Most cops are good, but....

A few days ago, Emily Good was witnessing a traffic stop in Rochester, New York. She videotaped the work of three police officers in that incident. She was arrested for that egregious act! Her video is below.

It appears to me that the camerawoman did absolutely nothing wrong. The Rochester, NY officer, on the other hand, was way out of line. If he's not doing anything wrong, he should have no fear of being recorded or photographed while doing his job. To claim that he felt unsafe with her standing behind him is nothing more than a pretense to impose undue control over a bystander.

In order to to be able preserve their own lives in a hostile occupation, police candidates are typically selected and trained to have a certain level of assertiveness and to make snap life-and-death decisions. Unfortunately, in far too many individuals, this assertiveness grows to the point where they believe they are the law rather than law enforcers. In this case, the arresting officer believes his unreasonable "police order" is the law and that the camerawoman therefore needs to be jailed.

But, it gets better: The second video below is from a Rochester, New York, neighborhood meeting in support of Emily Good, the woman arrested for videotaping a traffic stop from her front yard. Rochester police sent four squad cars to ticket the cars of meeting attendees who parked more than 12 inches from the curb! Yes, they even brought a ruler. Coincidence? I doubt it. This clearly is police harassment and intimidation of the subjects of the Duke of Rochester (mayor)!

Emily Good should, and probably will, receive a nice settlement from the city at the expense of the cities' taxpayers. The taxpayers and other citizens of Rochester must express their outrage by holding their elected officials accountable for this incident at the next city council meeting and at the next election.

All officers involved in this ongoing incident (like most police officers; law-enforcement supervisors; local, state and federal elected officials; and judges) need thorough remedial training in the rights of the people as guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions (which they have sworn to honor). They each need to carefully consider the objectives of Oath Keepers and understand why the organizers of Oath Keepers feel their organization is necessary in the "land of the free and the home of the brave".

In addition to training in the Constitution, the officer who arrested Emily Good, those officers present who did not protest the arrest, and those officers who ticketed cars for being 1/2 inch too far from the curb must all be given a few weeks off without pay so they can have time to consider their attitude toward the rights of the people and the proper purpose of law. They each owe the camerawoman a very sincere personal apology and flowers.

If police are to ever earn the respect and cooperation of the people they are supposed to serve, they must do a lot better than this.

Stalin must be proud.