I was hesitant about posting this because I don’t really know all the facts, I don’t know the kids and when you don’t have all the information, it’s easy to jump to conclusions, especially when skaters as a whole feel victimized and feel like we are treated unfairly when we are just trying to have fun. I’ve only had an encounter with the cops a couple times when I was a kid skating some ledges in front of a movie theater on a military base. They told me and my friends we can’t skate here and we said okay and just left. I mean, that is all that is needed in that situation, right? In my 30s I took my lunch break one day at a parking garage in town that gets no use at all. It was raining and I really wanted to skate bad, so I went there. A cop pulls up, realizes I’m an adult and is fine with me skateboarding there. I wonder if I was a kid if I would have been treated differently.
It appears to me that the officer is being way to rough with this kid, but we don’t get to see the very beginning of the altercation nor hear anything that might have been said so I find it hard to make a definite opinion here. In my opinion, when the police show up, you show them respect and do what they say. You don’t run away, you don’t pull away from them. You say your sorry and you cooperate with them. I feel like in today’s society, there is some general consensus that it’s okay to disrespect police officers or other people of authority if you feel you are right or not doing something wrong.
Now, if it’s true that the cops said nothing to this kid and just walk up to him and grab him. I don’t think I would react well to that either. I mean, he’s a kid skateboarding, not a criminal with a gun in his hand. As long as you are not posing a danger to others, I think you deserve to be told what you are doing wrong before being apprehended, especially with force. I’m pretty sure the 15 year old kid didn’t need to be thrown to the ground in this situation.