As much as I dislike cops those ones in the video took it really well... If it happened here in miami you would get Rodney Kinged in a jiffy.

Maybe she would have done the smart thing and walked away instead of whining about how he was being a meanie if she weren't on camera.
Man, this general attitude of the people in these videos that the municipal government there is spending too much money on their police force is so incredibly naive that I almost can't emit any mocking laugher.

No, wait. There it went. Ha!

Yeah, i'm sure she hammed it up for the camera... sure it stinks - but lets face it... assault for bubbles?

FYI the gov't spend 1.2 billion on security that weekend - hardly small potatoes.

Isnt that ridiculous ?

I have no idea where all that cash went, it is fairly scandalous. The g20 meetings are all in major urban centers makes no sense to me - really they should all have a hidden island or something?

Isn't it the police whose duty is law-enforcement ? That's why I say he should be fired.

Spend a little time in the 3rd world then come back and complain about law enforcement here.

Power corrupts, and there are plenty of police out there who need dose of humility. But neither of the ones in the videos posted here. Measured responses to measured provocations. If you call the cops arrogant bastards you have to, in all fairness, also call the others spoiled, self-indulgent provocateurs. The masked dude whined, who knows what bubble girl finally did (off camera or more likely left on the cutting room floor because it didn't suit the political objective of the "network") to finally consummate the arrest with bubble boy.

While I certainly don't want to encounter the kind of police corruption that the third world has to offer, neither do I want to be exposed to the kind of police corruption the first world has to offer. ANY police corruption is bad and defending it is contemptible. Protesters are not employed by the people and trained to keep order. The police are, and should be held to a higher standard.

In answer to why defending the bubble girl arrest is defending corruption, it's because arresting people for no real reason is corruption. It's the same sort of corruption that puts cyclists in front of judges for fantasy crimes such as 'cycling in the roadway'.

This police referendum is a fruitless cul de sac from the original topic, so I'll make one last comment and then leave it behind. Others can volley as they see fit.

ianbrettcooper -- Defending corruption? Who is doing that? !!! Concur, corruption is contemptible. I'm thinking more about getting your head split open with a PR-24, which happens too. But surprisingly less than it might, given the absurd conduct of some individuals confronted by law enforcement officers.

Interesting conundrum here in the general flavor of comments. On the one hand, cops are too stupid to have real jobs, don't know the law, and have personality disorders. On the other hand, they are highly trained and surgically employed and should be held to a higher standard. I think there's plenty of evidence and cases on both accounts. But let's not try to have it both ways, all the time, on the same case.

My bottom line: police may have their shortcoming but it is certainly not their job to be your *****, which both of the antagonists in the videos seemed to think it was. The same way irate travelers rant at gate agents, who similarly seem to have the patience of Sisyphus as part of their job description. There are plenty of examples of inappropriate police behavior, but neither of these videos were that (the portions that we saw). I think we saw limits and restraint. In a society that indulges the testing of them. Don't be so quick to indict one side, or the other.

Now, I'm going to go drive on the wrong side of the road blowing bubbles carrying a big bottle of water and a helmet under my Palestinian mask in case I get night-sticked and OC'd.

Actually slcbob, many people(thousands) were arrested that weekend for doing nothing harmful. I've not seen a statement of anything else regarding the incident involving the bubbles. It is not reasonable to assume she ate a baby after the camera was turned off to justify her arrest. Perhaps she was a provocateur, but really that is doing a disservice to the term when you consider what counts as being a provocateur. Perhaps those citizens are spoiled, but then being spoiled really doesn't enter under the charter of rights.

I'm sure police in third world places are tough, but we're not a third world country. Part of the reason for that is because we complained about authoritarian police tactics.

Saying we shouldn't complain about police corruption because other places are more corrupt is invalid. You may as well say that we shouldn't go after people who steal a few hundred bucks from a convenience store when there are other people who steal millions.

There's no rule that says that we have to be only quantitatively better than third world countries. I say we can be qualitatively better as well.

It's understandable that cops tend to take shortcuts and abuse their power. It makes their job easier. And while I respect cops and am glad that there are people that want to do that job, their job isn't SUPPOSED to be easy. It's harder to do a cop's job while respecting the rights of others, but that's tough luck, those are the rules that we operate under.

Bingo! Nice post!

I'm a Police Commissioner in my community - and this is what we strive for........ and, most are paid fairly well for their trouble...... we jsut hope that we keep getting the good ones.

You can teach a smart cop to be tough: but, you can't teach a stupid cop to be smart...

Well, yeah... that's true. I remember reading a post on some blog that a woman was ticketed for not coming to a complete stop at a yield sign. She tried to argue with cop and got slapped with "law obstruction" citation as well. Of course, she took it to court and the judge cleared these charges without any problems. I don't remember what happened to the cop. Was he reassigned to desk duty, or something...

Also, at least in NY, cops are grossly underpaid so they try not to work more than necessary, They're also under-trained. If cops were getting paid higher salaries, if they were better trained then they could be required to do a better job. As it is, they don't care.

Canadian dollars. That's like $20,000 American. Oh wait, not anymore. Never mind.

^ lol... Sad but true the American dollar does not amount to excrement...

He's as wrong as he could possibly be.

1. Riding against traffic is illegal.
2. Drivers making right turns from cross streets and driveways almost never look to their right far enough to see anything coming faster than a pedestrian (2-3mph) or even at all a lot of the time. They look to their left, where oncoming traffic is supposed to be coming from. This is a major cause of collisions.
3. The speed differential between the bike and cars is the car speed plus the bike speed (40mph+15mph=55mph). When riding with traffic, it's the car speed minus the bike speed (40mph-15mph=25mph).

The cop needs a class in bicycle safety and he needs to read the law.

Wrong way riders are my personal pet peeve. I hate playing chicken in the bike lane. When I go by a wrong way bicyclist, I usually yell "WRONG WAY DUMB ASS!". I've only been chased once for it, and it was by stoner, who tried to chase me up a steep hill. It was comical.

Thats if you could find 1.2billion in american currency, last i heard it's all in a vault in china.

Today I rode in midtown Manhattan during rush hour in early evening (already dark). During the about half-hour ride, I encountered at least 5 salmon riders riding wrong way. I nearly hit two of them: the first one just suddenly appeared in front of me from nowhere (I think he just made a turn but my view was blocked by trucks), and he did not have any light, so I did not see him until he's just a few feet from me. The second one made a large circle left turn and got on our way--his wrong way--and again, there were trucks that blocks view so he was another surprise.

These guys are gambling with their lives, but they also endanger other people's lives.

absolutely not. their job is to follow due procedure and treat citizens with respect. if they are incapable of doing that, they should find another line of work. saying 'the job is difficult' is no excuse for incompetence: step up to the task or step out. this is how it works in every other line of work, i fail to see why the police should get some sort of special consideration.

lol

+ 1.... I thought it was "To protect and Serve"

Whenever I have a salmon coming towards me, I position myself so they have no option but to ride into traffic to go around me.. Why should I endanger myself? They are in a better position to avoid oncoming traffic because they've got a good view.

There is a difference between bully and being lawful and strong. I think that is where a lot of people **** up.

What if the cop blew bubbles in the chick's face after she told him to stop?

She got what she deserved. You mess with the bull, you get the horns.