This officer failed in the use of judgement. Whether or not this failure was a result of a pre-conceived notion regarding this gentleman's character or intentions due to his race is not the issue and not germaine to the discussion regarding the issue of "power hungry" police.
While the fact that Motes is black and the officer is white opens the door for this to be a factor in officer Powell's handling of the situation, it fails to address the issue that I believe to be the crux of this situation; ability of Police officers to walk the line between protecting the community while perserving the rights of all citizens.
It seems to me that everyone on this page is in agreement that Powell's behavior was out of line and he should be reprimanded. While I am in total agreement that Officer Powell's actions are not indicitive of all police officers, I am not as foolish as to simply label this as a race issue and chalk it up to a "bad apple." I can't help but sense a growing "us" versus "them" atttitude regarding Police and this is unhealthy for our society. Nobody wants to see the public strike back after an incident like this, or the San Fran shooting that lead to roits a few months back.
A badge and a gun doesn't make you right. Not trying to politicize this but when our govenrment conviences us that it is ok to give up liberties for safety, we are making our own bed. I have said it before, we are allowing our country to become a police state where we are forced to feel guilty until proven innocent and this is not what this country was built upon.
Ben Franklin "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
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F@*K THE SPURS!!
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