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What the Hell is wrong with the police these days?

Years ago, and by years I mean the 80’s and 90’s, you hardly ever heard about someone getting tasered or beaten by police for such mundane things as sitting on their porch (Video) or simply questioning why they were being harassed (Video 2) over such a mundane thing as a traffic violation. Now, however, these Draconian actions by police forces across the country seem to be almost commonplace. Does anyone remember this clip, where a teenage girl literally gets physically assaulted by an officer for kicking a shoe off towards him when asked? (By the way, she was only 15 years old.)

What has changed? Is this how things have always been? Has this happened on such a large scale for decades, but just gone unnoticed due to the lack of a public forum/mass media outlet such as the internet where people can contribute their own personal experiences and have them instantly recognized by, not hundreds or thousands, but millions of others? Maybe this is the case. Maybe I’ve just lived my life in a sheltered home with pink ribbons tied around every news article to make them seem prettier and less disturbing? Or is there a literal change happening in the way these Police officers are being trained that’s causing them to lose touch with reality and lose sight of what their jobs really are, to SERVE and PROTECT.

I recently had a run-in with the law over a routine traffic stop that resulted in me being harassed, having my place of work called to verify I wasn’t a criminal (for a crime that hadn’t even been committed (or reported), and told how I basically had no rights in the situation and to leave my “street-lawyering” at home. (Even though the officer in question didn’t dare disobey my “street-lawyering” when I told him to get the hell away from the inside of my car without a warrant.) I reported this to the police, and to my new mayor, as I had moved into my new home in this city less than 2 weeks prior, but alas no one has ever returned a single one of my calls, questioned me about my complaint, or really done anything at all.
(For those wondering, the officer was a Sergeant George Kmetty, of the Country Club Hills, IL Police Department. I don’t know the legality of putting up his name online, but I really don’t give a shit, either, as he was a disgrace to his entire police force and really doesn’t deserve the badge pinned on his chest. This is put up as a warning to any citizen of my community that may have to deal with this piece of garbage in person. BTW, a big thanks to Mayor Dwight Welch for returning my emails about the incident… oh wait, my bad, he didn’t.)

Whatever the reason, we have a new case to add to the ever-growing collection of bad cops. The title and link at the top say it all, but I still can’t help but question the cause of all this. When will the country as a whole decide that enough is enough? What will it take to finally make America say, “That’s too far!”

I don’t have any idea what would do that, at least at this point, but I sure hope it happens soon.

Here’s a quick poll to see how many of you have had an “experience” with your local (or not-so-local) police force.