http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8uRxhCftqA
Crap. The cop got caught over-reacting, BIG STYLE, and the D.A. helped the boys in blue circle the wagons. The quote about a “moment of danger” is double crap. But don’t take my word for it, check out the dash cam video from the marked cop car behind the biker. Oh wait. And what’s with obscuring the cop’s face? Here’s the original version without the wimpy news media’s go-along-to-get-along digital obsequiousness. Sometimes the good guys should put their hands up, too.
I have conflicting thoughts about this story. On one hand, I worked in TV news for 30 years… 20 of it at DC and Baltimore stations. On the other hand, I am on the board of directors of Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities and have a lot of cop friends. The original intent of Maryland's law was to prevent the secret, unauthorized AUDIO taping of someone. (See Monica & Linda) Laws being laws, "the man" often tailors the actual enforcement to meet his needs…. like punishing people who embarrass or question authority. Here is what I would have done with this video if I were still in a TV newsroom: if the cop were IN UNIFORM I would have run the tape as is. BUT, since the cop was an UNDERCOVER officer (not just a plain clothes officer), I would have concealed his face, as did the Baltimore TV station. Reason: I would never take the chance of endangering an investigation/arrest/prosecution of a case in which that officer might be involved. I also would never want to endanger an officer's life, no matter how poor the choices he made that day with the motorcyclist. I would NEVER obscure the cop's face just as a favor to keep my relationship(s) with the local PD's. In fact, I would probably piss them off by repeatedly updating the story in two ways: the ongoing (and ridiculous) prosecution of the biker AND the reprimand the cop will (hopefully) face.
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