These same people are saying that every other officer in the video acted appropriately. The midget officer was out of control.
At this point, I think almost all of us posting on this subject do not have a perfectly clear representation of the whole event. No matter your perspective, it concerns me that so much "commentary" and "analysis" goes on these days with at best, partial information about what really happened at the scene.
That being said, it seems pretty clear that the one officer let his emotions take over and over reacted to the situation. Had he not already resigned, I think he should have faced discipline over his actions and failure to follow protocol. On the positive front, it did appear as though all other officers on the scene were under control and even seemed to quickly diffuse Officer Freakout when he pulled his gun from his holster. While we are jumping on the one officer...let's pause and commend the others that kept it together in a hectic situation.
AND
The young girl in the bikini was also way out of line by virtue of not following the commands of law enforcement who were trying to control the situation. Her lack of respect for authority, etc, unnecessarily escalated the situation and potentially made it a dangerous scenario. To a lesser degree, the two kids that rapidly approached the officer/girl conflict also served to escalate the situation. Stop and think about the attitudes behind 15 year old kids so vehemently challenging police officers who were called to a disturbance. The one LEO blew his top and over-reacted...but there was also a great deal of additional and unnecessary stress added to this situation by a fairly widespread lack of respect for authority.
As a society, we need primary two things to change here...1. All LEO's need to show restraint and keep their emotions in check when diffusing such situations. LEO's that do not follow protocol/training deserve to be disciplined and even punished via applicable laws. 2. Citizen's need to respect the police and comply with their requests/commands, particularly in chaotic situations. Those that choose to remain unruly and defy orders...well then, they should expect that they may be "taken down" or subdued by force. (Note - this does not mean shot with a gun when there are no weapons present, etc.)
If we as a society allow chaos and disrespect to rule the day or accept that various and sundry parties to a disturbance/melee/riot are free to yell at, resist and challenge LEO's...well then I think we are on a short path to a substantial break down of law and order...at least in some communities.
