Oh, sir, but you are!
After watching the amateur footage the kids shot of the cop going apeshit on them for “being disrespectful” (um, dude, I’m pretty sure asking the kid if he was from county was pretty disrespectful as well. Let’s just say kids learn by example, shall we?) at my house we are now dude-ing each other constantly. And at random intervals, one of use says “I am NOT A DUDE” just to balance things out.
Think about how these kids were treated. I don’t believe this is a very unusual interaction, either. I can’t imagine that this cop would have treated a group of adults the same way.
I’m glad they caught him on tape doing this so he can be disciplined in whatever way is appropriate. I do not want my kids to grow up hating the police and thinking of them as the enemy, as the kids in this tool’s jurisdiction certainly did. Getting headlocked and thrown to the ground for “disrespecting” the uniform? Dude, you need to get a freaking grip.
Regardless of how you feel about the way the 14 year old responded to the cop, his reaction was in no way appropriate. Dude.
(The video is currently available at the ABC News website: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4278101
