This is a good suggestion. The only thing I am concerned with is whether or not the officer has the ability to change. The teens might not change either, but the officer can do a lot more damage if he's a loose cannon.
I try to show them on all issues. If you see me step out of line, you have my permission to call me out on it.
Man I don't know. I'm conflicted when it comes to cops. I'm aware and grateful for the safety they provide....but. I grew up in LA which is known to have brutal cops but that is just the LAPD who are regarded locally as being rather mild compared to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs who are far more violent, dangerous and unpredictable. LA was pretty tough back in the 70s, not outright dangerous like NYC was in those days but pretty volatile in its own way. I witnessed a bank robbery when I was 15. I worked in the garment district and we got armed robbed a couple of times for a truck-full of men's suits. I also witnessed the LACS beat the hell out of people with nightsticks who were trying to disperse from a party as ordered as I hid in an open vehicle I found. Once I woke up in the middle of the night seeing flashlights coming under my bedroom door. I walked out to find my entire home full of LACS detectives looking for someone I knew. My parents didn't even wake up and were stunned by the grassy footprints all over the house in the morning. They just let themselves in apparently. Half of me appreciates the cops. Half of me hates them as brutal oppressors. Can't really resolve it beyond that. Its a quandary.
It's a tough job. For over ten years I was a correctional officer, for adults, and later for young offenders. Some adults will taunt you, hoping to get you to lose your cool and do something stupid. Some kids will taunt you, hoping to work themselves up enough to do something stupid.
Which is why blatant episodes of overstepping acceptable behavior needs to be reigned in immediately. Otherwise it gets out of hand.
You mean, STFU and do what the cops tell you to do? Cops have the authority, arrest power, guns, etc. And smart-ass kids want to "get into the cop's face"? How stupid is that? If the cops are wrong, it will all work out later. But at the point of confrontation, cops have the say and the accused/arrested should just do what they are told.
Did this cop over react? Probably. Don't know for sure. What I do know is this. We're making it impossible for police to do their jobs, so lets not be surprised when most of them start mailing it in from shift to shift. That will make the already dangerous and violent neighborhoods all the more dangerous. Not a soul in any profession can withstand 24/7 video surveillance. Frankly, no citizen can withstand that either. We're on a really bad path, and it's going to get worse.
This cop also needs more training on arrest and control. Both knees on your target is wrong, you keep one leg under you, so you can shift it during cand so you can move. As he does later. Easy for you to say, you never leave your house.
If nothing else makes it clear, he's overreacting by putting both knees on his subject. Poor training, or he's out of his head at the moment.