Police outta line. Well this afternoon was a first. The power was out so instead of work, I went to the beach. A lot of people did this. A few people went to the liquor store first. Hours pass, Dude and his friends get hammered on the beach. Dude starts to puke (gross) and then passes out. I point this out to his friends who can't even be bothered to roll him over. 20 minutes pass. Federal police show up to deal with the "being drunk in public" offenses, fair enough. If you're hammered and puking and passed out on the beach, you need to get hauled into the drunk tank. After talking to the conscious people, one officer finds passed out Dude and exclaims "Oh this makes my job SO much easier!" He then grabs Dude by the shirt and woke him up by shaking him vigorously and yelling "Police! Wake up!" Dude startles awake, at which point the officer flips him over, wrenches Dude's arm back, yells at Dude to give him his other arm (which he can't because Dude is overweight and his arm is pinned under him and the officer is leaning on his back.) Officer then informs Dude he's being arrested for being drunk in public (fair) and for ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER! WTF?? Except he didn't say assaulting an officer he said "A.P.O." which means what to a drunk guy who's been shaken awake? Being drunk in public gets your butt hauled in overnight and a fine. Assaulting an officer gets your ass hauled into court, and shows up as violence on your record. Dude has no recourse or credibility, because he was so drunk, he might even believe he took a swing at the officer, even though he kept telling him "I'm not resisting, I didn't try to hit you, ow my arm" etc.

I'm utterly appalled. In toronto, I had plenty of dealings with police. Toronto police are accused of some shit too, and I'm certain there are assholes on the force, but on the whole I saw police as real people doing their best. I went to protests and observed police not starting shit, but reacting when jerky protesters started shit. I spoke with them at the weed walks, I dealt with police when my store was robbed, I saw them deal with public drunks and high prostitutes professionally. I had never before seen anyone in uniform behave like a bully. this is what they do in front of witnesses what do they do when there's no one watching? And I'm afraid to speak up about this because there are only two cops in this community, and they both know K &I. If you get on the wrong side of the police they start pulling you over and issuing $1000 tickets for a cracked windshield (happened to someone else.) Like a bully they inspire fear and that fear of what they *might* do makes me want to keep my head down. But another part of me is so angry that Dude is getting unfairly charged and has almost no defense. What statistics did Officer need propped up by these trumped up charges? Anyone else had a personal experience with bad policing? Any thoughts on what I could and/or should do?

I have nothing. I have no idea. I'm not sure you can do anything in this particular situation but in the bigger picture you can influence your community. Stick around and run for office someday. I hope the kid gets a lawyer.

issue complaints to the officer in charge at the office in that disrict. do it a few times, talk to the community relations officer too. tell them how you feel. tell the truth. maybe offer the information to the local media, that helps, for public support. be detailed and honest. it also helps to talk to a lawyer, and police officers you know, about what the next right thing is. tell them how you feel about, pending retalation from the department. thats how i've handled this stuff. i know alot of cops and most of them are pretty cool. i didn't suffer, but it made me feel better, even though i was full of fear.

just to clarify, we have two, count 'em, two officers for our small town. Two more in the district over. If I were to lodge a complaint, even anonymously, the officers in question would know exactly who complained because they know our faces, and we live around the corner from one of them. Teeny, tiny town. I am going to mention it to our lawyer next time I talk to him. I think what really needs to be addressed is the reason the officer wanted to trump up the charges. Do they get more funding for certain kinds of arrests? Promoted based on their arrest record? There's a reason, a source for the behaviour that needs to be addressed... I just don't know how to address it without putting us at risk for harassment that could make our lives miserable.

Or maybe the drunk was someone he knew and disliked. Since as you said, small town, everyone knows everyone.

maybe so.

its possible they are two rotten eggs. it happens. two stupid cops, just being to excessive..not that I agree with thier behavior. I'm sure your not the only one who feels badly towards them too. they've probably been acting this way. i've had people ask me advice in this area, and well, its not an easy spot to be in.

its also possible this drunk, has caused problems in the past. who knows whats behind the trumped up charges, there's two sides to the story forsure. I don't know if the guy hit the officers, before you came on the scene. maybe, since it didn't happen to you, it might be best to let it go. its not an easy fix fursure!

Really? From your description here is what I get. Dude assaults police officer and gets away. Police look for Dude. Several days later find Dude passed out on beach. Comments "oh this makes my job so much easier." Arrests Dude for existing charge of assault on an officer and new charge of drunk in public. I just love it when morons make judgements without knowing all of the facts.

I would think if the officer recognized Dude from an earlier assault, he would have said "You're the same guy who hit me x many days ago," not "you shouldn't have taken a swing at me" as he's shaken awake. I'm sure there are contexts that shed light on to this, and granted Dude and his buddies were making pains out of themselves. But what we saw left us feeling upset and sympathetic to the guy who was sloppy drunk annoying us just five minutes before. And I have no grudge whatsoever against police officers, in general. In fact, I admire the people who decide to be the ones to face the violence and crime in society so that the rest of us may have the privilege of living relatively un-harassed lives. I think that's partly why this was such a shock for me. I do want to draw gentle attention to the temptation to blame the victim. This would sit with me so much better if I told myself that Dude must have a history with the police, that he shouldn't have been drunk in public and therefore deserved what he got etc. What if he's just a young man who got the day off work and decided to enjoy the weather on the beach with his buddies? There is a hardcore drinking culture in this town that you wouldn't believe. What if he's used to getting hammered with his friends and has never caused trouble before?

and I have to add, most of us have been to a party in our youths to which the police were ed. What you expect police to do in a situation like that is to tell the people to keep it down (or in this case move it inside) and make sure no one's hurt. Usually a party gets broken up by police and nothing more.

Oh I agree with you and I assume this is directed at the most helpful visitor above. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. Let us know how it turns out.