Yep, the justice system is officially flailing – Taser much?

A teen who forgot to return a DVD to the library was arrested. There was actually a warrant out for his arrest and when he was pulled over for speeding the cops booked him (read the blogged story here). That is outrageous and a complete waste of time and money.

It’s up there with the teen who was arrested for doodling on her desk. The horrible marks she made in erasable marker were, “I love my friends Abby and Faith.” Or the middle schooler who was arrested for farting and being a general pain by turning off his classmates computers. How about the 10 year old boy who was tasered by cops at a day care. Are you kidding me? Two fully grown adults couldn’t subdue a 10 year old child? What kind of training are we wasting on these cops that makes them so incompetent and lazy that they can’t grab the kid by his shoulders, sit him down, and help him to chill the eff out.

Ok, I’m on a roll now with these stories. Police tasered a 16 year old boy who had fallen 30 feet off a bridge and broken his back. Yes, that’s right, they showed up to the scene, saw the boy lying there motionless and tasered him. Not once, but 19 times and didn’t call an ambulance right now. I am a certified lifeguard, but even before taking that course I think it’s common sense that you don’t shock someone who just fell off a bridge. First step? CALL AN AMBULANCE!

Speaking of the inability to do their jobs, Maryland police officers (thankfully caught on video) jumped off their horses after a college game and attacked a student. The video clearly shows he did absolutely nothing to provoke any sort of response. In fact, right before being attacked he is seen merrily skipping and as he gets close to the horses he stops and moves back towards the wall. You have to check out the video and read the full story.

An out of control 5 year old in New Jersey was arrested for tearing papers off the walls and not calming down. She was even handcuffed. A 5 year old? Clearly the child needs to be talked to, or maybe she needed to run around the field a few times and scream. Let her get her energy and frustration out. There are ways to calm down a kid or let them wear themselves out, which they will, after a crazy hissy fit. There is no need to call in police officers and those police officers should not be arresting her. Cops either should not be allowed to respond to calls about unruly children or they ought to get proper training, like the same training child care professionals and teachers go through, to learn how to deal with children. I hope none of these guys are parents.

Here’s my final crazy arrest story of the day. A 12 year old boy was arrested for opening a Christmas present early. The mother and grandmother told him not to open the present. Being the rebellious 12 year old he was, he did it anyway. His mom threatened to call the cops and so he gave her the present back. She called them anyways and he was arrested and charged with petty larceny. Give me a break. Ground the kid, that’s what parents are supposed to do. Granted, in this story it sounds like the kid was a real pain in general, but I think this is a problem for a child psychologist or a special educator for children with behavioral issues, not the police. Don’t have the cops parent your children, because as this blog shows, they do a pretty shitty job of it.

*I don’t think cops are inherently taser happy, shitty baby sitters, or bad people. I do wish that the good guys out there would be up in arms and make some changes because these guys are making you all look like a bunch of incompetent morons that I wouldn’t trust to feed my cat.

Alternet has a great blog about the racial discrepancies in the justice system. Very interesting, check it out.