The Seattle Police Department is about to hold a press conference, presumably about the hubbub that's exploded over the jaywalker, the cop, the struggle, and the punch. Intrepid intern Erika Broad is on the way and will report back.

Until then, my TCW: Jaywalking should be pretty much at the bottom of the priorities for police; given our law enforcement brass crowing about the need for more cops, more foot patrols, more neighborhood policing, more attention to crime, more focus on assaults and robberies downtown, etc., this attempted citation-turned-arrest was a wasted moment for a cop. All that aside, please consider this cogent thought from reliably cogent commenter Lee:

Shame on anyone who wants to call this police brutality. Regardless of the seriousness of the initial infraction, the girls were both refusing to obey lawful orders from the officer, and both then escalated into violent resistance. Those girls should know better, and if they didn't before, hopefully they do now. You don't have to put up with police harassment, but getting into altercations with the cops is NOT a way of settling a dispute.

What struck me about the video is that the arresting officer never lost his temper. In the middle of what is obviously a tremendous amount of pressure, with two hostile subjects and numerous onlookers shouting at him, he consistently used only enough force to defend himself and detain the subjects. When the cameraman gets too close, he calmly asks him to step back.

Seems like some people here think the police shouldn't have the authority to arrest anyone, but if we're going to have police at all, this is the kind of guy you want doing the work.

Posted by Lee on June 15, 2010 at 6:28 AM