a crime, I would've maybe hung around and watched him for awhile to see if his behavior was truly suspicious. Otherwise I'd just leave him alone, as I was required by law to do.

"As for me, if a cop thought I was doing something suspicious, he has my full cooperation. By our making their job easier, they can better protect all of us."

If a cop thought I was doing something suspicious, I'd want him to either arrest me, or leave me alone. It's not my job to make his job easier, it's his job to respect my rights as a citizen and not abuse them. I don't think that this is too much to ask, that the cops follow the law, do you?

"This guy does not have a leg to stand on. I do not see where producing an ID is a major cause celebre (sp?) for a leftist reporter. "

This guy does have a leg to stand on, and if he thought it were worth his trouble, would probably have no trouble finding a lawyer willing to take his case on contingency. Illegal arrest is a major deal, and should be dealt with appropriately. The principle here is that you don't have to show I.D. just because the police ask for it; the fact that it would have been a minor inconvenience for him is not the point. I'm glad he stuck to his guns. And I don't care if he's a leftist. He's still in the right here, and principle is more important than politics.

I would've maybe hung around and watched him for awhile to see if his behavior was truly suspicious.

Would that not then be bordering on harrasement? If he did nothing wrong, how could you justify "watching him"?

You are right about the police having no duty to protect any single specific person, however their job in general terms is to:

"Serve and Protect"

Meaning the general public, which ios what these cops were doing.

You know on a strict legal basis you may, may be right. But what purpose is served by giving cops, who just want to help in most every cases, a bad time?

This reporter/columnist was being an asshole, pure and simple.