DARE to keep cops off kids

Remember this spoof campaign back in the late eighties / early nineties? There were a few occasions where cops had gone a little too far in their efforts to curtail illegal activities being performed by children. Using excessive violence because they were being "antagonized" by kids made the headlines every so often. But we hadn't heard much about it lately. It would appear that all of that anger repression counseling was paying off...or so we thought.

Enter YouTube, camera phones, iPods...etc. Now, when "good" cops go bad, there are countless sources of evidence capture that they're going to have to watch out for. Here's the latest video making waves on YouTube (and across the nation) showing a few skateboarding kids getting mistreated by a police officer (while another watches) for skateboarding in a downtown "no skate" area. Before the video is complete, we get to see several children pushed, choked, strangled, and placed in a head lock. And as if the angsty male skateboarding youth of yesterday (myself included) weren't enough of a target, this cop even puts his arm around a young girl's neck, just for holding the skateboard of the young man being arrested.

Anyways, I could on and on about how much this pisses me off, and I could think of all kinds of profane ways of describing this police officer's behavior. Instead, I'll just share the video and contact information for the Hot Springs, Arkansas police department. Let them know what you think about their "peace" officer's actions. Oh, and if they hang up on you, don't take it personally.

Oh, and did I mention that this happened on National "Go Skateboarding" Day?


Please voice your concerns to:
Bobby Southard
Chief of Police
Phone: (501) 321-6789
Fax: (501) 321-6708
Chief of Police, Bobby Southard
email: bsouthard@cityhs.net
641 Malvern Avenue Hot Springs, Arkansas 71901