I just watched the video clip of a guy pulled over in Florida for not having his headlights on in iffy weather. His driver side window was smashed in by the police and he was repeatedly punched in the face and later had 9 stitches to his lip. It really is shocking!
This is a member of public whom the police are supposed to serve & protect.
The job of the police is very, very difficult and it is a very necessary job. Without the police, human beings cannot be trusted to act decently. Without the police, crime will overrun society. None of us will be able to step out of our homes without incident. So, the police are essential!
When the police stop someone for a routine traffic stop of that nature in the UK, it will be a very polite, straightforward conversation and a gentle advice to the driver that he needs to have his light on, in inclement weather. If the driver gets lippy or abusive, the officer will probably just let him go and then they will go and arrest him later, without incident and charge him if he disobeyed instructions. Our police always try to de-escalate: that is their training. Yes, there may well be a handful who are up to no good, but the vast majority are excellent. That is how they are trained.
America needs to just take a step back and remind their police that they are doing a tough, thankless job, but they need to prioritise de-escalation. Stopping a driver for such a minor thing as not having his headlights on, and ending up smashing his window, punching him repeatedly in the face, cannot be right. When you watch the video, it is hard to defend those actions. The guy was being a little bit uncooperative, but what happened next, can only be describe as an assault on him. That shouldn’t be happening in any developed society.
Knowledge can improve the world we live in 