Youtube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Thomas Hawk

I usually like the videos you link too, particularly where photographers are getting unfairly harassed. But this one is such a non event. Sure, he shouldn't have said it. But it's hardly the offense of the year. - Gary

That's embarrassing. - Louis Gray

I don't know Gary. I don't think that law enforcement ought to be threatening to break people's arm. Especially over the crime of skateboarding, something that is relatively harmless. I suspect that if this officer is this hot-headed over something simple like this that he is a liability to the force. The type of person who feels that because he has a gun and a badge he is above the law. Cops like this don't deserve to be cops. He is there to protect and serve. Threatening to break some kid's arm is neither. - Thomas Hawk

While it isn't offense of the year, I wouldn't say it is a non-event -- and treating it that way makes it more likely to happen again, or under different circumstances. People behave this way because they feel like they're entitled to, and silence only reinforces that opinion. - Jennifer Dittrich

I hear what you're saying. But I watched the video, and I came to the conclusion that although he shouldn't have said it, there's no way I can make a sound judgement of any kind about what sort of a guy, or what sort of a cop, this chap is. Thomas, there have been a fair few times in my life where, had you video'd me for aminute or two, you'd think I'm a nasty piece of work. Other times, I'd look like a saint. I'm neither. I've said worse than that, yet I haven't thrown a punch at someone in 20 years, as a kid, and that was in self defense. Do you know what sort of day he'd had? Do you know what sort of record as a cop he has? Maybe an hour earlier he risked his life to save someone else. I don't know. He shouldn't have said it, but I'm just making the point that from that video alone, the best we can do is make wild assumptions and jump to conclusions and that's not fair. When you've posted or linked to other videos, there has been clear and ***serious*** wrong doing or extreme ignorance on the part of the cop/security guard. That just isn't the case here from what I can see. - Gary

Jennifer - by non event, I meant in comparison to other videos Thomas has linked to in the past. As Louis said, it's embarrassing. It is. That's probably punishment enough. Would you throw the guy out of the force for what you've seen on that video? Personally, I would remind him, and his colleagues that they have a job to do, and that doesn't include abuse or threatening behaviour where it isn't warranted. Nothing more. - Gary

I don't think necessarily that he should lose his job, but I've also seen cases where people try to justify or marginalize that behavior by blaming the kid/woman/criminal/etc., which makes it harder to have a chastisement carry force. - Jennifer Dittrich

Going all "macho" will almost always escalate the tension in a situation, rather than have the effect he (supposedly) intended of tamping down any back-talking. I know cops have a tough job and deal with situations that we can't really appreciate, but he really started to get stupid here, and if this hadn't been just a group of skateboarders he could've had some real trouble on his hands. - Mark Jepsen