Originally Posted by
WillCAD
But, I have less sympathy for the deputies than I might have had in the past. Six deputies surrounded the woman? She shoved not one, but two of them? One had a "finger injury" and the other a "bruised shoulder?" I wonder if these cops were using the Overwhelming Force doctrine on a woman who simply refused to move her car, and pushed her into a panic.
Then, they searched her car for 25 minutes, while it was still parked in the spot they were trying to get her to vacate in the first place. Way to keep the traffic flowing, Barney Fife! Small amounts of MJ in the vehicle? Whoa! She must be a drug mule! Better call the DEA!
Small crime, and over-reaction on the part of the deputies.
Perhaps. But with the War On The Unusual underway, they can't under-react, either. Leave an abandoned car unattended while they wait for the county tow-truck to come and haul it away? Nope ... not without searching it first to make sure it's not a car bomb. And, unlike other threats of dubious probability, like the War On Water, we've actually seen car bombs at airports.
As for the assault ... you touch a cop, you get a free ride to the pokey. What's the alternative? The cop waits until he's actually physically threatened to defend himself --- and then he gets charged with police brutality because he countered force with equal force. There's no winners in that situation. Best to draw the line early.
Seriously ... as others have pointed out above, there's really no explanation for this one. Forty signs at airport entrances that say "don't park here", and a cop comes up and says "you can't park here"? Don't park there.